Sir Gawain And Green Knight

6 Pages 1520 Words

This essay will critically analyze Sir Gawain and The Green Knight in order to show how the author’s use of symbolism, chivalric virtues, and religious undertones serve as the ultimate “test” for Gawain, and ultimately humanity.
Sir Gawain and The Green Knight begins with Arthur’s Christmas feast being interrupted by the emergence of a mysterious horseman. He makes an interesting offer of a game to the Knights regarding the chopping off of some heads and the brave Sir Gawain rises to the occasion. After cutting the Green Ghosts head off, Gawain must meet him one year later and fulfill his part of the deal and get his head chopped off. In short, one year later Gawain searches for this Green Knight and stumbled upon a castle. He stays there for a few days and eventually gets enticed by the lord’s wife. The lord of the castle, Bercilak, is away in the forest hunting at this time. Gawain accepts a magic belt from the Lady, which he will use later to protect himself against the Green Knights vengeance. He soon departs to meet with the Green Knight. The horseman takes a few chops at Gawain but misses on the first two. It is on the third swing that he only seems to nick at Gawain’s neck. Following this, Gawain is invited by the Green Knight back to the castle for a feast of his own. It is here that he learns that the Lady of the castle plotted from the beginning to lead Gawain to sin. The tales ends with Gawain promising that forever he must wear this girdle as a symbol of his wrongdoing.
As one reads this text, it is immediately apparent that the author takes great pains in describing elaborate details about character descriptions and physical features. These descriptions are always aesthetic in nature, describing ornate clothing, physical and sometimes violent detail.
As the tale begins, we immediately witness references to Christianity. We learn that Arthur’s company consisted of “The most noble knights known...