Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas
explored in a literary work.
The Nature of Chivalry
The world of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is
governed by well-defined codes of behavior. The code of chivalry,
in particular, shapes the values and actions of Sir Gawain and other
characters in the poem. The ideals of chivalry derive from the Christian
concept of morality, and the proponents of chivalry seek to promote
spiritual ideals in a spiritually fallen world.
The ideals of Christian morality and knightly chivalry
are brought together in Gawain’s symbolic shield. The pentangle
represents the five virtues of knights: friendship, generosity,
chastity, courtesy, and piety. Gawain’s adherence to these virtues
is tested throughout the poem, but the poem examines more than Gawain’s personal
virtue; it asks whether heavenly virtue can operate in a fallen
world. What is really being tested in Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight might be the chivalric system itself, symbolized
by Camelot.
Arthur’s court depends heavily on the code of chivalry,
and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight gently criticizes
the fact that chivalry values appearance and symbols over truth.
Arthur is introduced to us as the “most courteous of all,” indicating
that people are ranked in this court according to their mastery
of a certain code of behavior and good manners. When the Green Knight
challenges the court, he mocks them for being so afraid of mere
words, suggesting that words and appearances hold too much power
over the company. The members of the court never reveal their true
feelings, instead choosing to seem beautiful, courteous, and fair-spoken.
On his quest for the Green Chapel, Gawain travels from
Camelot into the wilderness. In the forest, Gawain must abandon
the codes of chivalry and admit that his animal nature requires
him to seek physical comfort in order to survive. Once he prays
for help, he is rewarded by the appearance of a castle. The inhabitants
of Bertilak’s castle teach Gawain about a kind of chivalry that
is more firmly based in truth and reality than that of Arthur’s
court. These people are connected to nature, as their hunting and
even the way the servants greet Gawain by kneeling on the “naked
earth” symbolize (818). As opposed to the
courtiers at Camelot, who celebrate in Part 1 with
no understanding of how removed they are from the natural world,
Bertilak’s courtiers joke self-consciously about how excessively
lavish their feast is (889–890).
The poem does not by any means suggest that the codes
of chivalry be abandoned. Gawain’s adherence to them is what keeps
him from sleeping with his host’s wife. The lesson Gawain learns
as a result of the Green Knight’s challenge is that, at a basic
level, he is just a physical being who is concerned above all else
with his own life. Chivalry provides a valuable set of ideals toward
which to strive, but a person must above all remain conscious of
his or her own mortality and weakness. Gawain’s time in the wilderness,
his flinching at the Green Knight’s axe, and his acceptance of the
lady’s offering of the green girdle teach him that though he may
be the most chivalrous knight in the land, he is nevertheless human
and capable of error.
The Letter of the Law
Though the Green Knight refers to his challenge as a “game,”
he uses the language of the law to bind Gawain into an agreement
with him. He repeatedly uses the word “covenant,” meaning a set
of laws, a word that evokes the two covenants represented by the
Old and the New Testaments. The Old Testament details the covenant made
between God and the people of Israel through Abraham, but the New
Testament replaces the old covenant with a new covenant between
Christ and his followers. In 2 Corinthians 3:6,
Paul writes that Christ has “a new covenant, not of letter but of
spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” The “letter”
to which Paul refers here is the legal system of the Old Testament.
From this statement comes the Christian belief that the literal
enforcement of the law is less important than serving its spirit,
a spirit tempered by mercy.
