Both Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” part of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, feature magical creatures. These creatures themselves are remarakedly similar, but the way the work in the story is very different. The first time we see each of the magical characters, the Green Knight in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the hag in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” the are ugly and strange looking. The Green Knight is giant-sized, completely green, including hair and skin, and riding a green horse. The hag is an old and ugly peasant women. However, during the course of the story, both of these characters change appearances. The Green Knight reverts to his original young, handsome Baron status. The hag chooses to also be young …show more content…
The Green Knight is the catalyst of the action in Sir Gawain. He bardges in to the Round Table’s Christmas dinner, demands that a knight step forward & cut off his head, and then speaks after his head is severed from his body & has rolled across the floor, reminding Gawain to look for him in a year. Later, Gawain stumbles across the Baron’s holdings, conviently placed, and the Baron, on behalf of his alter ego, the Green Knight, interacts with Gawain some more, providing more action and plot. In the End, it is again the Green Knight that controls the action, basically, the swing of the ax blade. The hag in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” on the other hand, does not control the action, she simply responds to it. The knight decided of his own free will to rape . . . [I’m missing part of the essay here] . . . moral of “The Wife of Bath’s Tale.” Her discourse on the value of gentility and poverty, as well as her answer to Guenivere’s question provide the moral theme. It is she, not a narrator or another character, that gives the reader this info. She reinforces this moral at the end with her transformation in response to the knight’s answer to her own question. There again, her speech also reiterates the
His encounter with the Green Knight is imperative to his growth as a character. For the most part, all of the other supporting characters in the story remain static, whereas Gawain’s growth can be directly attributed to the task he he must complete to ensure the honor of Camelot. The Green Knight first appears and challenges anyone to come and chop his head off by stating that,
VII. Gawain is placed in many different situations in which he must demonstrate that he does, in fact, possess the attributes of a worthy knight.
Sir Gawain is presented as a noble knight who is the epitome of chivalry; he is loyal, honest and above all, courteous. He is the perfect knight; he is so recognised by the various characters in the story and, for all his modesty, implicitly in his view of himself. To the others his greatest qualities are his knightly courtesy and his success in battle. To Gawain these are important, but he seems to set an even higher value on his courage and integrity, the two central pillars of his manhood.
...Gawain’s time in the wilderness, living nature, and his acceptance of the lady’s offering of the green girdle teach him that though he may be the most chivalrous knight in the land, he is nevertheless human and capable of error.
On his quest God protects him. Praying faithfully as weather begins to worsen in the winter months, he is revealed a castle in the woods. Once at the castle he faces his next trial, a trial of staying true to a future mate. The three hunts that take place parallel the three times Gawain is tempted by the lady of the castle. On the first hunt Bertilak and his servants slay a deer.
The poem of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight compares a super natural creature to nature. The mystery of the poem is ironic to the anonymous author. The story dates back into the fourteenth century, but no one knows who originally wrote the poem. This unknown author explains in the poem of Sir Gawain not knowing of the location of the Green Chapel and or who the Green Knight really is. This keeps the reader entertained with the suspicion of not knowing. The author then does not give his name or take credit for his own work.
All three of the main women’s roles are marginalized and reduced in importance, the entire plot of the poem rests on Morgan le Fay, who is introduced at the end of the play with a handful of lines, Lady Bertilak, who is reduced to how the men around her feel about her, and Guenevere, who is another extremely important character mentioned only in a few lines. Morgan le Fay is the single most important character in SGGK. Even though she is an absolutely vital character, she is named exactly once. It is at the end of the poem that the Green Knight (Lord Bertilak) reveals to Sir Gawain that everything in the poem, from the main challenge to the smaller tests, was Morgan’s idea and should be credited to her ingenuity and magic (SGGK, l. 2445-2470). Part of
Part of the essence of drama is conflict. A man cannot be considered a hero unless he has overcome some form of opposition. In many cases, this opposition comes in the form of another character. Typically, the conflict is simplified as a malignant character with wicked intentions committing acts which would be characterized as evil; the protagonist opposes this villain and usually overcomes that character, winning the day and the admiration of all. Sometimes, the main character becomes a hero by overcoming some force within his or her own self. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, this is ultimately what Gawain must do in order to be considered a hero.
The Character of Sir Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell
On Christmas, The knight who is totally green rides into King Arthur's hall. The Knight decides he wants to play a game. He says, The knight who is brave to take off the Green Knight's head will be able to take the Green Knight's Ax, but the man who accepts this challenge must than return the stroke in a year. Gawain eventually accepts the challenge and off with the Green Knight's head. The knight picks up his cut head and than leaves, telling Gawain to look for the Green Chapel.
In The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, The Wife of Bath seems to be one of the more vivacious characters on the pilgrimage. Dame Alice has radical views about women and marriage in a time when women were expected to be passive toward men. There are many things consistent between The Wife of Bath's prologue and her tale. The most apparent similarities that clearly depict the comparison between the prologue and the tale are dominance of both women over their husbands, the duplication of appearance between the old hag and Dame Alice and finally the reality is that the fifth husband and the knight are very alike in personality. Although there are some contrasts amid the prologue and the tale, the resemblance far outweigh them.
He observes the progress of one’s journey and listens to people’s prayers. Similarly, the Green Knight secretly watches Sir Gawain through a disguise – Lord Bertilak. By disguising himself, the Green Knight could continue to test Sir Gawain’s faith by initiating another agreement. Unaware of the Green Knight’s presence, Sir Gawain is continually examined to discover the truth to his fidelity. Initially, Sir Gawain faces stressful and challenging experiences along his trek to the Green Chapel. Alone and enveloped by harsh winter’s cold, he “prays for God’s grace to save him” (Champion 418). Luckily, Sir Gawain’s prayers are heard when he uncovered Lord Bertilak’s castle amongst the woods. By humbly inviting Sir Gawain into the castle, pleas for safety and shelter from harsh conditions are answered, a depiction of God’s (the Green Knight’s) grace. Nonetheless, Sir Gawain’s hardships do not cease, but in fact, they continue to fall and weigh upon his shoulders. Once again, Sir Gawain partakes in another agreement, involving the exchanging of winnings. Human faith is yet again being tested, and once more fails to succeed. The affection of Lady Bertilak is arranged by the Green Knight himself as another test; however, Sir Gawain “fell short a little . . . and lacked fidelity” (Winny 4.2366). Fear of death encourages Sir Gawain to submit to greed. In order to continue living, he wears the Green Knight’s
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight takes its protagonist, the noble Gawain, through
Eisner, Sigmund. A Tale of Wonder: a Source Study of the Wife of Bath’s Tale. New York: B. Franklin, 1969.
The Wife of Bath Prologue and Tale. Geoffery Chaucer. The Middle Ages, Volume 1A. Eds. Christopher Baswell and Anne Howland Schotter. The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Fourth ed. Gen.eds David Damrosch, and Kevin J. H. Dettmar. New York: Pearson-Longman, 2010. 375-408. Print.