full title
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
author
Anonymous; referred to as the Gawain-poet or the Pearl-poet
type of work
Alliterative poem
genre
Romance, Arthurian legend
language
Middle English (translated into modern English)
time and place written
Ca. 1340–1400,
West Midlands, England
publisher
The original work circulated for an unknown length
of time in manuscript format. It now exists as MS Cotton Nero A.x,
fols. 91r–124v, held
at the British Library. Many different modern English and original-language
editions exist.
narrator
Third person omniscient
point of view
The Gawain-poet tells the story mainly from Gawain’s
point of view. However, he also occasionally narrates moments that happen
outside the scope of Gawain’s direct experience, most notably the
host’s daily hunts.
tone
The narrator’s tone toward Gawain’s story hovers between straightforward
praise and irony-tinged ambivalence. He occasionally refuses to
give a straightforward account of characters’ motives, leaving it
ambiguous whether he approves or disapproves of the codes of courtly
behavior and ethics that he describes. At times his tone can be
nostalgic for the mythical past, but at other times he verges on
criticizing a former age that is neither innocent nor pure. He often
achieves this level of ambiguity through the use of signs and symbols
with undefined meanings.
tense
Past; some commentaries on the action in the present
tense
setting (time)
The mythical past of King Arthur’s court (sometime
after Rome’s fall, but before recorded history)
settings (place)
Camelot; the wilderness; Bertilak’s castle; the Green
Chapel
protagonist
Sir Gawain
major conflict
The major conflict is largely Gawain’s struggle to
decide whether his knightly virtues are more important than his
life. Before he knows that the Green Knight has supernatural abilities,
Gawain accepts the Green Knight’s challenge to an exchange of blows. Once
the Green Knight survives the blow, Gawain has a year and a day
before he must seek out the Green Knight to receive the return blow,
which will almost surely mean his own death. Once he has found the
castle of a host who promises to show him the way to the Green Chapel,
he struggles to protect and maintain his knightly virtues while
remaining courteous to his host’s wife, and he struggles to keep
his pacts with the Green Knight and his host, despite his fear of
death.
rising action
Gawain accepts the Green Knight’s covenant and chops
off the Green Knight’s head, but he survives the blow. Two months before
he is due to meet the knight for his own decapitation, Gawain sets
out through the wilderness in search of the Green Chapel. He happens
upon a castle, where he stays until he must leave for his challenge.
At the castle, Gawain’s courtesy, chastity, and honesty are all
tempted. Gawain then journeys to confront the Green Knight at the
Green Chapel.
climax
Gawain encounters the Green Knight at the Green Chapel.
After feinting with his axe twice, the Green Knight strikes Gawain
on the third swing, but only nicks his neck.
falling action
The Green Knight explains all the mysteries of the
story. He and Gawain’s host at the castle are the same man, named
Bertilak. Morgan le Faye, the old woman at the castle, is actually
behind all the events of the story. Gawain admits his breach of
contract in having kept the green girdle and promises to wear the
girdle as a banner of his weakness.
themes
The nature of chivalry; the letter of the law
motifs
The seasons; games
symbols
The pentangle; the green girdle
foreshadowing
The Green Knight’s reiteration of Gawain’s promise
as he leaves Camelot foreshadows Gawain’s eventual encounter with
the knight. The description of the changing seasons at the beginning of
Part 2 foreshadows Gawain’s emotional development
in the following parts. The strange, hallucinatory appearance of Bertilak’s
castle foreshadows the untrustworthy nature of its inhabitants.
The lady’s offer of a green girdle foreshadows Gawain’s ability
to cheat death.
