At the conclusion of the narrative, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain’s identity is left undecided. The Green Knight restores Gawain’s knightly virtues of the pentangle and continues to praise Gawain for his virtue. But Gawain, unsatisfied with his restoration, returns home only to find his court full of admiration for his return home and victory, even though he now wears the green lace (4.2489-505). The physical journey of Gawain to the Green Knight demonstrates his outward courage and devotion, but leaves the question: what is truly going on in his heart? Gawain’s moral character is at stake, because he must decide between his valued pentangle or his gifted green lace as his moral identity. During his encounter with the Green Knight, Sir Gawain faces the reality of his nature to find that he is not wholly what his armor displays. Sir Gawain tarnishes his perfection and his virtuous pentangle and instead, he exemplifies his fallibility by the wearing the lace. Perfection is Sir Gawain’s external character from the beginning of the narrative to when he first removes his armor. Gawain’s armor carries all the expectations of the chivalric values: courage, courtesy, fidelity, and the pentangle. The pentangle represents the five senses, fingers, joys, virtues, and wounds (2.640-47). His armor is described as “For ever faithful five-fold in five-fold fashion / [with] … good works … [and] with virtues adorned” (2.632-34). Everything about Gawain echoes perfection and complete devotion to his duty as a knight. This portrayal is completely external as readers do not get a thorough glimpse into his heart until the description of his shield. Sir Gawain depends on Mary for strength, “On the inner part of his shield her image portrayed, / That when his look on it lighted, he never lost heart” (2.6649-50). It is fitting that the image rests on the inside of his shield rather than the outside, because it hides from the rest of the world and the outward view of his armor. Gawain needs outside help to complete his perfection and encourage him during the toughest of trials. The courage and loyalty granted from his armor allows Gawain to travel through the dark and cold forest and reach an unknown castle. Here,
The story of Sir Gawain works on an opposite level from that of Beowulf. Just as Beowulf emphasizes outward strength, the character of Gawain stands as a paradigm of inner strength as a path to outward glory. The battles Gawain fights occur inside his mind. The chivalric code is one concerned with honor and duty within a society of corruption and sin. The role of chivalry was one concerned with example. A chivalric Knight, such as Gawain, must abide by the inner code of morality in order to remain true to his self, his lord, and his God. Sin, for Gawain, would begin in the mind, and lead to dishonorable deeds in the outside world. Throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain travels on a path which is as much one of inner contemplation, as it is of actual travel. We see Gawain at the beginning of his journey being,"...faultless in his five senses,/Nor found ever to fail in his five fingers,"(640-1). Gawain’s traits being likened to the five wounds of Christ sets up his eventual fall from the very start. However, like Christ, Gawain is reborn to a new life through the "scratch" the Green Knight gives him (2312). From that small wound, Gawain realizes that he cannot live up to the perfect image of chivalry he has sworn to uphold. To Gawain, this wound comes very close to being the death knell of the entire moral system Gawain has dedicated his life to.
From this point in the story, Sir Gawain’s Chivalry is put to the ultimate test. The Green Knight bestows Sir Gawain with various trials that he must complete. He does this by taking the form the host, having his wife tempt Gawain, making a deal to exchange winnings, and lastly, putting Gawain’s loyalty and courage to the test towards the end with the threat of losing his life at the axe.
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, after Gawain ventures “into a forest fastness, fearsome and wild” (Norton, 311), he prays that he will be able to find “harborage” on Christmas Eve (Norton, 312). It is the middle of winter, and Gawain has been traveling in search of the Green Knight whose head he has cut off. After he prays and signs himself three times, Gawain finds a magical castle in the midst of a winter forest. He rides to the castle and is granted permission to enter by the lord. Gawain is attended to in a fashion befitting kings, and he meets the lord who tells his identity to all in the court. There are many significant implications and foreshadowings which occur during Gawain’s
Even in the middle ages of literature, a story such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight had many aspects of Joseph Campbell’s view of the hero’s journey. In the story of our character Sir Gawain accepts a “Call to adventure” (Campbell 45) and goes on a quest that will go through many of the archetypes. Likewise, there lies one character, The Green Knight, that can be many of the archetypal characters in the cycle of the hero’s journey. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight dramatically demonstrates how a single character can play many archetypal roles.
Sir Gawain accurately portrays his outward pentangle identity and knightly virtues through his armor through his travels. His armor carries the symbol of the pentangle or the “endless knot” (2.630), which characterizes Gawain as “For ever faithful five-fold in five-fold fashion / [with] … good works … [and] with virtues adorned”. His armor embodies visually the expectations his chivalric virtues of courage, courtesy, and fidelity and the pentangle with its five senses, fingers, joys, virtues, and wounds. As Gawain travels through the dangerous and cold forest, he bravely continues on to find the green knight and hold true to his vows and his armor. The commitment of Gawain to complete his duty satisfies his knightly virtues of courage and faithfulness and the virtues of the pentangle. He encounters serpents,
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, by an unknown author referred to as the “Pearl Poet,” we are introduced to Sir Gawain. Gawain is a knight of the Round Table and he is also the nephew of King Arthur. As a knight, Gawain is expected to possess and abide by many chivalrous facets. Throughout the poem he portrays many of the qualities a knight should possess, such as bravery, courtesy, and honor among others. Because of his ability to possess these virtues even when tempted to stray away from them, Sir Gawain is a true knight.
