Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Humility Piety Integrity Loyalty Honesty Poetic Form and Structure: • Alliterative Revival • Bob and Wheel • Bob: one line of two or three syllables • Wheel: four three-stress lines • Entire structure rhymes ababa

2. The bob-and-wheel is a structural device common in the Pearl Poet's poetry. The example below comes from the first stanza of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The bob appears in red, and the wheel appears in blue. Alliterative components are in bold print, and rhyming components are in italic print. • Sithen the sege and the assut was sesed at Troye,The borghbrittened and brent to brondes and askes,The tulk that the trammes of tresountherwroghtWas tried for his tricherie, thetreweston erthe--Hit was Ennias the athel and highekynde,That sithendeprecedprovinces and patrounesbicomeWelneghe of al the wele in the west iles.Fro riche Romulus to Rome ricchishymswythe,With gretbobbaunce that burghe he biges upon fyrst,And nevenes hit his aunenome, as hit now hat.Ticius to Tuskan and teldesbigynnes,Langaberde in Lumbardielyftes up homes,And fer over the French flod Felix BrutusOn monybonkkesfulbrodeBretayn he setteswith wynne, • Where werre and wrake and wonderBi sythes has wont therinne,And oft botheblysse and blunderFulskete has skyftedsynne. • The final five rhymes--wynne, wonder, therinne, blunder, synne--have an ABABA rhyme pattern. The phrase with wynne is the bob; it bridges the alliterative section and moves the poem into the final rhyming section in each stanza. The bob-and-wheel structure is not common in the poetry of Chaucer, though even he uses it for parody in Sir Thopas.

3. The Green Knight – Hero of Ecology? hO!Ho!Ho! Green Giant! • Eastern origins • Green is the color of Islam • Connection to the Pagan god, Odin • Has regenerative qualities – like a plant • Influenced Robin Hood • The Green Man appears in gardens and other vegetation

4. Courtly Love • Elevated women • Object of love was to be worshipped from afar as an ideal • Only noble people were worthy of love • Poem seems to condemn courtly love Lady visits Gawain in his bedroom

5. Kiss me!

6. Elements of Romance • Set in a remote place and time • Incorporates the marvelous and miracles • Hero is superior to other men and his environment • May involve “Testing Plot” • Tester is unrealistic and remote • Test is extreme • Hero follows higher of conflicting virtues • Tester relents and allows hero to fulfill lower virtue (example: God and Abraham)

7. Departures from Romance • Calendar/cyclic time and some real places • Hero is one of us: • not superior to us/environment • Tester is split: • malicious magic Morgan and likeable, realistic Bercilak • Gawain fails the test because he is human/sinful • Realism may result from 13th-14th century “penance campaigns,” new “moral psychology.” • Mixture of romance and realism leaves the reader wondering what rules govern this world.

8. Kiss me?

9. Ideals of Knighthood Physical ideals:Strength Skill at arms Horsemanship Non-physical ideals:CourageHumilityCourtesyLoyalty Three Gawains: • Courteous and brave brother of Round Table • Flawless exemplar of Christian chivalry • Flawed everyman Gawain tries to be loyal to Arthur, to Bertilak, and to his own word. His failure is in loyalty to his word

10. Sir Gawain: the character • Courageous and brave • courtesy and chivalry • Flawless example of Christian chivalry • Flawed everyman • Gawain is Arthur’s nephew • Never portrayed as Christian – • unlike the other knights of his time • Alienated from the other knights

11. Characters • King Arthur—legendary king of Britain • Husband of Guinivere and uncle of Gawain • Presides over the famed Knights of the Round Table at Camelot • Queen Guinevere—The wife of Arthur • According to legend, she had an affair with Sir Lancelot which brought about the fall of the Round Table. • Adversary - the enchantress Morgan le Fay, who, we learn at the end of the poem, conjured the Green Knight in order to terrify Guinevere • Sir Gawain—The nephew of Arthur and a knight • He accepts the challenge of the Green Knight, whom he must behead, then seek out next year

12. More Characters • Knights of the Round Table • Sir Ywain, Sir Eric, Sir Dodinal le Sauvage, Sir Bors, Sir Bedivere,Sir Lionel, Sir Lucan the Good and Sir Mador de la Porte • Sir Agravain á la dure main—A knight; Gawain’s brother • Sir Lancelot—A knight; has an affair with Queen Guinevere • The Green Knight—Mysterious man in Green whom Gawain, in response to a challenge, beheads and must later seek at the Green Chapel

13. Yes, More Characters • Lord Bertilak—Lord of the castle of Hautdesert, where Gawain stays on his way to find the Green Knight • At the end of the story, he is revealed to be the Green Knight himself • Lady Bertilak—Wife of Lord Bertilak, • tries to seduce Gawain three times while her husband is away • When Gawain refuses her advances, she gives him a sash- has the magical property of preserving him from harm from weapons • When Gawain first sees Lady Bertilak, she is accompanied by and old crone, Morgan le Fay (different incarnations of a single person?)

