1. Sir Gawain and
the Green Knight

2. Characteristics of Courtly
Behavior
 Respect the king. Do nothing to bring him
dishonor.
 Respect women. Do nothing to bring
dishonor to any woman.
 Protect the poor and the weak.
 Honor God as a faithful Christian.

3. Courtly Love
 This tradition was also called courtesie
(also French), meaning “the behavior of
the court.”

4. Do Now:
 Identify all behavior on the part of any
character in the poem that conforms to
the medieval regard for courtesie.

5. Chivalry
 “Chivalry” comes from the
French cheval, or horse (n.b.
Norman influence in
language).
 Only the wealthiest people in
medieval society could keep
horses and afford to use
them in combat.
 “Chivalry” became
associated, therefore, with
the qualities of “horsemen”,
or knights.
 related words: cavalier (Fr.,
L.), cavalry (from L. caval),
caballero (Sp.)

6. Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight as epic poetry
Review: Characteristics of the Epic Hero
1. He is a model of faith, loyalty, or bravery…
2. who makes a long, difficult journey…
3. to do battle on behalf of another…
4. perhaps using his own superhuman
talents…
5. against an enemy who may himself
have or be guarded by supernatural
powers.

7. Journey = Quest
 In medieval poetry, the epic hero’s
journey to battle (like Achilles’ voyage to
Troy or Beowulf’s to Dane-land)
becomes a quest.
 A quest is “an adventurous expedition in
search of something spiritually fulfilling or
self-enhancing.”

8. So what kind of story
is this?
 It’s a ROMANCE (but not like
the movie The Notebook or
Sweet Home Alabama).
 ROMANCE:
 a narrative set in a world of pure
wish fulfillment
 superhuman heroes fight and
almost always conquer the
forces of evil
 the hero undertakes a hard
journey in search of something
valuable (a quest…remember
that?)

9. Main Characters…
 King Arthur (ever heard
of him?):
 Legendary king of Britain
 Husband of Guinevere
 Uncle of Gawain
 Over the famous Knights
of the Round Table at
Camelot
 Brave, courageous,
chivalrous

10. Main Characters…
 Sir Gawain:
 Arthur’s nephew and one
of the most loyal, brave
knights
 Follows the chivalrous
code (humility, piety,
integrity, loyalty, honesty)
 Courtly lover
 One flaw: loves his life so
much that he will lie to
protect it (obviously
breaking the code)

11. Main Characters…
 The Green Knight:
 Yes…he is a green man.
 Huge guy with big
muscles/carries a huge
axe
 Says he comes in
friendship but proposes
that someone step forward
to play the “beheading
game.”
 Expects the knights to be
courageous and step
forward to play.

12. Why the Green Knight?
 In medieval England, the
“Green Man” was a pagan
representation of nature.
 The “Green Man” was not
Satanic, but did symbolize
the nature worship that
characterized pre-Christian
tribal paganism.

13.  The “Green Man” is not evil, but is also
not Christian ∴
 a battle between any of Arthur’s knights
and any creature reminiscent of Britain’s
pagan past is, by extension, a battle
between “good” and “evil” – or between
the Christian piety of Arthur’s knights and
their tribal, non-Christian predecessors.

14. Gawain’s Shield
 In the poem, Gawain’s shield
is described as a golden
pentangle on a field of red.
 Gawain was said to possess
five qualities – one for each
of the pentangle’s points –
wherein he far excelled other
knights.

15. Red and Gold
 In medieval symbology, red signifies
humility as the blood of Christ
Gold signifies perfection.

16.  The first of these “Five Fifths” was his
faultlessness in his five senses.
 The next (second) of these “Five Fifths” was
his faultlessness in his five fingers.
 The next (third) of these “Five Fifths” was
the strength Gawain drew from his devotion
to the “five wounds of Christ.”

17.  The next (fourth) of these “Five Fifths” was
the strength Gawain drew from his devotion
to the “five joyful mysteries of the rosary.”
1. the Annunciation
2. the Nativity
3. the Resurrection
4. the Ascension
5. the Assumption
 The last of these “Five Fifths” was Gawain’s
well-known practice of the “five social
graces.”

