Essays on Gawain

For most academics, the story of Sir Gawain is centred on the three hunting versus bedroom scenes in the tale. Notably it is a binding of similarities and differences between these linked passages that has been fodder for academics to banter over for many years. The tale goes that the lord and Sir Gawain rise around dawn to set out on their hunt and then return with their kill. Immediately after the lady tempts Sir Gawain in the privacy of his bedroom. Then Gawain joins the lord to celebrate their morning kill. The story repeats itself three times, the ...

Chaucer presents chivalry as an expression of perfection in character, inspired by the desire to please divine authority. According to Hall, a Knight’s duty in the medieval time was to the King, with the King seen as God’s intermediary (Hall, 16). The author presents chivalry in a militant fashion, probably as a reaction to the prevailing circumstance of chaos that needed a militant hand to defeat the heathens. Chaucer, therefore, presents the Knights as noble images of perfection with chivalry as a mainstay in their duty to man and God, even though it does not bear success ...

The poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" belongs to the works of the so-called "Arthurian cycle" since it tells about the adventures of Gawain, a knight of the Round Table, and the nephew of the legendary King Arthur. Translated by James Winny, the poem reveals the story about Sir Gawain's risky undertakings to meet the Green Knight. Sir Gawain agreed to hit the Green Knight with his axe but in return, he has to be struck back a year and one day later. The development of the plot of the poem is built on the conflict as well ...

This paper considers the shared ideas among Homer, Dante Alighieri, Virgil, and the anonymous writer of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The idea of paradise and hell, right, and wrong, retribution, and reward are evident in the texts with some of them bearing a close resemblance to each other. For the conclusion, there will be an analysis of how the authors’ perceptions echo in present-day societies. Perhaps the most common theme availed in all the reading is pride. In the texts, pride dominates the actions of the heroes and even propels some to act irrationally for the sake ...

In Medieval Literature women tend to be depicted as having no agency. They have act in accordance to the man’s will and have events acted upon them. In many cases they are nothing more than props used to provide the hero a basis for a heroic act. This paper will look at two stories in which the power of women is on display and how the power is utilized in comparison to each other. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, we have Guinevere, Lady Bertlak and Morgana Le Fay. Guinevere is the first women that we meet ...

At first glance the women in Arthurian Myths appear to be passive and unassuming but later it is revealed that there is more to the story. This paper will look at the women of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Morte D’ Arthur. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the three female characters are Guinevere, Lady Bertilak and Morgana Le Fay. The first woman we meet is Guinevere and she is the embodiment of a confined woman. She is described as “moving gaily among them, taken her place on the dais, which was adorn with silk sides ...

Literature is entertaining and provides valuable lessons on various subjects to the reader. A writer must use different methods to pass their message across to the reader. Some of the time, the idea maybe plain, but possess a hidden meaning to engage the reader’s mind. The methods used by writers in accomplishing this fete are known as literacy devices. There are several literacy devices that play various roles in literature: chiefly among them is the theme of the story. Writers tell a story through the characters and reveal the theme through the events in the story. For instance, ...