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Elements Of Symbolism In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

Good Essays

Ashley Rose

Dr. Morris

English 271

November 15, 2017

Symbolism of in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a poem by an anonymous author, written in Middle English around the 14th century. This poem is unlike the rest as it shows human disadvantages as well as advantages which distract the falsehood of the perfect knight, or the ideal hero. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight there are many different elements of symbolism. Some of which happen to be the pentangle which is a five-pointed star on Gawain’s shield, Gawain’s five senses (which line up with the pentangle), and the green girdle he receives from Bertilak’s wife. Symbolism is used to amuse the readers and brighten the story to help give a deeper meaning to the plot.
The illustration of the pentangle, also known as the endless knot, appears in the first section of the poem. Sir Gawain is getting ready to gear up for his journey to the Green Chapel, in order to meet up with the Green Knight for their ‘year and a day’ appointment. “The author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight reveals to us that such a moral interest can take exceedingly intricate forms. If we are to believe the poet, the pentangle passage is crucial to the understanding of his poem” (Morgan, 769). The flaws (which include lying and sexual immorality) that Gawain carries cannot be found in the symbolism of the pentangle.
The pentangle is said to have been a symbol devised by the wisest man ever, according to the

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