Introduction
SGGK appears in the unique manuscript in the British Library,
Cotton Nero A. x, written at the end of the 14th century in a
Southwest Midland dialect. The manuscript also contains three other
works, which linguistically and stylistically indicate the same
author.
All the works (Pearl, Purity, or Cleanness, Patience,
SGGK) without titles in the manuscript, are masterpieces in
alliterative verse, but vary in subject matter, metrics, and
structure:
The Poem
I. Structure SGGK (2530 lines), in four parts of 21,
24, 24, and 22 stanzas, featuring a quaint combination of northern
English and French vocabulary. Stanzas of varying length, each
concluding with a two-stressed "bob" and a four-line "wheel," rhyming
ababa.
A. A highly crafted piece that combines three major folkloric elements, here united by sophisticated interlinking of plots:1. The Beheading Game
2. The Seduction Attempts
3. The Exchange of Winnings.B. Numerological junctures: Four fitts, linked throughout by twos and threes (completed in the five of the pentangle shield).
C Envelope structure:1. First and last stanzas: Troy, Brutus//Britain, Arthur (I, st. 1&2//l. 2101, IV, st. 22, ll. 2522-25).
2. Three hunting and three bedroom scenes: each features outside/inside/outside [__][__][__]D. Contrastive structures:
1. Camelot, Wirral, Bercilak's castle, Green Chapel;
2. Inner court and outer world (hall, bower/ wilderness, forest)
3 Three hunts (symbolic deer, boar, fox) and three temptationsE. Color symbolism (natural and liturgical):
1. green and gold: Green Knight (wild nature, Celtic otherworld + nobility), lace and girdle (ll.1832, 1851)
2. red and gold: Gawain (love, service + nobility)
3. blue: Mary, Gawain's chamber robe (troth, honor, chastity.
II. Some Themes
A. Very Christian text within a very pagan story line
B. The poetic artful control reflects the thematic control attempted by Gawain, who thinks himself in control. (see the section on structure in yesterday's handout)
C. Civilized and uncivilized behavior demonstrated by the Green Knight and even by Gawain.
D. 1. Arthurian tale with little warfare; battle is individual and finally takes place in secret (in the bedroom and at the chapel). The real test of Sir Gawain takes place in the bedroom and not on the battlefield.
2. Gawain bests the Green Knight but falls victim to the Lady, who manages to make him break his troth. In the encounter the knight's and lady's roles are reversed: she's the aggressor, he the fortress. Chivalric behavior proves to be a double-edged sword for the shield wielded by Gawain and the lady..
E. The Problem of Gawain's Antifeminist Tirade (IV.18)
F. The ideal/flawed Arthurian society reflected in its ideal/flawed knight.
The results: comic (court's judgment), tragic (Gawain's judgment), mixed (ours?): noble striving, noble failure.