18. The five social graces which
Gawain exemplifies above all
others are:
1. free-giving (generosity)
2. brotherly love
3. chastity
4. pure manners (courtesie)
5. piety

19. Sir Gawain faced five
challenges
1.to voluntarily confront the Green Knight
2.to strike his blow properly
3.to keep his vow to meet the Green Knight
in a year and a day.
4.to survive journey to the green chapel
5.to resist the lady’s temptations

20. The FIFTH TEST is the temptations and the
three gifts; it tests especially the fifth point of
the pentangle, the social virtues.
Gawain falls: his acceptance of the sash is
not a fault; his hiding of it is a potential fault;
his actual withholding of it from the lord
(Bertilak) is his fall. Had he given it back to the
lady, he would have erased his potential fault.

21.  The real fault, from Gawain's point of
view, is that the reality of his own
mortality induces him to break the
pentangle knot.
 Thus two effects of original sin are
reasserted: cowardice (bodily mortality)
and covetousness (willful cupidity). His
nature as a man is asserting itself
against his nature as a knight.

22. Other Characters…
 Lord and Lady of the castle where Gawain
stays for Christmas (The lady tries to seduce
Gawain every day he is there.)
 Queen Guinevere: Arthur’s wife and queen

23. Major theme…
 Chivalry:
 The world of Sir Gawain
and the Green Knight is
governed by well-defined
codes of behavior. The
code of chivalry, in
particular, shapes the
values and actions of Sir
Gawain and other
characters in the poem.
The ideals of chivalry come
from the Christian concept
of morality.

24. Major Theme…
 Arthur's court depends heavily on the code of
chivalry, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
gently criticizes the fact that chivalry values
appearance and symbols over truth.
 Arthur is introduced to us as the “most
courteous of all,” indicating that people are
ranked in this court according to their mastery
of a certain code of behavior and good
manners.

25.  When the Green Knight challenges the
court, he mocks them for being so afraid
of mere words, suggesting that words and
appearances hold too much power over
the company.
 The members of the court never reveal
their true feelings, instead choosing to
seem beautiful, courteous, and fair-
spoken.

26. Major Theme…
 The lesson Gawain learns as a result of the
Green Knight's challenge is that, at a basic
level, he is just a physical being who is
concerned above all else with his own life.
 Chivalry provides a valuable set of ideals
toward which to strive, but a person must
above all remain conscious of his or her own
mortality and weakness.

27.  Gawain's faults throughout this story
teach him that though he may be the
most chivalrous knight in the land, he is
nevertheless human and capable of
error.

29. Conclusion:
 Sir Gawain is mocked by the Green
Knight for being a coward
 “You can’t be Gawain … you flinch”
 Gawain redeems himself by resigning
himself to take the ax hit
 “Stood there still as a tree” (Represents
bravery)

30.  Each swing of the ax represented one
part of the test
 For Gawain’s first 2 days of honesty at the
castle, he receives “fake” swipes as a
reward.
 Contact was made as a consequence for
being “less than loyal” about sash.

31.  Gawain can’t fight his basic human
reaction to surviving, though it may seem
un-knightly. Character is human.
 Distinction between God and man.

32. Final note…
 Knight admires that Gawain loved his life.
 While the story shows a strive for
perfection, it almost celebrates failure
inherent in humanity
 Chance for redemption, humility

33. Setting up the story…
 During a New Year's Eve feast at King Arthur's
court, a strange figure, referred to only as the
Green Knight, pays the court an unexpected
visit. He challenges the group's leader or any
other brave representative to a game. The
Green Knight says that he will allow whomever
accepts the challenge to strike him with his
own axe, on the condition that the challenger
find him in exactly one year to receive a blow in
return.

34. Setting up the story…
 Stunned, Arthur hesitates to respond, but when the
Green Knight mocks Arthur's silence, the king steps
forward to take the challenge. As soon as Arthur grips
the Green Knight's axe, Sir Gawain leaps up and asks
to take the challenge himself. He takes hold of the axe
and, in one deadly blow, cuts off the knight's head. To
the amazement of the court, the now-headless Green
Knight picks up his severed head. Before riding away,
the head reiterates the terms of the pact, reminding the
young Gawain to seek him in a year and a day at the
Green Chapel. After the Green Knight leaves, the
company goes back to its festival, but Gawain is
uneasy……..and away we go from there!

35. Turn to page 226 in
your literature books
for “Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight.”