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Gawain And The Green Knight Character Analysis Essay

1180 Words5 Pages

The classic tale The Beauty and the Beast conveys an excellent lesson on how one should never judge a book by its cover. In the story the Beast is an outcast who is judged solely on his physical appearance and unjustly declared to be a menacing monster by society. Due to the way he looks, people automatically assume that he is dangerous and a threat to society. Similar to the Beast, the Green Knight from Gawain and the Green Knight by the Pearl Poet is thought to be a dangerous, supernatural being on the basis of his outward appearance and intimidating persona; nonetheless, In spite of his threatening appearance and other seemingly antagonizing characteristics, the Green Knight is a respectable character with a numerous amount of redeeming qualities that are portrayed throughout the story. On the surface, the Green Knight is an ostensibly dangerous being. His notorious green coloration and immense size are clear signs of his supernatural nature. This unnatural appearance is a clear indicator that the Green Knight is an evil creature and, as such, the citizens of Arthur's castle are frightened and …show more content…

He is a lovable character with a vast quantity of admirable characteristics that seem to be overlooked due to his daunting appearance. Similar to the Beast, he possesses many traits which demonstrate his kind-hearted nature. The Beast is courteous towards Belle in a similar fashion to the way the Green Knight treats Gawain. Despite being rumored to be a terrible monster, in actuality the Beast is simply misunderstood. He is kind-hearted and very likable; however, due to a society that places such a high value on appearance, the redeemable qualities of both of these characters are overshadowed by an intimidating physical appearance, and as such, they are regarded as nothing more than typical

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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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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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Fault and redemption. What do these two words really do in our lives? Do they give us another chance or are they just concepts that we want to follow? In the world we live in, one fault can often make or break something in our lives, but when granted with redemption, we don’t always take it as seriously as needed and soon our fault becomes someone else’s pride. Sir Gawain’s faults can be a constant reminder of the mistakes we all make as humans along with the quote, “It is clear then that there can be no redemption without fault, just as one is unable to return from exile without first being sent into one.

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The green knights adheres to the code of chivalrous conduct. The Green Knight is a mysterious, supernatural creature. He rides into Arthur’s court on New Year’s Eve almost as if summoned by the king’s request to hear a marvelous story. His supernatural characteristics, such as his ability to survive decapitation and his green complexion, immediately mark him as a foreboding figure. The Green Knight contrasts with Arthur’s court in many ways.

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He is described as a man, “None had seen...with sight in that hall so grand.” (197) Immediately he asks for the leader of the house to which he extends his request for a contest to King Arthur. The unnamed knight then reveals the rules of the game. Carl Martin, in his essay, The Cipher of Violence, elaborates. “ The Green Knight reveals here that while the typical warrior-noble engineers his aggrandizement through public displays of prowess… he is also bound by a strict code of behavior meant to restrain and refine his aggression.”

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During the Medieval times chivalry was one of the most important characteristics a knight could display. Chivalry was viewed as a moral obligation that involved bravery, honor, respect, and gallantry. Knights were expected to uphold this code or face social consequences for any infractions, with punishments ranging from humiliation to termination of their knighthood. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” presents the struggles knights faced with honoring the chivalrous code at all times. Sir Gawain, while imperfect, exhibits qualities expected of knights and embodies the internal struggle between honoring the chivalrous code and giving into selfish desires.

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“You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor” said Aristotle. Courage is an act of bravery one does that is frightening yet they still persevere. Courage is found in many different situations in the modern world like in members of our military, law enforcement, and many others ordinary people performing courageous acts to help better our society. Everyone wants to have courage since whether in music, Hollywood movies, fairytales, or books we are told courage is one of the most important attributes that can turn an ordinary person into a hero.

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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late fourteenth century Arthurian Romance Poem. During the time of Sir Gawain, society was dominated by males with women receiving little power. Women were treated with chivalry, but not respected as beings of their own rights. Knights were prided in having the code of chivalry yet were under the assumption woman could not attain much for themselves.

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1290 Words | 6 Pages

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, composed by an unknown artist, is a medieval story that follows the tale of a knight who embarks on a journey after being issued a challenge from a mysterious green stranger. During his quest, Sir Gawain, the knight, stays at a castle in the wilderness and is housed by Lord and Lady Bertilak, both of whom test his chivalric code and his Christian ideals. Lady Bertilak is a seductress and tempts Sir Gawain, though he refuses all her advances, with the exception of her kisses. Lord Bertilak is the mysterious green stranger, known as the Green Knight. Once Sir Gawain completed his task, he discovers that Morgan le Faye, a witch scorned by King Arthur, orchestrated the entire challenge in the hopes of causing King

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There are numerous glorious characters that have been illustrated as antagonists in the stories and poems written by renowned writers, namely, William Shakespeare. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare introduces a captivating character, Oberon, King of the Fairies. It cannot be easily identifiable that King Oberon is the antagonist, however as the plot thickens, it can be argued that he does indeed take on the role as the villain. On the contrary, in the unknown author’s poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Green Knight takes on the challenging role of the antagonist, which is clear from the very beginning of the poem. Throughout the essay, I will compare and contrast the

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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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355 Words | 2 Pages

The green knight is a constant symbol of pagan fertility thought the poem. This is first made apparent the very first time we see the knight. “It would be hard to describe even half the fine work That was embroidered upon his [clothing and saddle-gear], the butterflies and birds, With lovely beadwork of green, always centred upon gold.” The embroideries and the knights entire appearance for that matter (possibly also with his head to toe green attire) suggest that he is in thought with nature, this is of coarse in sharp contrast to Arthurs court which he has entered which as with Gawain represents the opposite. As we know paganism centres around close ties to the natural world, and the examples of the green knights connection to nature continue

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1680 Words | 7 Pages

There have been many differing interpretations of the Green Knight’s purpose in the poem and what his green colour is symbolic of. The Green Knight enters Arthur’s court holding a holly-branch “Ȝe may be seker bi þis braunch þat I bere here, / Þat I passe as in pes, and no plyȝt seche” (Barron 265-266). The holly signifies peace but he also carries an axe, which signifies violence. Because of these dualities of his character, the Green Knight symbolic meaning can be interpreted in various ways.

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946 Words | 4 Pages

Do the flaws of a character remain a part of that person forever? In many aspects of literature, the characters battle an internal war in which they must recognize their flaws and become a better person. In contrast, many works of literature, such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight show characters who are never able to accomplish this, leading many to believe that it is impossible to become a better person. People and characters are capable of redeeming themselves of their flaws, despite the fact that some do not undergo this redemption of character.

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1269 Words | 6 Pages

In the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, we begin in King Arthur’s court at a Christmas feast. A stranger, who calls himself the Green Knight, interrupts the festivities proposing a game. Anyone from King Arthur’s court has the chance to have one swing to chop of the Green Knights head, but in return the brave man who does must find the Green Knight at the Green Chapel in a year’s time, and allow the Green Knight to return the favor. When no knight rushes to take on his challenge, the Green Knight insults the court by calling them cowards. "What, is this Arthur's house...

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