Sir Gawin and the Green Knght
(10) Why did the Green Knight challenge Arthur at his court? Is this reason expected?
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(11) How are women characterized in SGGK?
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(12) The circular structure of the romance seems very important: What does the double opening (and ending) - of Troy and Christmas/New Year - suggest?
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(8) The Second Beheading Scene: a. Why does the Green Knight give Sir Gawain three blows with his axe? b. What causes the differences between them? c. What is Sir Gawain's opinion of himself after the test?
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(9) How does the court of Arthur react to his return? Does Arthur's court share Sir Gawain's sense of shame? What impression is given of Arthur's court at the end of the tale?
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In what way is SGGK typically a romance?
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The First Beheading Scene: a. How does the Green Knight describe the reputation of King Arthur's court (ll. 256-274)? And the second time (ll. 309-315)? b. What makes Sir Gawain decide to take over the beheading challenge, and how does he go about it?
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The poem's opening scene: a. Where are we in time and space at the opening of the poem? b. What is the first impression you get of King Arthur and his court?
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In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the greenness of the Green Knight, along with the wildness of his dwelling place, probably represents his connection to the natural world. The wilderness through which Gawain rides as he departs from Arthur's court, and later to the Green Chapel, present a stark contrast between the civilized world of Arthur and Bertilak's courts. Whereas this civilized world is one ruled by codes of chivalry and love, the natural world is a more chaotic place where the animal instinct for survival dominates.
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The green girdle, or belt, that Lady Bertilak gives to Gawain as a "lover's token" is another symbol whose meaning is made very clear to the reader. When Lady Bertilak presses Gawain to accept it, she presents it as something to remember her by, but happens to mention that it will make the wearer invincible. For Gawain, then, the green girdle represents his survival. Since Gawain fails to exchange the girdle with Bertilak as the terms of the men's agreement dictate, it also symbolizes to the reader Gawain's desperate desire to survive at the expense of his code of honor. Only after Gawain "fails" the Green Knight's test does this meaning become clear to him. Gawain promises himself that he will wear the girdle forever as a symbol of his failure, but also as a reminder of how "a man may hide his misdeed, but never erase it" (2511). After all the men in Arthur's court decide to wear a similar belt, however, the girdle takes on a new meaning - it becomes a symbol of honor. More than any in the poem, then, this girdle is a multi-dimensional object whose meaning depends upon the interpreter and the moment of interpretation.
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The mysterious, gigantic man who interrupts the feast at Arthur's court on New Year's Eve is green from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. We can use other things we know about the Green Knight to figure out what the symbolism of the color might be. For example, instead of carrying traditional knightly weapons, he carries a holly branch in one hand and a large axe in the other. Both of these objects connect him to nature, particularly the woods. The Green Knight's test of Gawain makes him very aware of his strong survival instinct, something he shares with animals. And the place where Gawain must meet the Green Knight - the Green Chapel - is one of the most wild, natural places in the poem. Based on these clues, we're pretty sure that the color green represents nature. People, places, and things in the poem that are green somehow have a significant connection to nature.
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The opening passages of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight frame the tale as a "marvellous event," a "prodigious happening among tales about Arthur" (28, 29). As we read the poem, we begin to understand more fully what comprises the wondrous or marvelous in its world. As Arthur's court contends with the wonder of the entirely green man who picks up his own severed head and speaks with it, they are rendered entirely passive and speechless. They are unable to proceed when faced with such an unfamiliar situation. When the Green Knight leaves the court, Arthur is relieved, but also aware that he has gotten what he desired - to witness a wonder. Arthur's reaction captures the feelings of joy and turmoil that wonder brings in its wake. Characters are simultaneously elated and shocked by what's new and unfamiliar. This feeling of wonder might also describe our encounter with the poem. We share in characters' awe at the marvelous happenings while simultaneously experiencing their discomfort and sorrow.
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The plot of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight revolves around two games Gawain agrees to play, both with very similar rules. The first game involves an exchange of blows from an axe, while the second dictates an exchange of winnings between Gawain and Lord Bertilak. In both games, Gawain has a strong motivation not to follow the rules - his survival instinct. Yet Gawain's code of conduct is also dictated by rules - a code of honor that requires him to keep his promises no matter what. In the end, Gawain's survival instinct proves too strong to resist. Yet as Gawain learns, he can break all the rules and still remain himself - a man defined by his attempt to adhere to knightly, courtly, and Christian codes of conduct.
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The structure of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is completely governed by time. The story begins on New Year's Eve, during the Christmas feast at King Arthur's Court. Gawain must meet the Green Knight at the Green Chapel in a year and a day. The Christmas at Sir Bertilak's feast lasts three days, followed by three days in which Gawain sleeps late while Bertilak goes on hunts, the timing of which is bookended by sunrise and sunset. The poem's obsession with time yields a beautiful description of the passing of the seasons. The point of this seems to be that there's a set time for everything, and that time brings change in its wake. More than that, time forces destiny for human beings, with its passing drawing Gawain ever closer to the day on which he must meet his fate at the hands of the Green Knight.
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The world of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is one in which every aspect of life is bound up with rules and customs. The rituals of celebration and hunting are no exception. The narrator's focus on the way Arthur's court does what is "proper" at Christmas time reveals a values system in which what is customary is right. We see this in the exchanging of gifts, saying "Nowel!," and in the way the characters sit in a strict hierarchical order at the feast. We also see attention paid to custom in the hunting scenes. The butcher must cut the animal up in a specific order and reserve various parts of the animal for the hunts' participants. In the case of the boar, the butcher must cut the animal so as to construct a perfect trophy for display. To deviate from these customs would be to reveal oneself as ill-educated in hunting, which was considered an art at this time period.
