Sir Gawain
and the
Green Knight
I. Manuscript
 Cotton Nero A.x.
 1375-1400
 Also contains Pearl,
Patience, and Purity
II. Poetic form and devices
 Alliterative Revival
 Bob and Wheel
 Bob: one line of two or three syllables
 Wheel: four three-stress lines
 Entire structure rhymes ababa
III. The Structure of the Poem
 Three Gawains:
 Courteous and brave brother of Round
Table
 Flawless exemplar of Christian chivalry
 Flawed everyman
 ABA structure of first half
 Fabliau-like parallels in Fitt Three
 Concentric Ring Structure (Solomon 1963)
IV. Romance Genre
 Set in a remote place and time
 Incorporates the marvelous, miracles
 Hero is “superior in degree to other men and to
his environment”
 May involve conventional testing plot
 Tester is unrealistic and remote
 Test is extreme
 Hero follows higher of conflicting virtues
 Tester relents and allows hero to fulfill lower
virtue (example: God and Abraham)
IV. Departures from Romance
 Calendar/cyclic time and some real places
 Hero is one of us, not superior to us/environment
 Tester is split: malicious magic Morgan and
likeable, realistic Bercilak
 Gawain fails the test because he is human/sinful
 Realism may result from 13th-14th century
“penance campaigns,” new “moral psychology.”
 Mixture of romance and realism leaves the reader
wondering what rules govern this world.
V. Fitt One: Characters
 Arthur: poet’s qualified approval
 Sir Gawain: representative, not
elect
 Green Knight: ambiguous nature
 Green body: supernatural
 Green and gold equipment:
courtly youth
 Holly bob: life, peace
 Axe: war
V. Fitt One: The Game







Gratuitous (thus romantic, not heroic)
Governed by rules (romantic, not heroic)
Seasonable (customary Christmas drama)
Quasi-legal (rules are reiterated)
Tests important knightly virtues
Involves seemingly inevitable death
Ernest/game ambiguity makes it possible for
Gawain to treat the obligation lightly, but does
not make it right for him to do so (Burrows 24).
VI. Fitt Two
 Midwinter: Indoors/outdoors
 Wine, feasting, celebration
 Cold, sleet, rain
 Arming of Gawain
VI. Fitt Two: The Pentangle
 “Truth”
 “Loyal to people, principles, or promises”
 Possesses “faith in God”
 “Without deceit,” “sincere”
 “Upright and virtuous”
 The Fifth Five: Five Virtues
 Generosity, companionableness,
courtesy, pure mind, compassion
 Secular and social
 Interdependent
VI. Fitt Two: The Journey
 Eight weeks: 11/2-12/24
 Departs on All Souls’ Day
 Four phases
 Arthurian England
 N. Wales (Winifred’s Well)
 The Wirral
 “Strange country”
 Realistic and fantastic
VII. Fitt Two: Hautdesert
 Parallels Camelot (A-B-A)
 Provincial outlook – a “lopsided
pentangle” – skewed expectations of G
 Gawain’s behavior: confirms claims made
for him in arming scene
 Names: host knows Gawain’s name but
Gawain doesn’t know host’s
 Another contract – same qualities,
ambiguity
VIII. Fitt Three
 Fabliau: parallelism; sexual
favors are commodities
 Dalliance: compare lines
1010-1015 to 1218-1221
 Lady manoeuvres based on
her misconception of
Gawain – courtesy is all
 Courtly ladies can pursue
 Kisses are not adulterous
VIII. Fitt Three: Hunt and Bed
 In both, day three represents a departure
from the noble conduct of days one and two.
 Deer/boar are noble; fox is ignoble
 In both, the victim . . .
 Flees an adversary (hounds/lady)
 Retreats from prospect of another
adversary (Bercilak/Green Knight)
 Succumbs to original adversary
(hounds/lady)
VIII. Fitt Three: The Girdle
 Green and gold (should remind reader of
Green Knight)
 Not accepted for monetary value or beauty
 Gawain acts differently after his fall:
 Gawain goes to Confession, not Mass
 Gawain awaits host, instead of host calling
 Gawain goes first, not host
 Gawain wears blue, color of faithfulness
IX. Fitt Four: Arming/Journey
 Green girdle added to arming
 Neither unqualified condemnation nor uncritical
indulgence
 Variation from departure from Camelot – Gawain
does not hear Mass – odd for day of death
 Qualities of Death ascribed to Green Knight
 Indiscriminate/universal/inevitable
 Must be faced alone (guide turns back)
IX. Fitt Four: Recognition
 Green Knight is Bercilak de Hautdesert.
 Morgan la Faye, Gawain’s aunt, orchestrated
events to humiliate the Round Table.
 The exchange game was the real test.
IX. Fitt Four: Confession
 Replaces false confession at Hautdesert
 Shame and mortification
 Reparation: Gawain returns girdle (and it is
given back to him)
 Statement of sin: Gawain admits cowardice,
covetousness, untruth
 Request for penance (Bercilak refuses)
IX. Fitt Four: Judgement


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Condemnation – Gawain did sin
Mercy – Sin was from love of life, not from
lower passion or malice
Contrasting responses show decorum
 Bercilak shows comparatively more mercy,
for Gawain is more prone to despair than
to presumption
 Gawain shows wounded pride, but is
harsh on himself
Problem of shifting blame to women –
perhaps to make Gawain’s behavior realistic?
IX. Fitt Four: Return
 Symbols
 Gawain’s cut is healed.
 Gawain wears the girdle.
 Court adopts the girdle.
 Contrasting responses again show decorum
 Gawain is ashamed
 The court downplays his sin
 What does the court’s adoption of the girdle
really mean?
X. Concluding Points
 Openness and ambiguity pervade the text.
 Text strives to combine romance and realism.
 Text does not prove that courtly and Christian
values inherently conflict, rather only that Gawain
is human/sinful.
 Gawain’s experience represents the “fundamental
cycle of experience” – “social living, alienation,
self-discovery, desolation, recovery and
restoration” (Burrows 186).
 Does Gawain take responsibility for his actions?
Source: Burrows, J.A. A Reading of Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1966.