1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Humility
Piety
Integrity
Loyalty
Honesty
Poetic Form and Structure:
Alliterative Revival
Bob and Wheel
Bob: one line of two or three syllables
Wheel: four three-stress lines
Entire structure rhymes ababa

2. The bob-and-wheel is a structural device common in the Pearl Poet's poetry.
The example below comes from the first stanza of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
The bob appears in red, and the wheel appears in blue. Alliterative components are in bold print, and rhyming components are in italic print.
Sithen the sege and the assut was sesed at Troye, The borgh brittened and brent to brondes and askes, The tulk that the trammes of tresoun ther wroght Was tried for his tricherie, the trewest on erthe-- Hit was Ennias the athel and highe kynde, That sithen depreced provinces and patrounes bicome Welneghe of al the wele in the west iles. Fro riche Romulus to Rome ricchis hym swythe, With gret bobbaunce that burghe he biges upon fyrst, And nevenes hit his aune nome, as hit now hat. Ticius to Tuskan and teldes bigynnes, Langaberde in Lumbardie lyftes up homes, And fer over the French flod Felix Brutus On mony bonkkes ful brode Bretayn he settes with wynne,
Where werre and wrake and wonder Bi sythes has wont therinne, And oft bothe blysse and blunder Ful skete has skyfted synne.
The final five rhymes--wynne, wonder, therinne, blunder, synne--have an ABABA rhyme pattern. The phrase with wynne is the bob; it bridges the alliterative section and moves the poem into the final rhyming section in each stanza. The bob-and-wheel structure is not common in the poetry of Chaucer, though even he uses it for parody in Sir Thopas.

3. The Green Knight – Hero of Ecology?
hO!Ho!Ho! Green Giant!
Eastern origins
Green is the color of Islam
Connection to the Pagan god, Odin
Has regenerative qualities – like a plant
Influenced Robin Hood
The Green Man appears in gardens and other vegetation

4. Lady visits Gawain in his bedroom
Courtly Love
Elevated women
Object of love was to be worshipped from afar as an ideal
Only noble people were worthy of love
Poem seems to condemn courtly love
Lady visits Gawain in his bedroom

5. Kiss me!

6. Elements of Romance Tester is unrealistic and remote Test is extreme
Set in a remote place and time
Incorporates the marvelous and miracles
Hero is superior to other men and his environment
May involve “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)

7. 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.

8. Kiss me?

9. Ideals of Knighthood
Physical ideals: Strength Skill at arms Horsemanship
Non-physical ideals: Courage Humility Courtesy Loyalty
Three Gawains:
Courteous and brave brother of Round Table
Flawless exemplar of Christian chivalry
Flawed everyman
Gawain tries to be loyal to Arthur, to Bertilak, and to his own word.
His failure is in loyalty to his word

10. Sir Gawain: the character
Courageous and brave
courtesy and chivalry
Flawless example of Christian chivalry
Flawed everyman
Gawain is Arthur’s nephew
Never portrayed as Christian –
unlike the other knights of his time
Alienated from the other knights

11. Characters King Arthur—legendary king of Britain
Husband of Guinivere and uncle of Gawain
Presides over the famed Knights of the Round Table at Camelot
Queen Guinevere—The wife of Arthur
According to legend, she had an affair with Sir Lancelot which brought about the fall of the Round Table.
Adversary - the enchantress Morgan le Fay, who, we learn at the end of the poem, conjured the Green Knight in order to terrify Guinevere
Sir Gawain—The nephew of Arthur and a knight
He accepts the challenge of the Green Knight, whom he must behead, then seek out next year

12. More Characters Knights of the Round Table
Sir Ywain, Sir Eric, Sir Dodinal le Sauvage, Sir Bors, Sir Bedivere,Sir Lionel, Sir Lucan the Good and Sir Mador de la Porte
Sir Agravain á la dure main—A knight; Gawain’s brother
Sir Lancelot—A knight; has an affair with Queen Guinevere
The Green Knight—Mysterious man in Green whom Gawain, in response to a challenge, beheads and must later seek at the Green Chapel

13. Yes, More Characters
Lord Bertilak—Lord of the castle of Hautdesert, where Gawain stays on his way to find the Green Knight
At the end of the story, he is revealed to be the Green Knight himself
Lady Bertilak—Wife of Lord Bertilak,
tries to seduce Gawain three times while her husband is away
When Gawain refuses her advances, she gives him a sash- has the magical property of preserving him from harm from weapons
When Gawain first sees Lady Bertilak, she is accompanied by and old crone, Morgan le Fay (different incarnations of a single person?)