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When the Green Knight appears in King Arthur's court, the people there think he may be some sort of magical creature. How else to explain the fact that he's entirely green? When he picks up his own severed head and speaks with it, well, then they (and we) are convinced of it. It turns out that we're not far off: a sorceress named Morgan le Fay has enchanted the otherwise normal Sir Bertilak into the Green Knight in order to frighten Arthur's queen and test his knights. It turns out magic is never far off in the Arthurian legend - Arthur's own birth was the result of a shape-shifting deception of his father by his mother. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, though, magic is a specifically female enterprise, with Morgan le Fay wielding and abusing power. But even treacherous sorceresses and magical, shape-shifting creatures are no excuse for a knight to behave badly; instead, the supernatural world becomes yet one more proving ground for his bravery and honor.
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As we might expect in a poem that features the color of one of its characters as part of its title, appearance really does matter in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The Knight's greenness, for example, might represent his connection to nature, while the richness of he and his horse's apparel testifies to his wealth and prosperity. Similarly, the décor and luxuries at the courts of Arthur and Bertilak are important status indicators for these two men, as are the beauty of their women. In much of medieval literature, moreover, a person's appearance indicates something about his character. When Gawain sees the healthy and strong Sir Bertilak, for example, he knows him to be a good leader of men, just as we recognize Lady Bertilak's bared neck and shoulders to be indicators of her sexual availability.
(4) The Arming of the Knight: a. How is the "arming of the hero" (ll. 566-669) particularly courtly? b. How does the Pentangle symbolise? c. Why is the distinction made between what Sir Gawain has on the outside of his shield and on the inside? (5) What do the contrasts between courts and wildernesses suggest? Or the description of the seasons (ll. 500-533)?
It is a symbol that Solomon designed long ago As an emblem of fidelity, and justly so; [...] Therefore it suits this knight and his shining arms, For always faithful in five ways, and five times in each case, Gawain was reputed as virtuous, (625-626; 631-633) These five ways in which Gawain is virtuous are in the dexterity of his five fingers, the perfection of his five senses, his devotion to the five wounds of Christ, his reflection on the five joys of Mary in Christ and, finally, five virtues: generosity, fellowship, chastity, courtesy, and charity. Wow, that's a lot of virtue. The pentangle is an appropriate representation of these five areas of virtue because each of the five sides of the pentangle transitions seamlessly into the next. This aspect of its geometry might represent the way in which the virtues are interrelated, each area feeding into and supporting the other.
(6) Lord Bertilak's castle: a. What exactly is the game Lord Bertilak proposes? b. What are the animals he hunts? Are they hunted in the same way? Are the differences in any way symbolic?
Nevertheless, as the hunting scenes in the poem demonstrate, men attempt to dominate and impose rituals and rules over even this world. Characters battle with the natural world constantly. The poem pits Gawain against the natural passing of the seasons, cold, wintry weather, and his natural urges for sex and survival. Yet in the end, the characters in the poem who appear to be most in conflict with the natural world because of their strict adherence to civilization's codes of conduct prove to have more than a little of the animal in their natures. This is true of both Sir Gawain and Sir Bertilak. Sir Bertilak, for example, is also the Green Knight. Sir Gawain, on the other hand, allows his animal instinct for survival to win out over his code of knightly honor. Both of these characters show that the sharp divide between man and the natural world may be more illusion than reality.
(7) The Temptation Scenes: a. What does the Lady do to provoke Sir Gawain? b. Are her tactics the same on all three occasions? c. What makes Sir Gawain accept her present? d. What predicament does he find himself in by accepting it?
Sir Gawain adheres to a strict code of knightly behavior whereby he always keeps his promises, honors and obeys his liege lord, and engages in feats of arms to demonstrate his bravery and skill. Yet he also has a reputation for what medieval romances call courtoisie - courtliness, or courtesy. This code of conduct requires him to have perfect manners, give delight to all with his conversation and, in particular, treat ladies with almost worshipful respect. These two codes - that of knightly conduct and of courtoisie - come into conflict when Lady Bertilak attempts to seduce Gawain. Gawain must find a way to avoid becoming romantically involved with her without seeming rude, or risk behaving dishonorably toward Bertilak, her husband, to whom he owes knightly respect. Complicating matters still further, a third code to which Gawain adheres - that of Christian virtue - values repentance and humility, teaches that a man may be absolved and forgiven for his misdeeds, and, most importantly, that men are all inherently sinful. Part of Gawain's challenge in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is to reconcile these three codes of conduct within himself.
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The Green Knight comes to Arthur's court, he claims, because he's heard of the reputation for bravery of its men, the Knights of the Round Table. He uses the threat of damage to this reputation to force the court to join in his beheading game. Similarly, Lady Bertilak convinces Gawain to kiss her by touting his reputation for courtesy, yet takes the tactic one step further by implying that Gawain is not Gawain if he refuses. This strategy relies upon a definition of identity as composed of your reputation - of what "everyone says" about you. Yet this definition of identity can be dangerous, since it gives other people a great deal of power over who you are. This precarious situation is demonstrated by Gawain's attempt to avoid Lady Bertilak's seduction without appearing discourteous. On the other hand, the narrative strategy of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight relies upon collective opinion to back up its claims. For example, comments about Arthur's nobility or Gawain's virtue are backed up by "what everyone says."
