Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, concluded
Some Themes
1. The conflict of Christian and courtly ideology.
2. 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)
3. Civilized and uncivilized behavior demonstrated by the Green
Knight and even by Gawain.
4. a. 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.
b. 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..
5. The Problem of Gawain's Antifeminist Tirade (IV.18)
6. 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.
The Wedding of Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell (White, pp. 481-90)
Introduction
1. Transition from the aristocratic ethic and audience of
Chrétien and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to late
medieval English popular literature.
2. The Transformation of the Loathly Lady,
a. a folkloric Celtic tale with numerous analogues,
b. is joined to the Arthurian heritage in Chaucer's Wife of Bath's Tale, The Wedding of Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell, romance, and The Marriage of Sir Gawain, ballad.
This Version
1. Oral formulaic, in a popular verse tradition.
a. Form
b. Technique: direct address, tags, repetition
2 Arthur's finding the answer to the riddle what women most desire linked to the transformation of the ugly hag into a beautiful lady:
a. The king's vulnerability to Gromer Somer.
b. Gawain's admirable but amusing acquiescence to his uncle's formidable request.
c. Because Gawain has subjected himself to the lady's sovereignty and power, she is transformed, and so is he. Implications.