Great literature today involves works of archetypal styles that develop the protagonists person to become the character he/she are meant to become. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the hero must encounter several archetypal characters in his journey to maintain dignity of his beloved town, Camelot, threatened by none only the Green Knight himself. As Gawain ventures on this quest the Green Knight poses as not just only one, but several archetypal characters in his path to his development. The Green Knight, posing as the threat, threatens Camelot which wreaks havoc and causes the central problem for Gawain, meeting him in a year to discontinue his life. Not wanting to dishonor Camelot, Gawain agrees to this and comes along all these trials put forth by the Green Knight. Succeeding in these trials, when Gawain finally gets to the Green Chapel to end his life, on the third and final swing, the Green Knight stops and hesitates as he realizes that he is true of his word. As honor remains more important than his own self, Gawain finally realizes this to develop him into the character at the end that eventually saves his life.
o illustrate most periods in history, the era of knights evolved gradually. These guys have been knighted by the monarchy, but not as a part of an order of chivalry in particular the order of the chivalry the order of the British Empire. They can call himself “Sir”. In this case Gawain is the protagonist within the narrative poem “Sir Gawain and The Green Knight” a pinnacle of humility, piety, integrity, loyalty and honesty. He defends more than his own reputation, he was one of the bravest. In continuation we are going to see more of this amazing character that in my opinion shows to us the importance of family and overcoming one's fears.
On the third day when Sir Gawain is facing death, he doesn't give up the red scarf that was given to him by the Red Lord’s lady which was said to protect him from any harm. Gawain not knowing that the whole game was set up, doesn't give the Red Lord the scarf in order to protect him from dying, which shows that Gawain wants to live like any human, even though he may be known as the most noble man, he was willing to lie and protect himself in order to live. “Gawain is considered one of the most noble and virtuous knights, and embodies the chivalric tradition of the time” (quoted by Anaya M. Baker). Although Gawain may have accepted the Green Knight’s challenge as the noble knight he is, he still showed signs a fear and was willing to find a way to live even if it meant breaking his own honor code.
This heroism is symbolized most effectively with his shield, which bears a pentangle. The points on this symbol represent the knightly virtues of franchise, fellowship, cleanliness, courtesy, and pity, and it is said that “For ever faithful five-fold in five-fold fashion/Was Gawain in good works, as gold unalloyed/Devoid of all villainy, with virtues adorned in sight” (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, 632-635). The shield reflects the chivalric qualities Gawain possesses without fail, and shows him to be a knight of the utmost honor. The shield also symbolizes piety, which Gawain shows more in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight than in the other stories. On the inner part of the shield is an image of the Virgin Mary, and looking at this image gives him strength (649-650). As much as the shield represents Gawain’s chivalry, it also represents the driving force behind his actions, which is his faith. Of Gawain, it is said that “All his fealty was fixed upon the five wounds/That Christ got on the cross, as the creed tells;/And wherever this man in melee took part,/His one thought was of this, past all things else” (642-645). Gawain uses his faith to fuel his actions, and to early Christian audiences reading this story this would be a clear indication of Gawain’s
Instead of his honor, Gawain’s supposed sin now defines him. This challenge is the most important to Gawain’s character because it reveals the conflict between his standard for himself and his basic will to live. Gawain expects himself to be perfect, but he’s human, and so he must make
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the poet depicts an entertaining story of adventure and intrigue. However, the poem is more than a grand adventure. It is an attempt to explore the moral ideals of Sir Gawain. Gawain's standards are represented by the pentangle on his shield. The depiction of the pentangle occurs when Sir Gawain is preparing to gear up for his quest for the Green Chapel. Gawain's outfit is described in great detail, including its color, makings, and apparel. His armor is meant to serve as a means of protecting his physical being. This shield has great spiritual values in the five-points of the pentangle. Representing the knight's physical being, the shield serves as a form of
Gawain, a knight of the famed King Arthur, is depicted as the most noble of knights in the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Nonetheless, he is not without fault or punishment, and is certainly susceptible to conflict. Gawain, bound to chivalry, is torn between his knightly edicts, his courtly obligations, and his mortal thoughts of self-preservation. This conflict is most evident in his failure of the tests presented to him. With devious tests of temptation and courage, Morgan le Fay is able to create a mockery of Gawain’s courtly and knightly ideals. Through the knight Gawain, the poem is able to reveal that even knights are human too with less than romantic traits.
When talking about a morally ambiguous character, many ideas may float to mind. Perhaps a Dr. Jekyll type of person will pop up in your mind, or maybe just simply a person who doesn’t let morality get in the way of their ambitions. For a character to have a sense of evil present in them, it is not necessary for them to walk around with an ominous laugh, or anything comical in those lines. Similarly, for a character to have a sense of good, it does not mean they have to be perfectly correct either. In order to put the morally ambiguity into perspective, it is necessary to analyze the presence of both good and evil into a real character, and how it affects the story as a whole. From the Pearl Poet’s chivalric romance, “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, Sir Gawain is an excellent example of a morally ambiguous character. In the poem, Gawain’s purely good image was shattered when he cut off the Green Knight’s head, since he took the game as a challenge. That event could be considered as the event that set the plot into action, as the following events are all resulting from Gawain’s action. However, Gawain symbolizes good by initially embracing the knight's moral code in accepting the challenge and then, agreeing to the terms of the Green Knight. Gawain still symbolizes goodness by demonstrating proper knightly actions at times. The Pearl Poet uses Gawain as a morally ambiguous character to set up the plot. He firstly sets up Gawain as a good character, then uses a series of
Sir Gawain shows a lot of honor by staying true to his word and following through with his deal with the Green Knight. He mentally prepares himself for the year leading up to his journey to seek out the Green Knight, braves through the forest, is met with the temptations of the lady of the castle, and holds true to his deal with the