14. Wait, One More
Old Crone / Morgan le Fay—The woman first who accompanies Lady Bertilak when Gawain first arrives at castle Hauptdesert
She appears ugly as her younger companion is beautiful
In Arthurian romances, Morgan is a powerful and ambivalent sorceress, who often lays temptations for the knights of King Arthur

15. The Game Code of Chivalry The five Virtues Recognition
Governed by rules
Tests important knightly virtues
Involves seemingly inevitable death
Posses faith in God
Loyal to people, principles, and promises
Without deceit
Upright and Virtuous
Generosity
Companionableness
Courtesy
Pure mind
Compassion
The Green Knight
The exchange game was the real test

16. Sin was from love of life, not malice
Confession
Shame and mortification
Statement of Sin: Gawain admits cowardice, covetousness, and untruth
Request for penance
Condemnation
Gawain did sin
Sin was from love of life, not malice
Problem of shifting blame to women
Sir Gawain’s “human experience”
Social living
Alienation
Self-discovery
Desolation
Recovery and Restoration
Thematic Points
Openness and ambiguity
Combination of romance and realism
Gawain is human/sinful

17. FITT ONE Fitts Gratuitous (thus romantic, not heroic)
Beheading Game
relates to pagan myths about agriculture
Arthur: poet’s qualified approval
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).
Sir Gawain: representative, not elect
Green Knight: ambiguous nature
Green body: supernatural
Green and gold equipment: courtly youth
Holly bob: life, peace
Axe: war

18. FITTs two and three Midwinter: Indoors/outdoors
Wine, feasting, celebration
Cold, sleet, rain
Arming of Gawain
Exchange of Winnings
Hero’s Temptation to test his loyalty, honesty, chastity

19. Fitt Two: The Pentangle
“Truth”
“Loyal to people, principles, or promises”
possesses “faith in God”
“Without deceit,” “sincere”
“Upright and virtuous”
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

20. Fitt Three Fabliau: parallelism; sexual favors are commodities
Dalliance: compare lines to
Lady maneuvers based on her misconception of Gawain – courtesy is all
Courtly ladies can pursue
Kisses are not adulterous

21. Fitt Three: Hunt and Bed
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)

22. 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

23. 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)

24. 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.
Fitt Four: Morgan le Faye’s hatred of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
Considered translation imperii = transfer of culture from one civilization to another (Troy to England)

25. 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)

26. 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?

27. 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?

28. NOT EPIC Hero fighting for spiritual ideals
Not fighting for people against a monster or other threat
Chivalric/Arthurian Hero NOT an Epic Hero like Beowulf
The poem is also a ghost story, a thriller, a romance, an adventure story and a morality tale. For want of a better word, it is also a myth, and like all great myths of the past its meanings seem to have adapted and evolved, proving itself eerily relevant 600 years later. As one example, certain aspects of Gawain's situation seem oddly redolent of a more contemporary predicament, namely our complex and delicate relationship with the natural world. The Gawain poet had never heard of climate change and was not a prophet anticipating the onset of global warming. But medieval society lived hand in hand with nature, and nature was as much an enemy as a friend. It is not just for decoration that the poem includes passages relating to the turning of the seasons, or detailed accounts of the landscape, or graphic descriptions of our dealings with the animal kingdom.

29. Synopsis – 2500 lines on 2 slides
Starts on Christmas Eve at the court of King Arthur
Gawain accepts a challenge from The Green Knight
Chop off his head, then seek the GK out in one year, then the GK will behead him
Gawain does it
The next year, Gawain sets off to find the GK. After surviving many perils, he comes to stay with Bertilak and his wife – hospitable
Lady Bertilak tries to seduce Gawain but he refuses
She offers him a sash that will make the wearer invulnerable to weapons
Gawain accepts hoping to protect himself from the GK

30. Synopsis The next day he sets off to find the GK and he appears
1st blow of the ax – Gawain flinches and the GK complains
2nd blow of the ax – The GK praises Gawain for not flinching – Gawain complains and wants him to finish
3rd blow of the ax – Nicks Gawain’s neck, but does not decapitate
The GK explains that he is Bertilak
The first two checked blows were for the honorable behavior shown by Gawain in refusing to be seduced by Lady Bertilak
The nick was for dishonorably taking the sash
Gawain wishes to return the sash, but Bertilak insists that he keep it.
Gawain says that he will wear it as a token of his shame.
When he returns home everyone is delighted by the story
They follow his example and wear green baldrics in honor of Gawain

31. 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.