There are many main themes in the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, but three of the most important ones are the themes of salvation, morality, and truth. These themes help connect Christianity to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. These themes are so important to the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight because the whole book is set around salvation, morality, truth, and any other themes. All of these themes tie into one another and help connect other parts of many of the King Arthur stories. The themes of salvation, morality, and truth are key themes of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Morality is one of the major themes of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The ideals of chivalry are based off the Christian theme of morality. More importantly, morality and chivalry are brought together in the pentangle of Sir Gawain’s shield, namely by the five virtues that the fifth point stands for: free-giving, friendliness, chastity, chivalry, and piety. These virtues of chivalry …show more content…
In a sense, Gawain is untruthful to Mary because by accepting the girdle from the lady, Gawain put his trust in the lady’s pagan magic and became unfaithful to Mary. Gawain is also untruthful to the lord. Gawain gave the lord the kisses he rightfully earned on the first two days after the hunt, but he failed to give the lord the green girdle on the third day of the hunt. This dishonesty results in the outcomes of the three “swipes” the Green Knight gives him. For Gawain’s first two days of honesty, the Green Knight gives Gawain two fake “swipes” to reward him for his honesty. The third swipe results in a cut on Gawain’s neck since Gawain did not give the lord the green girdle. Gawain realizes that by being untruthful, he has broken his vows and condemns himself at the end of the book. He decides to wear the green girdle around his left shoulder as a reminder to himself that he had broken his vows during his
But in the end he conceals the green girdle that the Bertilak’s wife gives him from him, revealing that despite Gawain’s bravery, he values his own life more than his trustworthiness. When he finally reencounters the Green Knight, he realizes the problematic nature of courtly chivalric ideals. During this, Gawain confesses his fault, of hiding the girdle, to the Green Knight and pleads to be forgiven. Afterwards, he chooses to wear the girdle as a symbol of his mistake. He cannot accept his sin and free himself of it the same way the Green Knight had and he continues to do penance by wearing the girdle for the remainder of his life.
The narrative artistry of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight can be attributed to the fundamental elements of chivalric life and the exploration of classic mythological elements that allows the narrative to bridge the gap between Christianity and Paganism, and allow its readers to find their own spiritual interpretation with in the text.
It is easy to read _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_ as a romantic celebration of chivalry, but Ruth Hamilton believes that "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight contains a more wide-ranging, more serious criticism of chivalry than has heretofore been noticed" (113). Specifically, she feels that the poet is showing Gawain's reliance on chivalry's outside form and substance at the expense of the original values of the Christian religion from which it sprang. As she shows, "the first order of knights were monastic ones, who took vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity. The first duties th...
The green girdle is more than just a symbol of Gawain’s dishonesty to Bercilak. A. The girdle is also symbolic of Gawain’s faith in a worldly object. B. Gawain fails in this test of his attributes by relying on the girdle to save his life. VI.
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.
Although, Gawain was not honest about the green girdle that he received from the lady of the
...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.
The lord planned to go hunting and invited Sir Gawain to eschange what he recieved in the castle for what the Lord recieved in the woods. For the first two days, the Lord gave Sir gawain venision, bear and a goose. And for every day, Sir Gawain recieved kisses from the Lady, so in return he must kiss the Lord. But on the third day, Sir Gawainj recieved three kisses and a green silk gridle. This gridle was magical according to the Lady. She said ""My knight, you must face many foes. This is a magic girdle; it has the power to protect whoever wears it against any weapon." Sir Gawains desire to live was overpowering so he accepted the gift. He failed to give the Lord this gift, but instead he gave him three kisses. Days passed and eventually Sir Gawain had to face the Green Knight. As scared as Sir Gawain was, he was determined to commit to his word so he allowed the Green Knight to swing his axe with the intent to decapitate him. Oddly enough, the Knight swung his axe three times and only cut Sir Gawains neck slightly.
Symbolism is used throughout literature to give deeper meaning to a variety of literary works. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight symbolism is seen through the actions of Sir Gawain against the trials he faces. The poem is first set during Christmas time at Camelot, showing that they were Christian for they were celebrating Christmas. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight shows the struggle between a good Christian man against the temptations of this world. Symbolically, one can see Sir Gawain holding true to Christian values: first, by standing up for what he believes in; second, by staying true to a future mate; and thirdly by repenting from sins due to a broken promise.
The first symbol in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight that I will discuss is Sir Gawain’s knightly shield. On Gawain’s shield is a pentangle, the five points on this pentangle represent the five virtues of the perfect knight; piety, friendship, generosity, chastity and courtesy. Each of the five virtues is tested on Gawain throughout the poem creating an emphasised importance on the shield’s representation and meaning. “Now alle þese fyue syþez, for soþe, were fetled on þis knyȝt, And vchone halched in oþer, þat non ende hade, And fyched vpon fyue poyntez, þat fayld neuer” (SGGK, 656-8). This quote tells of the pentangle’s design, how each line of the pentangles composition is endlessly linked to one another, suggesting that each virtue depends on th...
Even court life need not be washed completely of human sin and the natural instincts all animals rely on, for being godly, as Gawain is, should not be viewed as the primary characteristic of being moral. There should be a balance between humanity and godliness, similar to Aristotle's idea of a golden mean, that all these knights seek. By showing that knights should achieve this balance, the author extends his message to the common people, who look to knights as role models of morality. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight challenges the contemporary ideals of morality, presenting instead a golden mean that the common people would not have associated with their knightly role models before.
In the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Poet Pearl, Sir Gawain, knight of the Round Table, acts chivalrously, yet his intents are insincere and selfish. It is the advent season in Middle Age Camelot, ruled by King Arthur when Poet Pearl begins the story. In this era citizens valued morals and expected them to be demonstrated, especially by the highly respected Knights of the Round Table. As one of Arthur’s knights, Sir Gawain commits to behaving perfectly chivalrous; however, Gawain falls short of this promise. Yes, he acts properly, but he is not genuine. The way one behaves is not enough to categorize him as moral; one must also be sincere in thought. Gawain desires to be valued as
The story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight revolves around the knights and their chivalry as well as their romance through courtly love. The era in which this story takes place is male-dominated, where the men are supposed to be brave and honorable. On the other hand, the knight is also to court a lady and to follow her commands. Sir Gawain comes to conflict when he finds himself needing to balance the two by being honorable to chivalry as well as respectful to courtly love.
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain shows qualities of a chivalrous knight. He demonstrates that by showing generosity, courtesy, and loyalty during his travels. A mysterious knight shows up at the king’s castle and calls himself the Green Knight. The Green Knight then challenges one to play a game which he challenges the king to strike him with his axe if he will take a return hit in a year and a day. Sir Gawain steps forward to accept the challenge for his uncle King Arthur when nobody else in the castle would. He took the King’s role in the game to protect him from the Green Knight. He must learn to accept his responsibility as a knight, in accepting his fate.He demonstrates goodness at the hand of the Green Knight. He shows courage by accepting what is to come upon him during his voyage. His journey to find the Green Knight is filled with temptations.In the conversation with him and the “Lady”, Sir Gawain showed a Chivalrous code by keeping his loyalty to the king by not kissing his wife. The lady states “if I should exchange at my cho...
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight fit in with the concept of a romance; it has all the elements that would make one consider the text as so. The tale holds adventure, magic, a quest and an unexpected reality check that even those who are considered “perfect” are also just humans. The author used this story as a way of revealing faults in some of the aspects of knighthood through the use of intertwining chivalric duty with natural human acts; thus showing to be perfectly chivalrous would be inhuman.