Analysis Of Sir Gawain And The Green Knight - 1199 Words

According to Christopher Reeve, â€Å"a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.† In today’s culture, the hero is frequently depicted as a knight in shining armor, an image that originates from age-old literature such as the fourteenth-century Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In such literary works, the heroic knight has several virtuosic character traits: friendship, chastity, generosity, courtesy, and piety; however, he must also endure a quest in which his virtues are tested. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, three obstacles challenge the hero Gawain’s morals, including the Green Knight, the seductress, and the threat of death, leading to a further maturity of†¦show more content†¦The challenge of maintaining virtues becomes a psychological game as Gawain is separated from his peers. He battles foul enemies including â€Å"dragons/ ...wolves, and satyrs, / And forest trolls, / And bulls, and bears, and ivory-tusked boars, / And giant ogres† (lines 719-723), but his physical monsters are glossed over in comparison to the mental turmoil that Gawain faces during this segment of his journey. In his â€Å"friendless† (line 714) time â€Å"nowhere near home† (line 714), Gawain lacks the support system of his compassionate friends of the court. The only backbone he has is in his faith, leading to his prayers to Mary â€Å"To end his grief, / To guide his weary / Steps to relief† (lines 737-739) in an act of piety, another knightly virtue that Gawain embodies. Coincidentally, the pious act that grants him the salvation of discovering the castle and brings the joys of having human companionship again also leads him to his greatest challenge: the seduction of the Lady Bercilak. Part Three of the tale is the peak of Gawain’s obstacles in the form of the Lady Bercilak. He is repeatedly tested in a psychological game of chivalry against courtesy. To Gawain, the Lady Bercilak is even â€Å"Lovelier than Guenevere† (line 945), his own queen, so it is no doubt that the challenge imparted upon him by her attempts at seduction is a great one indeed. In addition, Gawain also must compete in Lord Bercilak’s game of trading each day’s winnings for the winnings of the otherShow MoreRelatedAn Analysis Of Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Essay2387 Words   |  10 Pagesthe fourteenth century poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The poem opens with allusions to Greek and Roman history and eventually sets the story on Christmas in Camelot with King Arthur and his knights of the round table. Gawain, King Arthur’s nephew and a knight in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, faces trials and temptations that one would typically expect from a kn ight of the round table. Through careful and juxtaposed analysis of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and articles by reputable authorsRead MoreEssay Analysis of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight1050 Words   |  5 PagesAnalysis of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, after Gawain ventures â€Å"into a forest fastness, fearsome and wild† (Norton, 311), he prays that he will be able to find â€Å"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. 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The color green certainly is a prominent color in the poem, especially with the Green Knight, who is literally green from head to toe. The Green Knight makes quite the entrance on his horse as he rides into Camelot disrupting King Arthur and his knight’s New Year’s Feast. The Green Knight has come to find out if the Knights of the Round Tab le are as loyalRead MoreAnalysis Of Sir Gawain And The Green Knight940 Words   |  4 Pages In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the men and women appear to have different roles in the society. The men attempt to live a more noble life while emasculating the power of the women. Throughout the poem, women display hints of their potential through manipulation and trickery, traits that are uneasily recognized by men as growing power. Morgan la Fay manipulates the Lord Bercilak to assume the role of the Green Knight, and she uses him for revenge against Queen Guenevere. She engineered a planRead MoreAnalysis Of Sir Gawain And The Green Knight1054 Words   |  5 PagesIn his book The Discarded Image C.S. Lewis states that â€Å"the Middle Ages depended predominantly on books†¦reading was one way of the total culture.† To illustrate, imagine a young heroic knight, holding his sword in one hand and his shield in another. Standing in confidence, with a determined look upon his face before confronting his next challenge. Bravery is found in many interesting stories throughout the medieval ages. It is defined by Oxford Dictionaries as â€Å"courageous behavior or character† (OxfordRead MoreAnalysis Of Sir Gawain And The Green Knight846 Words   |  4 PagesAnd Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is not an exception to the rule. The poem uses imagery, juxtaposition of scenes, and the action of the chara cters to present the numerous themes to the reader and the presentation is done throughout the work. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the idea that in the world, there are man-made and natural rules that one must follow but in times, the two rules come in conflict with each other. By analyzing the two games played by Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, theRead MoreAnalysis of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight866 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight† is the classic tale of a knight of the round table who takes up the challenge of the mysterious Green Knight. The poem begins with the Green Knight’s sudden arrival and his declaration of his proposition: a knight may strike him, and then a year and one day from then he will return the blow. This tale is most well-known for dealing with the themes of a knight’s code of chivalry, loyalty, resisting temptation, and keeping one’s word. While the whole poem is full ofRead MoreAnalysis Of Sir Gawain And The Green Knight1374 Words   |  6 PagesThe language of symbols plays a major role in medieval poetry â€Å"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight† is no exception. The use of symbolism gives a writer the ability to draw important connections between items in their story and the audience. The poet behind â€Å"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight† gives the reader a detailed description of the pentagram, his most important symbol, in order to form the key understanding of this poem. The narrator compares knightly ideals such as integrity, focus, and strengthRead More Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: An Analysis of Parallel Scenes636 Words   |  3 PagesSir Gawain and the Green Knight: An Analysis of Parallel Scenes The anonymous author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was supposedly the first to have originated the alternation of temptation and hunting scenes, which both contribute importantly to the effectiveness of the poem (Benson 57). The two narratives are obviously meant to be read as complementary. Therefore, the parallel juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated episodes is the basic characteristic of the narrative. The narrative