14. Wait, One More • Old Crone / Morgan le Fay—The woman first who accompanies Lady Bertilak when Gawain first arrives at castle Hauptdesert • She appears ugly as her younger companion is beautiful • In Arthurian romances, Morgan is a powerful and ambivalent sorceress, who often lays temptations for the knights of King Arthur

16. Condemnation • Gawain did sin • Sin was from love of life, not malice • Problem of shifting blame to women Confession • Shame and mortification • Statement of Sin: Gawain admits cowardice, covetousness, and untruth • Request for penance Sir Gawain’s “human experience” • Social living • Alienation • Self-discovery • Desolation • Recovery and Restoration Thematic Points • Openness and ambiguity • Combination of romance and realism • Gawain is human/sinful

17. FITT ONE Fitts • Beheading Game • relates to pagan myths about agriculture • Arthur: poet’s qualified approval • Sir Gawain: representative, not elect • Green Knight: ambiguous nature • Green body: supernatural • Green and gold equipment: courtly youth • Holly bob: life, peace • Axe: war • Gratuitous (thus romantic, not heroic) • Governed by rules (romantic, not heroic) • Seasonable (customary Christmas drama) • Quasi-legal (rules are reiterated) • Tests important knightly virtues • Involves seemingly inevitable death • Ernest/game ambiguity makes it possible for Gawain to treat the obligation lightly, but does not make it right for him to do so (Burrows 24).

18. FITTs two and three • Midwinter: Indoors/outdoors • Wine, feasting, celebration • Cold, sleet, rain • Arming of Gawain • Exchange of Winnings • Hero’s Temptation to test his loyalty, honesty, chastity

19. Fitt Two: The Pentangle • “Truth” • “Loyal to people, principles, or promises” • possesses “faith in God” • “Without deceit,” “sincere” • “Upright and virtuous” Fitt Two: The Journey • Eight weeks: 11/2-12/24 • Departs on All Souls’ Day • Four phases • Arthurian England • N. Wales (Winifred’s Well) • The Wirral • “Strange country” • Realistic and fantastic

20. Fitt Three • Fabliau: parallelism; sexual favors are commodities • Dalliance: compare lines 1010-1015 to 1218-1221 • Lady maneuvers based on her misconception of Gawain – courtesy is all • Courtly ladies can pursue • Kisses are not adulterous

21. Fitt Three: Hunt and Bed • day three represents a departure from the noble conduct of days one and two. • Deer/boar are noble; fox is ignoble • In both, the victim . . . • Flees an adversary (hounds/lady) • Retreats from prospect of another adversary (Bercilak/Green Knight) • Succumbs to original adversary (hounds/lady)

22. Fitt Three: The Girdle • Green and gold (should remind reader of Green Knight) • Not accepted for monetary value or beauty • Gawain acts differently after his fall: • Gawain goes to Confession, not Mass • Gawain awaits host, instead of host calling • Gawain goes first, not host • Gawain wears blue, color of faithfulness

23. Fitt Four: Arming/Journey • Green girdle added to arming • Neither unqualified condemnation nor uncritical indulgence • Variation from departure from Camelot – Gawain does not hear Mass – odd for day of death • Qualities of Death ascribed to Green Knight • Indiscriminate/universal/inevitable • Must be faced alone (guide turns back)

24. Fitt Four: Recognition • Green Knight is Bercilak de Hautdesert. • Morgan la Faye, Gawain’s aunt, orchestrated events to humiliate the Round Table. • The exchange game was the real test. • Fitt Four: Morgan le Faye’s hatred of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table • Considered translation imperii = transfer of culture from one civilization to another (Troy to England)

25. Fitt Four: Confession • Replaces false confession at Hautdesert • Shame and mortification • Reparation: Gawain returns girdle (and it is given back to him) • Statement of sin: Gawain admits cowardice, covetousness, untruth • Request for penance (Bercilak refuses)

26. Fitt Four: Judgement • Condemnation – Gawain did sin • Mercy – Sin was from love of life, not from lower passion or malice • Contrasting responses show decorum: Bercilak shows comparatively more mercy, for Gawain is more prone to despair than to presumption Gawain shows wounded pride, but is harsh on himself • Problem of shifting blame to women – perhaps to make Gawain’s behavior realistic?

27. Fitt Four: Return • Symbols • Gawain’s cut is healed. • Gawain wears the girdle. • Court adopts the girdle. • Contrasting responses again show decorum • Gawain is ashamed • The court downplays his sin • What does the court’s adoption of the girdle really mean?

28. NOT EPIC • Hero fighting for spiritual ideals • Not fighting for people against a monster or other threat • Chivalric/Arthurian Hero NOT an Epic Hero like Beowulf

29. Synopsis – 2500 lines on 2 slides • Starts on Christmas Eve at the court of King Arthur • Gawain accepts a challenge from The Green Knight • Chop off his head, then seek the GK out in one year, then the GK will behead him • Gawain does it • The next year, Gawain sets off to find the GK. After surviving many perils, he comes to stay with Bertilak and his wife – hospitable • Lady Bertilak tries to seduce Gawain but he refuses • She offers him a sash that will make the wearer invulnerable to weapons • Gawain accepts hoping to protect himself from the GK

30. Synopsis • The next day he sets off to find the GK and he appears • 1st blow of the ax – Gawain flinches and the GK complains • 2nd blow of the ax – The GK praises Gawain for not flinching – Gawain complains and wants him to finish • 3rd blow of the ax – Nicks Gawain’s neck, but does not decapitate • The GK explains that he is Bertilak • The first two checked blows were for the honorable behavior shown by Gawain in refusing to be seduced by Lady Bertilak • The nick was for dishonorably taking the sash • Gawain wishes to return the sash, but Bertilak insists that he keep it. • Gawain says that he will wear it as a token of his shame. • When he returns home everyone is delighted by the story • They follow his example and wear green baldrics in honor of Gawain

31. X. Concluding Points • Openness and ambiguity pervade the text. • Text strives to combine romance and realism. • Text does not prove that courtly and Christian values inherently conflict, rather only that Gawain is human/sinful. • Gawain’s experience represents the “fundamental cycle of experience” – “social living, alienation, self-discovery, desolation, recovery and restoration” (Burrows 186). • Does Gawain take responsibility for his actions? Source: Burrows, J.A. A Reading of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1966.