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Essay On Symbolism In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

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The poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight focuses on Sir Gawain’s attempt to survive a game brought on by the green knight during Christmas time. This game has Sir Gawain take an axe to the green knight’s head and in return the green knight will come back in a year and return the blow. As time passes by, Sir Gawain realizes he is reaching death because he knows he will not survive the axe as the green knight did; therefore, he decides to find the green knight before the green knight finds him. The author provides the audience with symbolism to show how although Sir Gawain has knightly virtues, he is human and capable of error. The green girdle symbolizes moral truth, which is demonstrated by how the character passes every test except one. …show more content…

After the lady realizes Sir Gawain will not break his chastity, she tests his honor by telling him if he wears the green girdle “There is no hand under heaven that could hew him down, / For he could not be killed by any craft on earth” (Page 1681, Lines 1853-1854). Sir Gawain realizes with this girdle, he can honor the green knight by fulfilling the promise he made and still survive. However, doing this will cause him to lie to the host during the daily gift exchange game, thus breaking his vow of honesty. Sir Gawain realizes he made a mistake and hates the fact that he was not chivalrous; therefore, he and his men wear a green belt to remember this sin. The author provides a reader to the moral truth through the symbolism of the green girdle by revealing how men are human and capable of error. The truth of the story shows the virtues Sir Gawain lives by kept him from sleeping with the host’s wife; however, he values his life more than he realizes which causes him to enter the trap set by the green knight. The author wants a reader to realize everyone should remain conscious of their weaknesses and strive to be the best person they can be, but to not beat themselves up because people are merely human and will make

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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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After Gawain comes clean and acknowledges his sin, the Green Knight praises him for being an honorable and chivalrous knight. He then invites Gawain to a great feast, but Gawain humbly states that he must return to his duties and continue to defend and protect King Arthur and his subjects. Sir Gawain even thanks the Green Knight and wishes him well after this frightening test of honor. He says, "I've reveled too well already; but fortune be with you; May He who gives all honors honor you well," (401-402).

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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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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight In the Pearl Poet’s Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, an epic story emerges to reveal a man’s journey of honor, honesty, valor, and loyalty. Throughout Gawain’s adventures in the poem, he discovers and demonstrates his own chivalric qualities. Although he makes a few mistakes along the way he strives to be an honorable man.

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Gawain, who had struck a deal with the lord to surrender all things he received during his stay in the lord’s dwelling, fails to do so in the name of self-preservation. The lord’s wife gifts Sir Gawain a green sash rumored to protect its possessor from physical harm. Gawain, recalling his inevitable meeting with the Green Knight, decides to contradict his agreement with the lord and “hid[es] it away from all hands and eyes” (Line 1875). His decision blatantly violated the chivalrous code, “failing a moral test in agreeing to hide the girdle from the husband, with whom he has the prior arrangement to exchange winnings” (West 9).

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Which led to the Green Knight explaining to Gawain that he is actually the same lord of the castle where Gawain spent his holidays. The first two blows, he claims, were in return for the way Gawain returned the kisses of his wife, following the rules of their game as an honest man should. The third blow, he says, was for Gawain’s failure to return the green girdle to him on the last day. But because Gawain’s failing was only because he wanted to save his life, and not because he's just dishonorable, the Green Knight forgives him. He leaves Gawain with only a scar and a girdle as a reminder of his very human sin.

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The lady tries to convince Gawain to take the girdle by hinting at its magical powers , stating that he “could not be slain through any strategy on earth” (1854) if he wears it . Gawain takes the girdle not out of lust , but because he fears death and that makes him start to believe in its magical powers “It [the girdle] certainly would be splendid to forestall being slain” (1858) . It is a way in which he tries to overcome fear and prepare himself for the appointment with the Green Knight. If we look at it from this perspective , the girdle can also symbolize that Gawain wants to be assured that he lives. The moment he takes the girdle is of great importance : whether he hides or declares the girdle and gives it to the Lord , he violates someone’s trust .

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As a part of his acceptance, Gawain says “I’ll keep it, gladly, not for its gold, nor its lovely silk, nor its polished stones. But as a sign of my sin.” (2430-2431) This a major point in this story because Gawain acquired the belt from Morgan, and in the agreement from the Green Knight, Gawain accepted to return everything he had received to the Green Knight and he returned the kisses from Morgan, who was the Green Knight’s wife but did not return the belt. Gawain returns to King Arthur’s court sheepish and ashamed that has failed a test of honor by withholding the green belt from the Green Knight out of a want to save his own life.

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When the Green Knight gives him the girdle back Gawain says "I gladly take it and be pleased to posses, not for the pure gold, nor the bright belt itself, not the beauteous pendants/When I ride in renown, and remember with shame the faults and the frailty of the flesh perverse, how it 's tenderness entices the foul taint of sin"(2439-36). It is at this point where the girdle has changed from a symbol of life to a symbol or shame and temptation. Gawain and the Green Knight say goodbye to each other and part ways. Gawain heads home ashamed of what he had done, when he gets home the court is overjoyed that he had returned and he was alive. When the court asks of the quest that he had been on he retells how it was all set up and that he now wears the green girdle out of shame because of his actions.

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In the story, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the main character, Sir Gawain, According to the Gawain-poet, King Solomon originally designed the five-pointed star. A symbol of truth, the star has five points that link and lock with each other, forming what is called the endless knot. The pentangle symbolizes the virtues to which Gawain aspires: to be faultless in his five senses; never to fail in his five fingers; to be faithful to the five wounds that Christ received on the cross; to be strengthened by the five joys that the Virgin Mary had in Jesus (the Annunciation, Nativity, Resurrection, Ascension, and Assumption); and to possess brotherly love, courtesy, piety, and chastity. The side of the shield facing Gawain contains an image

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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, whose author is unknown, is an Arthurian Romance/Epic that holds a degree of Christian symbolism. These Christian symbols are intermixed with Britannic Pagan traditions and themes in order to appeal more to the common British people at the time of the early Christianization of Britain. This can be supported by the stories of kings being created in the earlier centuries throughout history. In this particular story, this symbolism is important since all the knights of King Arthur’s Court were supposed to follow a certain chivalrous code of conduct, whether present in the courts or away on some other venture. The chivalric code being the embodiment of Christian virtue and valor, which was expected to be personified

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Through the use of symbolism Pearl-Poet successfully enhances the text by providing a unique perspective of the pentangle, in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. At this point in time, Sir Gawain is bound to fulfill his promise to find the Green Knight, after he was given a 12-month time span. Before his departure, he was given a shield with a pentangle in the middle, and a painting of the Virgin Mary inside. With these two objects combined, he was believed to have a successful journey.

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