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Archetypal Roles In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

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In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight there are many archetypal figures influencing Gawain’s growth as a hero. Gawain must deal with many characters throughout his journey, these dealings reveal many sides of his character and tend to his moral growth. He learns many things from different aspects of the journey but he learns the most from the interactions with the characters. A number of characters in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight play key archetypal roles in the perfecting of the hero’s moral development. The temptress’ actions of seduction towards Gawain as the Lady of the castle, take place over three days, and are three trials Gawain must go through to prove his moral standing. The repetition of three could be an allusion to the Bible and …show more content…

At the beginning he is both the herald and the trickster, he is overall the devil figure, in the end he is Gawain’s mentor, ultimately the evil figure that turned good.Though Green Knight’s role as the mentor of Gawain is the most important. The Green Knight turned out to be the host, so he knew if Gawain would stay true to their deal, when Gawain didn’t The Green Knight cut Gawain once. Uncoincidentally, The Green Knight swung at Gawain’s neck three times and only cut him slightly the third time, just like the third time that Gawain didn’t give the girdle to the host when Gawain should have. These three times also tie into the Holy Trinity. The slight cut is representative to Gawain that he should always stay true to his word, and be chivalrous. Arthur, the King of Camelot, considered to be the mentor of Gawain in the beginning of the story. Arthur as the King of Camelot has many knights that must uphold a code of honor, and chivalry. Arthur’s morals are considered to be that of the highest standing. Gawain models his morals after Arthur, so Arthur’s influence and teachings are the foundation of Gawain’s morals. According to the hero’s journey there must be a theme, a message the author is trying to get across through the hero’s trials and experiences. The characters in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight play the largest role in getting this theme across to the reader and to Gawain. The idea that being honest and chivalrous is the best way to lead

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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a Middle English romance poem written by an anonymous West Midlands poet. Sir Gawain, survives two tests: the challenge, to behead the fearsome Green Knight and to let him retaliate a year later at the distant Green Chapel; and the temptation to commit adultery with the wife of Lord Bercilak,whose castle he stays in when headed to the chapel. this story of Sir gawain follows closely with Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. The start of the story takes place in King Arthur’s great hall.

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The main theme of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the journey to maturity of Gawain, the hero. During the passage, Gawain goes through three tests on his development. First, Gawain shows courage and resourcefulness when he volunteers to take the Green Knight’s challenge instead of Arthur doing so. Second, Gawain shows authority, self-restraint, and integrity when he denies the sexual endeavours of the lady of the house. Lastly, Gawain shows bravery when he faces death by keeping his meeting with the Green

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The initiation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight acquire trials that the hero must encounter such as: the climate,dragons,wolves and many more trials. “Sometimes he fought with dragons and wolves; sometimes with wild men that dwelt in the rocks; another while with bulls, and bears, and wild boars, or with giants of the high moorland that drew near to him (Weston).” This aspect shows the loyalty he has in completing the task. Along with the many thresholds, there is the magical weapon that justifies the damage Sir Gawain has in his soul. The magical weapon is the green girdle that the lady gives Sir Gawain.

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This scar from the Green Knight helped Gawain to realize his faults and the things that make us human in life. As he realizes these imperfections it says, “Gawain stood their speechless for what felt like a century, so shocked and ashamed that his stomach churned and the fire of his blood brought flames to his face and he wriggled and writhed at the other man’s words.” (179). The Green Knight had tested Gawain and by being honest two-thirds of the time, Gawain was allowed to live, even though he would always live in shame from that moment on. Others believed that he was brave and stood up, but Gawain was ashamed while the knights thought he was honorable.

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