A 12th Century Epic Romance

Is Honor Worth Dying for? This would have been an easy question for a medieval knight to answer. Knights were sworn to follow a code of behavior known as chivalry. The code required knights to defend their church, their king, and their country courageously. Today, however many people have doubts about whether an abstract concept such as honor is worth dying for.

Knight’s Code of Chivalry A knight was expected to have not only the strength and skills to face combat in the violent Middle Ages but was also expected to temper this aggressive side of a knight with a chivalrous side to his nature.

The Knights Code of Chivalry and the vows of Knighthood To serve and fear To protect the weak To refrain from the unjustified giving of offence To live by honor and for glory To despise pecuniary reward To fight for the welfare of all To obey those placed in authority To guard the honor of fellow knights To speak the truth To respect the honor of women Never to refuse a challenge from an equal Never to turn the back upon a foe

Fidelity Loyalty, devotion, faithfulness Honor, truth

Medieval Romance Larger-than-life characters A medieval romance can be a dramatic verse or a prose narrative. It typically includes the following elements: Larger-than-life characters An adventurous hero who faces a severe challenge Idealized love involving a noble lady Exotic settings Supernatural elements Hidden or mistaken identity

Characters Arthur : The legendary king of Britain, husband of Guinevere and uncle of Gawain, -presides over the famed Knights of the Round Table at Camelot. Guinevere—Arthur’s wife - struggles with “fidelity”

Morgan Le Faye: Arthur’s half sister -jealous of Arthur’s inheritance (Camelot from his father Uther Pendragon) -schemes to defame knights

Bertilak: manor lord of Hautdesert Lady Bertilak: temptress -desires to seduce Gawain

The Green Knight: a green man who comes to Arthur’s court in “friendship” -seeks someone in Arthur’s court who can play the “beheading game”

Symbolism Symbolism: Green In English folklore and literature, Green has traditionally been used to symbolize nature and its embodied attributes, namely those of fertility and rebirth.

Plot A: The Beheading game The Green Knight arrives in Camelot, challenges Arthur to a game of exchanging a “Blow for a Blow.” Arthur accepts, but Gawain steps in to defend King Arthur. Following the event, Gawain has one year and a day to go to receive his beheading.

Applying the Cycle of the hero Where are we: Departure The Call to Adventure Refusal of the Call Summarizer: Identify the “refusal of the call” as it pertains to Gawain.

The Gawain (Pearl) poet is famous for this device Bob and Wheel The Gawain (Pearl) poet is famous for this device The "bob" is a very short line, sometimes of only two syllables, followed by the "wheel," longer lines with internal rhyme. *Some internal rhyme is lost in translation. Ex. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Strophe "stanza-" signifies regular, recurrent, and typically rhymed sections of poems "strophe-" signifies irregular, unrhymed subdivisions Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written in a series of strophes followed by "bob-and-wheel" stanzas.

Plot B: The Quest Almost one year later, Gawain leaves Arthur’s court to find the Green knight In classic Romance fashion, Gawain is given three chances to deny himself the misery of his quest

Five points of perfection Gawain’s armorial symbol is the Pentangle symbolizing the requirements of Arthur’s knights- Strength (5 fingers) Keenness (5 senses) Spirituality (5 wounds) Beliefs (5 vows) Integrity (5 virtues) Inside his shield is a painting of the Mary Symbols of his outer nature *We’ll discuss the pentangle in more detail in Fitt 2.

Visit to Hautdesert Gawain searches for a place to celebrate Christmas and discovers a heavenly place called Hautdesert. He spends time with Lord and Lady Bertilak. Each day as the Lord goes out to hunt, while Lady Bertilak “hunts” at home.

Summarizer Identify elements of Medieval Romance found in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?” Cite the text to support each element.

Larger than life characters Hero who faces a severe challenge Idealized love involving a noble lady Exotic setting Supernatural elements Hidden or mistaken Identity