Shame In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

Discuss how this short passage represents the theme of shame and show the significance of that theme within ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’
Throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the idea of shame is explored both through Gawain’s own experiences but also through the presentation of the contrasting courts of Arthur and Bertelak, both of which the reader is drawn towards questioning the morals of by the end of poem. As this essay will discuss, it is, ironically, the grief and shame that Gawain clearly expresses in this extract that highlights the depth of his integrity and moreover the deeply flawed integrity of the court, who in prizing renown and honor more than anything else have instead been shown to have very superficial and certainly

If they are not welcomed by the court; with the repeated use of the verb “laughter” suggesting they have not been; even after Gawain’s realization of their importance, then the court will likely suffer as Gawain did at the Green Knight’s hand. The poet would have been aware that his audience would know the story of Camelot, and thus his inclusion of the following lines would have been extremely foreboding to his contemporary readership – “No one can hide, without disaster, a harmful deed. What’s done is done and cannot be undone.” By having Gawain speak these words, the poet manages to show not only that Gawain has come to terms with the fact that he will have to live with the shame that came with his failure, but that the court, if they do not change their ways and values, will suffer “disaster” in the future – as the mythical story of Camelot tells us. Furthermore, when it is considered that the events of this poem were set up by Arthur’s half-sister Morgan le Fay, the failure of Camelot to stand up to it’s reputation as the greatest in all the land becomes even more foreboding, as the reader realizes that eventually the court, seemingly unaware of it’ failings, will fall from greatness and suffer shame, pain and