Contrasting Judith and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

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The Old English and Middle English time periods brought about many works that are still around today. Judith was created many years before Sir Gawain and the Green Knight but these works can be compared and contrasted. The characters, Judith and Gawain, lead separate lives as they were not brought up the same way and they have a different idea of success. However, there are connections that would be hard to recognize at first glance. In each story, the main character goes on a quest that ultimately changes the life they once knew. There are obstacles they have to face but in the end, both become the hero. The relationship between Gawain and Judith is based on a quest to change fate while other factors like the deception of women have an influence in the overall outcome of the ending.
The authors that created each story did so in such a unique way that the two can be contradicting each other. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written so well that the character and the reader make mistakes. A bob and wheel detours the reader so it is a difficult task to figure out where the story continues as the main character is having a hard time finding his way to the Green Knight. In contrast, Judith is straightforward and runs smoothly. However, the complete version of the poem is not available due to a fire. The readers will never be able to find out what Judith did before she went on her journey, whereas, people have an understanding of Gawain’s life.
Through Old and Middle English, readers are able to have a glimpse into the lives the Judith and Gawain. Not only were the stories made differently but their gender roles were different. The fact that Judith was a woman allowed her to become as close to the King, Holofernes,...

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...kept the girdle which helped him remember his sin. This symbol was even brought out to a wider circle of the knights as text states, “So that slanting green stripe was adopted as their sign, and each knight who held it was honored ever after” (Gawain 2519-2520). Judith was able to keep all of belongings that Holofernes owned. Therefore, even though Sir Gawain and Judith were created during different time periods, they share a resemblance in heroism through the deception of women and journey that must be faced in order to be successful.

Works Cited
Crook, Susan, Pirkko Koppinen, Jennifer Neville, Jane Page, and Hilary Thorn. Judith. OERG: The Old English Reading Group (June 2003). Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
Greenblatt, Stephen, and M. H. Abrams. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. 183-238. Print.

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