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Comparing Hero In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

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In the enlightening poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a noble and honorable knight is set with a task that will challenge his honor and his chivalry. When an astonishing green knight appears and proves to possess surreal characteristics, he makes a deal with Gawain to strike him with his axe as long as he can strike him back in one year time. To keep his word Gawain takes a journey that will illustrate true human characteristics possessed by the poems hero. It is kind of silly to relate the two stories because they are completely different, but I found some relevance in them. When I was little I was challenged a lot by my brothers to wrestle and being the only girl I was stubborn and couldn’t turn down a challenge. As stubborn as I was I was also, in a way, a very fragile or sensitive kid. To put it simpler, I cried a lot. Whenever I found myself in a position I couldn’t get out of I always called for my mom. I wanted to fight, yes that is true, but I wanted to fight to win, if I found myself loosing I cried for help. It is pathetic I know, but I caught myself thinking of my childhood while reading about Sir Gawain. Sir Gawain treasures his life, just like I treasured to keep my arm from being bruised. He was noble and fought hard, but in the end he lied in hopes of protecting himself with his newly …show more content…

This poem was fantastically written, and these days it is hard to find pieces of literature that readers can relate to in more ways than one. I for one prefer a hero like Gawain than a hero like Beowulf. Sir Gawain displays what all heroes should be; virtuous, noble, humble, and of course they must have humility. Humility is key, because without Sir Gawain’s humanly flaw he would not be our ideal hero that we long for so much in

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Mirror Mirror on the Wall In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, both Arthur and Bertilak serve as hosts. The positions they have been put in mirror each other. The author mirrors Arthur and Bertilak which ultimately creates a deep comparison of their maturity. At the beginning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Arthur is having a party that Sir Gawain attends.

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141 Words | 1 Pages

Much of the action in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight revolves around carious kinds of games. In a way, all these games are connected. Chivalry is defined as the medieval system, principles, and customs of knighthood. In the time Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written, chivalry was a major deal. The games may have been somehow connected with chivalry, in that the medieval system included the playing of these games.

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85 Words | 1 Pages

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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361 Words | 2 Pages

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the author’s rhetorical purpose is to entertain the reader by telling a story of a knight learning truth and honesty. The author uses color, alliteration, repetition, bob and wheel, and antanaclasis to keep you interested in reading the poem. The first rhetorical device is color. The author uses color to help you picture what the characters look like. The uses sentences like “Splendid that the knight errant stood in a splay of green, and green, too, was the mane of his destrier.”

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718 Words | 3 Pages

Would you be able to hold steadfast to your core values and knighthood when faced against a sorcerous Green Knight with an itching to kill? Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written by the Pearl Poet, is a Medieval Romance tale about a noble knight who puts his life on the line in order to defend his king. Sir Gawain is a prestigious knight who demonstrates passionate integrity and honor as he remains faithful to King Arthur and holds true to the knight's code of chivalry. Although Sir Gawain knew that his life would be thrown into grave danger, he chose integrity and proved his loyalty to the king by upholding the virtues of knighthood.

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998 Words | 4 Pages

Sir Gawain shows loyalty and humility when he makes the decision of honoring the promise he made with the Green Knight. This humility drives him to set off to pursue the Green Knight to honor the pact they agreed on. On his arrival at the Green chapel, he calls the Green Knight who emerges to greet him and to fulfill the terms of the contract (Cathell). Sir Gawain presents his neck voluntarily to the Green Knight who feigns two blows (Cooke 4). This is a commitment and a sign of piety that Gawain manifests.

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775 Words | 4 Pages

In this time period a knight’s honor was everything, without it the noblemen would become a huge disgrace. Sir Gawain’s honor is immediately tested at the beginning of the poem. He gives his word in the beheading game and intends to keep it even though it’s obvious that the Green Knight had tricked him. “Blood gutters brightly against his green gown, yet the man doesn’t shudder or stagger or sink, but trudges towards them […] gripping his head by a handful of hair. Then he settles himself in his seat with the ease of a man unmarked” (429-439).

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1052 Words | 5 Pages

Sir Gawain disrespected the lord whom was housing him when he decided to keep the sash a secret. This decision also contradicted his oath to speak truth at all times because he did not disclose his gift the lord, and therefore indirectly lied to the lord. Sir Gawain fails to uphold the chivalrous code through his prioritization for self-preservation over honoring his commitment to fellow

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688 Words | 3 Pages

All in all, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight gave many fine examples of classic literature and the beauty of it. However, Gawain tried to redeem himself, but failed miserably. Redemption is achieved by falling and getting back up. Gawain tripped over his own feet, then blamed the girl who didn’t do anything. Gawain cannot teach anyone anything about redemption.

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1105 Words | 5 Pages

Essay: Consider how the Theme of courage is treated in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It has to be said that Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is arguably one of the greatest middle English poems of the 14th Century. The author of the text, whom, amazingly is still unknown tells the reader, through the medium of poem the courage of the Great Sir Gawain as he bravely challenges the Green Knight. The poem also shows the courage of others. In Medieval times and especially medieval writings, there was a great engrossment with courage.

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1684 Words | 7 Pages

Consider how the theme of courage is treated in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a story that celebrates courage in a positive light in the majority of situations but we see that courage can have a negative impact on some of the characters in the story and it questions knighthood. Courage is an honourable term defined “The ability to do something that frightens one; bravery:” (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/courage) and for Gawain to be called this term defines him as a knight. His actions throughout the story makes it difficult to analyse how courage is treated in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

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251 Words | 2 Pages

Topic The theme of the story “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is that staying true to your believes and/or promises may save your life. 1 [For example when he went on his journey he was stopped at a castle and made a deal with the lord of the castle, they would share what ever they got that day. The lord went hunting while Gawain stayed at the castle.

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891 Words | 4 Pages

“Descriptive Technique in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is a psychological criticism by Alain Renoir that focuses on the techniques that the poet implements throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Renoir begins by expressing that there are many critics and scholars who have different stances on what makes this epic a “superior” poem. They all, however, agree on one central idea: “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight owes its compelling vividness equally to its author’s psychological insight into the nature of the experiences he describes and to his flair for significant details” (Renoir 87). In other words, the poet shows evident understanding of the nature of the experiences that he describes and implements significant details to captivate

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1269 Words | 6 Pages

Not all heroes are perfect, but some are nobler than others. In the story of Sir Gawain, we find out that even legends, such as Sir Gawain made mistakes. In today’s time, most heroes are thought of as militaristic accomplishments, such as badges, wars won, and saving lives. Sir Gawain was a hero, not because of great accomplishments but because he was driven by his bravery, nobility, and virtue.

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654 Words | 3 Pages

As you can see no one is perfect. Sir Gawain lies about the sash that he took and he also flinched when the green knight swung the axe down on him. The story shows that there is no such thing as a fully followed code of

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