Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

1. Sir Gawainand the Green Knight

2. I. Manuscript • Cotton Nero A.x. • 1375-1400 • Also contains Pearl, Patience, and Purity

3. II. Poetic form and devices • Alliterative Revival • Bob and Wheel • Bob: one line of two or three syllables • Wheel: four three-stress lines • Entire structure rhymes ababa

4. III. The Structure of the Poem • Three Gawains: • Courteous and brave brother of Round Table • Flawless exemplar of Christian chivalry • Flawed everyman • ABA structure of first half • Fabliau-like parallels in Fitt Three • Concentric Ring Structure (Solomon 1963)

5. IV. Romance Genre • Set in a remote place and time • Incorporates the marvelous, miracles • Hero is “superior in degree to other men and to his environment” • May involve conventional testing plot • Tester is unrealistic and remote • Test is extreme • Hero follows higher of conflicting virtues • Tester relents and allows hero to fulfill lower virtue (example: God and Abraham)

6. IV. Departures from Romance • Calendar/cyclic time and some real places • Hero is one of us, not superior to us/environment • Tester is split: malicious magic Morgan and likeable, realistic Bercilak • Gawain fails the test because he is human/sinful • Realism may result from 13th-14th century “penance campaigns,” new “moral psychology.” • Mixture of romance and realism leaves the reader wondering what rules govern this world.

7. V. Fitt One: Characters • Arthur: poet’s qualified approval • Sir Gawain: representative, not elect • Green Knight: ambiguous nature • Green body: supernatural • Green and gold equipment: courtly youth • Holly bob: life, peace • Axe: war

8. V. Fitt One: The Game • Gratuitous (thus romantic, not heroic) • Governed by rules (romantic, not heroic) • Seasonable (customary Christmas drama) • Quasi-legal (rules are reiterated) • Tests important knightly virtues • Involves seemingly inevitable death • Ernest/game ambiguity makes it possible for Gawain to treat the obligation lightly, but does not make it right for him to do so (Burrows 24).

9. VI. Fitt Two • Midwinter: Indoors/outdoors • Wine, feasting, celebration • Cold, sleet, rain • Arming of Gawain

10. VI. Fitt Two: The Pentangle • “Truth” • “Loyal to people, principles, or promises” • Possesses “faith in God” • “Without deceit,” “sincere” • “Upright and virtuous” • The Fifth Five: Five Virtues • Generosity, companionableness, courtesy, pure mind, compassion • Secular and social • Interdependent

11. VI. Fitt Two: The Journey • Eight weeks: 11/2-12/24 • Departs on All Souls’ Day • Four phases • Arthurian England • N. Wales (Winifred’s Well) • The Wirral • “Strange country” • Realistic and fantastic

12. VII. Fitt Two: Hautdesert • Parallels Camelot (A-B-A) • Provincial outlook – a “lopsided pentangle” – skewed expectations of G • Gawain’s behavior: confirms claims made for him in arming scene • Names: host knows Gawain’s name but Gawain doesn’t know host’s • Another contract – same qualities, ambiguity

13. VIII. Fitt Three • Fabliau: parallelism; sexual favors are commodities • Dalliance: compare lines 1010-1015 to 1218-1221 • Lady manoeuvres based on her misconception of Gawain – courtesy is all • Courtly ladies can pursue • Kisses are not adulterous

14. VIII. Fitt Three: Hunt and Bed • In both, day three represents a departure from the noble conduct of days one and two. • Deer/boar are noble; fox is ignoble • In both, the victim . . . • Flees an adversary (hounds/lady) • Retreats from prospect of another adversary (Bercilak/Green Knight) • Succumbs to original adversary (hounds/lady)

15. VIII. Fitt Three: The Girdle • Green and gold (should remind reader of Green Knight) • Not accepted for monetary value or beauty • Gawain acts differently after his fall: • Gawain goes to Confession, not Mass • Gawain awaits host, instead of host calling • Gawain goes first, not host • Gawain wears blue, color of faithfulness

16. IX. Fitt Four: Arming/Journey • Green girdle added to arming • Neither unqualified condemnation nor uncritical indulgence • Variation from departure from Camelot – Gawain does not hear Mass – odd for day of death • Qualities of Death ascribed to Green Knight • Indiscriminate/universal/inevitable • Must be faced alone (guide turns back)

17. IX. Fitt Four: Recognition • Green Knight is Bercilak de Hautdesert. • Morgan la Faye, Gawain’s aunt, orchestrated events to humiliate the Round Table. • The exchange game was the real test.

18. IX. Fitt Four: Confession • Replaces false confession at Hautdesert • Shame and mortification • Reparation: Gawain returns girdle (and it is given back to him) • Statement of sin: Gawain admits cowardice, covetousness, untruth • Request for penance (Bercilak refuses)

19. IX. Fitt Four: Judgement • Condemnation – Gawain did sin • Mercy – Sin was from love of life, not from lower passion or malice • Contrasting responses show decorum • Bercilak shows comparatively more mercy, for Gawain is more prone to despair than to presumption • Gawain shows wounded pride, but is harsh on himself • Problem of shifting blame to women – perhaps to make Gawain’s behavior realistic?

20. IX. Fitt Four: Return • Symbols • Gawain’s cut is healed. • Gawain wears the girdle. • Court adopts the girdle. • Contrasting responses again show decorum • Gawain is ashamed • The court downplays his sin • What does the court’s adoption of the girdle really mean?

21. X. Concluding Points • Openness and ambiguity pervade the text. • Text strives to combine romance and realism. • Text does not prove that courtly and Christian values inherently conflict, rather only that Gawain is human/sinful. • Gawain’s experience represents the “fundamental cycle of experience” – “social living, alienation, self-discovery, desolation, recovery and restoration” (Burrows 186). • Does Gawain take responsibility for his actions? Source: Burrows, J.A. A Reading of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1966.