The many temptations of life bring people to act differently through personality changes. The characters in Sir Gawain the Green Knight change their personalities through temptation. Through the Christmas time, Bertilak, king of the castle, decides to go hunting. While he is hunting, his wife is hunting or seducing Gawain.
Men tempted with sex by women often act with certain animalistic instincts; in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by the Pearl Poet, the seduction scene leads Gawain to act upon his animal instincts, which mimic the behaviors of the beasts of Bertilaks' hunt.The temptation in the first seduction scene and the first hunt scene of the deer relates in both shy and timid ways. When the lady approaches Gawain, he acts shy "laid his head low again in likeness of sleep" (25). Gawain, confused at the directness of the lady, pretends to be asleep. She throws her body at him, which startles Gawain to act ignorant. At the end of the first seduction scene, Gawain says, "I shall kiss at your command" (28).
The deer, which at first is shy, but at the end of the hunt is killed, relates to Gawains' shy behavior, but at the end of the seduction scene is caught and kissed. Although the deer is the shyest of animals, the boar is caught with more use of power and strength. The next seduction and hunt scene revolves around the behavior of the boar. The boar is a quick and aggressive animal. It has a "bloodthirsty heart to quell" (31).
Gawain, when approached by the lady in the second seduction scene, acts less ignorant to his position, but temptation draws him to be aggressive. "My aim is to please," (33) said Gawain. The lady tempts Gawain to such an extent that he tries to resist her by exchanging two kisses with her, instead of sleeping with her. The hunt of the boar caught at last with more strength then the deer, is parallel to the lady attempting to pursue Gawain. He is more tempted to her and finally is caught by power.
The temptation of the third seduction scene and the hunt of the fox are the most forceful.Gawain is tempted to the extreme during the hunt of the fox. The fox has a sly and deceiving personality. "He thought through his wiles to have thrown off the hounds" (36). The fox tries to sneak away from the dogs, which happens to be the most outgoing personality characteristic.
The book Monster: An Autobiography of and L.A. Gang, is a context narrating the lifestyle of Kody Scott while in the gang. As indicated in the book, Scott lived in the neighborhood that was full of gang, violence, and misery. His lifestyle was defined by her mother who taught him how to survive in a tough life during the 1960s and 1970s (Shakur, 1993). During then, life was hard with every person struggling for survival. Kody was born in Los Angeles, an environment characterized by the life of the gangsters. His life was not that smooth as he was forced to live the
The next day's hunt is for a wild boar. The fierce animal is symbolic of Gawain's reactions to the increasing advances from Bercilak's wife. The boar is fierce and much more difficult to catch and kill, just as Gawain is steady in his resistance to temptation. Bercilak is aware that Gawain is resistant to all temptation at this point. Gawain is true to his reputation of a chivalrous, worthy knight.
...stops him from sleeping with Bertilak’s wife, only until his finds a way to avoid death does he goes against them. What Gawain learns from the green knight’s challenge is that instinctively he is just a human who is concerned with his own life over anything else. Chivalry does provide a valuable set of rules and ideals toward which one to strive for, but a person must remain aware of their own mortality and weaknesses. Sir Gawain’s flinching at the green knight’s swinging ax, his time in the woods using animal nature requiring him to seek shelter to survive and his finally accepting the wife’s gift of the girdle teaches him that though he may be the most chivalrous knight in the land, he is nevertheless human and capable of error.
The game in this story serves as a challenge to Sir Gawain to show his heroic development. The path that the Gawain takes ultimately determines his heroic maturity. It shows that the game hold the fate of the hero and what type of hero that he becomes. How the hero deals with the game is the factor of how he matures as a hero and what type of hero he is. The three games in this story prove Gawain ability to keep his word, his ability to be truthful in seduction, and the last test of character. The game brings out the true decisions of a hero in which he must decide what kind of hero he
Morgan, Gerald. "The Action of the Hunting and Bedroom Scenes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." Medium Aevum 56 (1987): 200-16.
When Arthur's court was challenged by the Green Knight, Gawain alone offered to take the cup from Arthur's hands. He showed pride and courage greater than all - by coming forward. The poem is filled with opportunities in which Gawain inevitably was forced to face difficult decisions. During his travels he had every opportunity to turn around, especially when the rain and cold and desolation became fierce. Gawain, however, continued on his way. Three times did the lady tempt him and twice he managed to neither offend her with discourteousness nor accept her amorous advances and defile his chastity.
