Essays on Poems

837

The Theme of Gender Roles in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

5 pages / 2290 words

Gender in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is caged within a static binary composed of the masculine and the feminine; relative opposites within which individuals are expected to conform to a certain quota of behaviors – for to fit into neither category would seemingly...

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

838

The "Public" Vs The "Private" in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

5 pages / 2481 words

As Derek Brewer comments, the Gawain-Poet creates an “honour-driven”[1] society. From this, almost everything within Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is assumed to be in a chivalric context, specifically Gawain’s through the romance typically focusing on an individual knight. These given spheres of chamber,...

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

839

Pagan Villainy in "Sir Gawain and The Green Knight"

3 pages / 1608 words

The tale of Sir Gawain and his encounter with the Green Knight is a tale that weaves itself through deceit and trickery by characters who do not hold the same values that Sir Gawain does. His moral standing both as a knight and a Christian...

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

840

Beowulf and Sir Gawain and The Green Knight: The Role of Supernatural in Shaping The Hero

3 pages / 1434 words

Supernatural creatures play an important role in defining the hero in both the eighth century epic poem Beowulf, and the fourteenth century British Romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Though both tales involve the hero’s journey to find and fight these creatures, their battles...

Beowulf Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

841

Chivalry, Christianity, and Ethical Dualism in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

2 pages / 1066 words

An exemplary knight of King Arthur’s renowned court, Sir Gawain is guided by a complex set of ethos, a collection of principles symbolized by the mystical pentangle. A five-pointed star consisting of five interlocking lines, the figure represents a variety of guiding tenets, comprising both...

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

842

The Important Facets of Knighthood in "Sir Gawain and The Green Knight"

2 pages / 1069 words

The artful creator of the fourteenth- century poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” cleverly leads his reader with a trail of words through the mysterious world of “a castle cut of paper…”(Sir Gawain 802). Here, he puts his main character Sir Gawain to the...

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

843

The Symbolism of Gawain's Shield in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

2 pages / 806 words

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” can be followed for entertainment value, but one passage in particular calls for deeper analysis. Before Sir Gawain begins to undertake his quest for the Green Chapel and dons his armor, the plot has been moving at a steady...

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

844

The Meaning Behind The Girdle in "Sir Gawain and The Green Knight"

2 pages / 955 words

In the Pearl Poet’s Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, after two failed attempts at seducing Gawain, Lady Bertilak grants the knight a gift in response to his disinterest and inability to give her a keepsake of any sort. As Gawain refuses the gift of...

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

845

"Sir Gawain and The Green Knight": Controversial Concept of Courtesy

2 pages / 1102 words

The medieval poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight depicts two different medieval models of courtesy – courtesy towards men and courtesy towards women. Defined by different members of the community, the two types of courtesy also necessitate different, sometimes contradictory conducts. The incompatibility of...

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

846

Allegory and Its Starkness in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

4 pages / 2141 words

‘The whole things is allegorical from start to end, yet he never takes you by the neck and says “Get down to it, that’s an allegory, you’ve got to interpret it”, the way most allegorists do.’ (Basil Bunting on Poetry, p.15.) Made-to-order essay as fast...

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

847

The Importacne of Chivalry in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight and Le Morte D'arthur

1 page / 790 words

The romances Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, translated by Marie Borroff, and Le Morte d’Arthur, written by Sir Thomas Malory, tell of the heroic adventures and chivalrous deeds of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Through characterization, conflict, imagery, and diction,...

Le Morte d’Arthur Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

848

Analysis of Sir Gawain's Character Transformation

2 pages / 1114 words

In “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” Sir Gawain is King Arthur’s nephew and one of Camelot’s most famous knights. However, unlike other characters of medieval literature, Gawain is not ideal and static but human and real. Gawain is the epitome of virtues in fit...

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

849

The Theme of Death in "Everyman" and "Sir Gawain and The Green Knight"

2 pages / 1123 words

“Everyman” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” are without doubt two of the best-known works of medieval English literature. The stories demonstrate the epitome of the Christian themes of salvation, mortality, and truth that resonate throughout the genre. In this light, Death and the...

Everyman Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

850

The Homosexuality Discourse in "Sir Gawain and The Green Knight"

4 pages / 1819 words

While Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is, for the most part, a heroic poem about a heroic knight who resists temptation, the story also has an interesting dialogue on sexuality interwoven in its lines. From King Arthur’s “ebullience” (line 86) all the way to...

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

851

Odysseus and Gawain: Quest Narratives and The Concept of Guilt

3 pages / 1445 words

In the first chapter of his novel, How to Read Literature like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster discusses the idea of a quest narrative. “They [protagonists] go because of the stated task, mistakenly believing that it is their real mission. We know, however, that their...

Odysseus Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

852

Beowulf and Sir Gawain and The Green Knight: The Concepts of Chivalry and Reputation

3 pages / 1511 words

In the Old English poem Beowulf, the warrior culture is centered upon the heroic codes. Those who are members of Hrothgar’s court are ranked based upon the identities and reputations of their ancestors. It can be said that the armor of these warriors, as it...

Beowulf Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

853

The Use of Imagery to Parallel an Inner Conflict in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

2 pages / 1109 words

The idea that humans succumb to natural urges is a literary topic that has been written on for hundreds of years. Authors have often pitted human urges against a higher code, like the knightly code from the days of King Arthur. Sir Gawain and the...

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

854

The Role of Courtesy and Chivalry in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

5 pages / 2479 words

Although it could be contended that chivalry and courtesy are essentially aspects of the same code of restraint and responsibility, the romance of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight presents a distinction between the domestic test of the Gawain’s chastity and the fantastic challenge of...

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

855

Chivalry and Basic Human Instincts in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

3 pages / 1657 words

As is the case with almost every example of romantic epics, and certainly every story concerning King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, the characters carefully observe a strict code of ethics, or chivalry. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain...

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight