Sir Gawain and
the Green
Knight
An Arthurian Romance
Arthurian Romance


Legend of King Arthur
Romance Poetry


Knights
Idealized behavior






EX: courtly love (The love within the King’s court
or assemblage)
Fantasy
Supernatural creatures
Challenge/Test -> Test
Heroism
Moral Lesson
Other Medieval Genres
 Religious
prose
 Narrative Prose
 Romance
 In the High Middle Ages, the transition
towards Renaissance (Shakespeare’s
time) began.
 After Shakespeare’s time we see the
emergence of the novel.
Feudal Social Institutions
 Chivalry





knightly code of behavior
Truth
Honesty
Respect for women
Courage
Obedience to the King
Humility
Chivalry
 Replaces
the Anglo-Saxon comitatus
(commitment)
 Knight obeys the King because he’s the
King

One-way relationship
Kholberg’s Stages of Moral
Development
Level 1: Preconventional
Obedience:
Punishment
Avoidance
Self –Interest
Orientation
How can I
avoid
punishment?
What’s in it
for me?
Level 2:
Conformity to Following
Conventional Societal
Authority
Norms
What is good
behavior?
What does
the law say?
Level 3: Postconventional
How will it
affect the
world?
Democratic
Expectations
Martyrdom:
Do the
greatest
good
Challenge/Test
 Sir
Gawain is a Chivalrous Knight, so he
must live up to the standards of Chivalry.
The test ensures that Gawain sticks to his
morals and convictions as a Knight.
 Through the beheading game, the Green
Knight aims to reveal the true nature of
knighthood and that there is corruption in
the Knightly Code.
Why read this today?
 Moral



Lesson
14th Century- Knights had to make choices;
these choices reflect the acceptance or
denial of the Chivalric Code.
Modern Day- we have to make choices in
life based upon our belief system.
Beliefs are the way in which we measure
our actions; our believes are the way in
which we decide if our actions are good or
bad.
Courtly Love in Romance
Poetry
 Audience
most likely women
In Romance, we see that women play a
larger role than they did in Anglo-Saxon or
Ancient Greek Literature
 The
courtly love consisted of a
relationship between a knight and the
liege lady. (It was not always
inappropriate)
Who is the author of Sir
Gawain and the Green
Knight?
 WE
don’t know!
 He is called the Gawain poet or the Pearl
Poet because he gives his readers “pearls
of knowledge” about good behavior.
 Pearl Poet’s special technique: The
eyewitness technique

Tale is told in the 3rd person except when
the narrator describes events from his own
perspective.
As we read…
 Pay
attention to the numbers 3 and 5
 Pay attention to Sir Gawain’s
challenges/tests and how he
overcomes/succumbs to them
 Pay attention to Chivalrous Actions and
Courtly Love
Calendar of Events…
18
19
20
Reading
Check
21
Hw:
“Chivalric
Oaths”
Article
22
23
24
“Chivalry”
Article
HW: Part One
Study Guide
25
26
27
28
29
Part
No Class No Class No Class
One
Notes
30
31
Quarter
Two Ends
HW: Part Two
Study Guide
Calendar of Events…February
1
2
3
Part Two
Notes
8
9
4
5
6
7
“Chivalry
Part Four
Part Three Part Three
and Courtly Study Guide
Study Guide
Study Guide
Love”
Article
HW:
Understandi
ng Medieval
Romances
10
Sir Gawain
and the
Green
Knight
Essential
Themes
11
12
13
Test
Sir Gawain
and the
Green
Knight
Essential
Themes
14
Critical
Essay #2
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
Meet in Room
109 to type
essays
Hw: Dante’s
Inferno
Cantos 1-10
Critical
Essay #2 Due