The Meaning and Symbolism of the Hunting Scenes in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight
Even so, Gawain honors the chivalric code and is not disrespectful to the Lady. He surrenders himself to the will of the Lady so that he can “ kiss on command” (1501) and let her down easily. However, unbeknownst to Gawain, the Lady also does not covet a liaison. Both Gawain and the Lady go through the motions of a romantic relationship, but do not satisfy the audience’s sexual expectations because neither the Lady nor Gawain desire intimacy with each other. Therefore, the extent of the Lady and Gawain’s sexual encounter is simply kisses and “argue[ments of] sadness and grace” (1506), nothing
Part Three of Gawain and the Green Knight tell about the three days before Gawain is to leave the Lord’s castle to meet the Green Knight. The first day the lord wakes up early to hunt for deer. The story tells in detail about the hunting party when suddenly we move to the castle back to Gawain. Gawain asleep in his bed is greeted by the lady of the castle sneaking into his room and watching him sleep. Gawain knows she is in his room but acts surprised to wake up to her. The lady flirts with Gawain by telling him how great he is and offers her body to him. The author writes “My body is here at hand, / Your each wish to fulfill; / Your servant to command/ I am, and shall be still.” (Lines 1237-1240). Gawain tells her he is unworthy of her to which the lady continues her flirtatious ways. Before the lady leaves Gawain’s room she asks for a kiss to which Gawain complies and grants her a kiss. The lord’s hunting party has killed a large amount of deer and begins dividing the killings. The party returns home and Gawain is given the game, Gawain gives the lord the kiss he received but refuses to tell who gave him the kiss.
After reading through the piece of literature Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one will realize there are many elements present throughout that could be analyzed such as humility, chastity, and courage. It could be interpreted that the author meant for the main theme of the writing to be a theme of chastity. Although the element of chastity is present in that Sir Gawain is tested by many sexual temptations, the element of humility is one that is prominent and changing throughout the piece. Humility is apparent throughout the story in the way Sir Gawain displays false humility at the beginning, the way he keeps his humility during his stay at the castle, and the way he is truly learns humility after his challenges with the Green Knight are over.
On the first day Bercilak gives chase to the noble deer. The deer is characterized as being shy and elusive. A creature that would rather flee to safety then to try and fight its pursuers for its life. This parallels to the Lady and her first attempt to try and seduce Gawain. Gawain is given the qualities of the deer in her first attempt. For Gawain acts shy and looks for a way to stay true to his values and at the same...
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, there is specific use of three animals as metaphors for human actions. These animals are the deer, boar, and fox. When Gawain rests with the Lord and Lady on his way to battle with the Green Knight, we see three hunting scenes, which coincide with three seduction, or flirting, scenes. During these hunts, the Lord of the manor kills three animals. The first is the deer. White's translation states that the deer, or the stag, can be used as a metaphor for Christians. The author felt that deer were able to eat snakes for medicinal purposes, and thus shed their old skin. This ability makes them like Christians in that when they eat up the devil, or sin, and then they are able to confess or shed their sins. The Lady, who is compared to a snake with the "s" alliteration, tempts Gawain. He refuses her advances at this point in the story, but later, he feels he must confess for taking her sash, thus shedding his sins.
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.
During the first hunt against the doe, due to the deer being a female this hunt was considered easy without a doubt. A doe is not a violent animal, however if anything they are more passive than aggressive. In the story, it does not take much effort for the Lord to trap the doe. With the use of beaters the doe is swindle into a convenient location for its killing, allowing the Lord to go home with an effortless victory. However, the Lady was not as lucky when it came down to her first seductive attempt. Similar to the doe, Sir Gawain was also caught off guard and ended up being trapped. “You sleep so soundly one might sidle in here. You’re tricked and trapped” (1209-1210). The Lady’s first attempt was not one of aggression, but very easygoing and passive. With the use of light jokes and conversation, the Lady’s attempts to swindle Sir Gawain are not as straightforward, but more so could be seen
The Family structure has changed significantly in the last fifty years. With higher percentages of marriage ending in divorce, and higher rates of childbearing out of wedlock, single parent families are increasing rapidly. “Seventy percent of all the children will spend all or part of their lives in a single-parent household.” (Dowd) Studies have shown that the children of these families are affected dramatically, both negatively and positively. Women head the majority of single- parent families and as a result, children experience many social problems from growing up without a father. Some of these problems include lack of financial support, and various emotional problems by not having a father around, which may contribute to problems later in life. At the same time, children of single-parent homes become more independent because they learn to take care of themselves, and rely on others to do things for them.