Sir Gawain and the Green Knight essays

The course description on the CSUN website describes English 258 as: Major English Writers. The premise of the course is, “completion of the lower-division writing requirement. Study of works of major English writers from the middle-ages to Samuel Johnson, with attention to literary movements and backgrounds.”(CSUN.edu) As a professor of this course, I believe there are three eras that have the most importance of being taught. The Anglo-Saxon, Medieval, and the Early Modern era. The corresponding readings should be Beowulf,…...

When looking at all of the classical literature eras, three come to mind: Ancient, Medieval, and the European Renaissance eras. The ancient era being the oldest starts around 8th - 3rd century BCE. This era includes a number of epic poets such as Homer, Hesiod, Aesop, Sappho, Pindar, Aeschylus, Sophicles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Menander, and Apollonius of Rhodes from Ancient Greece. Then there was Catullus, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Seneca the Younger, Lucan, Juvenal, and Pliny the Younger from Ancient Rome (Mastin,…...

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an amazing, drama filled story that contains tons of action and keeps readers on the edge of their seats; yet, the story has one major issue. In the end of this story, starting in line 2414, Sir Gawain talks about the fact that he should have known better than to trust the woman. He continues to describe women as if they are all deceptive. Then he rants on, listing multiple Bible stories in…...

Knights, in time, have evolved and become something much different from that of what they were in the Middle Ages. They have always been looked at as men who were in war and whose main duty was to protect. While this is somewhat true, they had a much broader job. It was the duty of a Knight to fight for and serve their King while following the code of Chivalry. This Code stated that a Knight should have bravery in…...

In medieval times, a knight’s worth was not simply determined by their battle prowess. The code of chivalry brought a set of virtues which shaped their followers’ words and actions. Among the values of the code of chivalry was loyalty and righteousness. Loyalty was crucial since a knight lived to serve and protect their lord and others who depended on them in order to maintain the social order. Righteousness was another key trait of a medieval hero as knights strives…...

“Arthurian legend” is an evocative term for those with even the faintest grasp of the subject (as in, they have at least heard of Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, Merlin, maybe watched The Sword in the Stone when they were five, whatever). Coming across the term on a syllabus might lead one to imagine that they will be reading about the epic adventures of chivalrous knights, whether they be engaged in glorious battle against various agents of evil…...

The poem Sir Gawain and The Green Knight was written by an unknown English author referred to as the “Pearl Poet” around the late 1300s, which was a period of time when knights, castles, and kings existed in reality, not only in stories and tales. Sir Gawain is the valiant and noble protagonist of the poem who faces a series of challenges given to him by the Green Knight, or Lord Bertilak. Stephen Greenblatt explains that most folklorists classify the…...

Throughout the poem of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, Sir Gawain is approached by the hosts’ wife, as she challenges the value he has placed on his courtesy and chastity. The Lady imposes her sexual desires with Sir Gawain in the three bedroom scenes throughout the play. The Lady challenges Sir Gawain’s politeness as he refuses to engage in any sexual activity with her, which ultimately challenges his courteous; as, the Lady holds higher rankings in comparison to a…...

The term “feminism” may be described as the advocacy of women’s rights. Throughout history, there has been four different waves of feminism. However, the most influential wave of feminism was the third wave. The third wave contradicts the conservative and modest ideologies of the former waves. “According to third wave feminists, post feminism can be understood in terms of a conservative patriarchal discourse that seeks to criticize and undermine second wave feminism.”  The third wave of feminism focuses on the…...

In any story in British literature, there is always some sort of aspect of religion featured in the story. Sometimes you have to use your imagination to figure it out and dig deep into the story and sometimes it is easy to figure out. Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is one of those tales. To begin, in the tale you read about well-defined behavior. The code of Chivalry in particular. The ideals of chivalry begin with the Christian concept…...

The purpose of this essay is to discuss the texture and contextual characteristics of „Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”. Unfortunately, according to British Library, we know nothing about the author of this medieval poem, but most scholars believe him to have been a university-trained clerk, or the official of a provincial estate  It was probably written around 1400. This alliterative poem survived with three other works: Purity, Pearl and Patience- they all were written by the same man. The…...

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a Middle-English chivalric romance. “But what defines it as such?” one may ask. A chivalric romance tells the story of a knight who, while on a quest, learns about (and sometimes starts to question) himself, his culture, or his beliefs. On his quest to find the Green Knight, Sir Gawain leaves Camelot and enters a wild forest. Here, he is forced to abandon the codes of chivalry that he is used to abiding…...

The word hero is a broad term and can be defined in many different ways. A hero has several qualities like courage, respect, and strength can define heroism. When it comes to heros, most people like to believe that a hero would always be there to save humanity as needed however, that is not always the case. All heroes are different, but what makes them epic is that they are formed in an epic narrative. Also their accomplishments in the…...

Harmonizing to the pearl poet, Sir Gawain used the pentacle as a symbol of truth, the star has five points that link and lock with each other, organizing what is called the endless knot. Each line of the pentacle passes over one line and under one line, and joins the other two lines at its terminals. Each point of the pentacle stood for virtuousnesss Sir Gawain aspired to hold his flawless five senses, five fingers, the five lesions of Christ,…...

The King Arthur legends include many epic hero archetypes. Arthur and other knights of the round table embody these epic hero qualities. An epic hero is meant to be a role model. Some of the key qualities of this epic hero archetype include bravery, honor, not fearing death, amazing physical strength, and putting other's welfare before their own.King Arthur is clearly an excellent example of the epic hero archetype because of his chivalry. Chivalry is defined as the sum of…...

Why did the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight include a character with a bizarre complexion and magical abilities? Why do most people do weird things? Unfortunately, there is no obvious reason for the latter; however, there are quite a few explanations for the former. “The Pearl Poet,” as the unknown author is referred, wrote the poem around the late 1300s in England—a time and place in history in which knights, kings, and castles were not just parts…...

“If you tell the truth, you won’t have to remember anything” (Mark Twain). Throughout my life I have come to recognize many truths. Sometimes I would tell the truth and sometimes I would lie, but when I lied I didn’t always get away with it. Although I do lie about some things and get away with it, I still feel bad about doing it. Throughout my life, Algernon and Jack’s false identities, Father Hooper’s sacrifices, Dr. Heidegger’s experiments, Eldorado’s disappointing…...

Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight:The Importance of Literary Genre and Time Difference"They said that of all the kings upon earth / he was the man most gracious and fair-minded, / kindest to his people and keenest to win fame," (Beowulf 97 ln. 3180-82). This is a description of the great king Beowulf, from the epic poem of the same name. "…Sir Gawain you are, / Whom all the world worships, whereso you ride; / Your honor, your…...

It is impossible for a human being to fulfill all the ideals of the Chivalric Code and the seven Cardinal Virtues. Christian knights lived by the Chivalric Code to gain honor, but it was not possible even for the best and purest knights to always stick to these conventions of courtesy, generosity, loyalty, consistency, chastity, poverty, valor and skill. In addition to these components of the Chivalric Code, a knight was to follow the seven Cardinal Virtues, which were justice,…...

Charles Darwin once said that, “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.” In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is an honest and chivalrous knight, as seen in his pentangle, “The fifth five I find the famous man practiced Were – Liberality and Lovingkindness leading the rest; Then his Continence and Courtesy, which were never corrupted; And Piety, the surpassing virtue” (Gawain, 651-654). Sir Gawain’s chivalrous character seems…...