Gawain Questions Essay Research Paper To Be

Gawain Questions Essay, Research Paper

To Be or Not To Be.. A knight To be or not to be. a Knight truly is the

question presented through this story, which is a tale of Gawains trials and

tribulations on his journey to the Green Chapel. First, before acknowledging

Gawain as being or not being a knight, one must first know what a knight is. In

reference to the Pentangle a knight or Gawain must be: ". first, he was

faultless in his five senses, Nor found ever to fail in his five fingers, And

all his fealty was fixed upon the five wounds That Christ got on the cross, as

the creed tells; . That all his force was founded on the five joys That the

high Queen of heaven had in her child. . The fifth of the five fives followed

by the knight Were beneficence boundless and brotherly love And pure mind and

manners, that none might impeach, And compassion most precious-these peerless

five Were forged and made fast in him, foremost of men." (Ll. 640-655) This

excerpt from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight demonstrates on what a knight

should be when looked upon from the Pentangle mode of being a knight. What

pertain to the Natural/Real Realm would be the five senses and five fingers. The

five senses part is used to gain knowledge of the world and worldly wage. The

five fingers are the deeds that are done. What pertain to the Religious,

Spiritual, Christian Realm would be the faith in the five wounds of Christ would

be Fealty and Force. Fealty is the faithfulness in the five wounds of Christ.

Force or the force in battle is inspired by the five joys of Mary. What pertain

to the Chivalric Realm are Beneficence, Brotherly Love & Truth, Pure Mind,

Manners, and Pite. Beneficence pertains to the generosity that the knight

bestows. Brotherly Love & Truth pertains to the fellowship and truth in

which the knight bestows. Pure Mind pertains to the chastity that the knight

shows through his encounters with women and their temptations. Manners pertains

to the courtesy that the knight shows to the people that he comes upon. Pite, or

piety, pertains to the compassion that the knight shows when he encounters

different situations. (GP) The narrator defines Gawain as being: ". in

good works, as gold unalloyed, devoid of all villainy, with virtues adorned in

sight." (Ll. 633-635) This basically states that he was a model of a good

guy. He kept himself out of trouble, we know this by reason of the narrator

stating that Gawain was the "Devoid of all villainy." This statement

says that Gawain is lacking in any sort of evil. It seems to be that the Green

Knight symbolically represents a villainous being that crashes in on a party to

play a medieval "Russian Roulette." In doing so causes an upheaval

among the Knights of the Round Table. The Green Knight storms in and asks

someone to chop his head off. At this part of the story it seems quite

questionable as to his reasons for doing so. Gawain responds to the beheading

game challenge in a humble, yet heroic sense. After the Green Knight barges into

King Arthur’s court and criticizes the Knights of the Round Table saying,

"Where is now your arrogance and your awesome deeds. for all cower and

quake."(l. 87, 91) The Green Knight is now saying that the Knights of the

Round Table are cowards. He is calling them out. The only one to accept the

challenge is Arthur strictly to show that he is not a coward. Just as Arthur is

about to decapitate the Green Knight Gawain speaks up and says, "I beseech,

before all here, that this melee may be mine." (l. 115-116) Here Gawain is

speaking up and telling Arthur that if anyone will do this that it will be him.

Gawain shows a great deal of courage in accepting this challenge for the reason

that no one else, aside from Arthur, would except the challenge. Gawain finds

hospitality and shelter at the castle of Bercilak, unbeknownst to Gawain, the

Green Knight. Bercilak made an agreement that "whatever I win in the woods

I will give you at eve, and all you have earned you must offer me." (Ll.

1105-1107) This agreement that was made means that whatever Gawain gets in the

castle he must give back to Bercilak. This agreement is complicated for the

reason that Bercilak’s wife is trying to seduce Gawain. With so some many

Christian elements present, it could be argued that symbolically that Bercilak’s

castle is the Garden of Eden with Gawain being Adam. Here, Gawain enters a place

that is extremely beautiful such as the Garden of Eden would be. God provided

the garden for Adam and Bercilak is the one who provides the castle for Gawain,

so Bercilak could symbolically be God. Therefore Bercilak’s wife would

perceivably be Eve, since she provides the temptation for Gawain. The temptation

would then be "eating the apple," or in Gawains case, submitting to

Bercil

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