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The Green Knight (Henceforth SGGK) Is Whether It Is Comic in This Usual, Romance Sense

The document provides an outline for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, discussing its characteristics as a romance, historical context, plot summary, and major themes. Key points include that the poem questions ideals of chivalry and romance, depicts Gawain's isolation and tests of his virtue, and uses irony to highlight gaps between ideals and reality.

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96 views2 pages

The Green Knight (Henceforth SGGK) Is Whether It Is Comic in This Usual, Romance Sense

The document provides an outline for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, discussing its characteristics as a romance, historical context, plot summary, and major themes. Key points include that the poem questions ideals of chivalry and romance, depicts Gawain's isolation and tests of his virtue, and uses irony to highlight gaps between ideals and reality.

Uploaded by

nicholas_92
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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HL102 lecture outline for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight I. Characteristics of romance A.

Concerned with love, but also with the chivalric codean extension of the Anglo- axon heroic code but with a new e!"hasis on courtl# behavior or courtes# $courtoisie%. &. 'o!ances tend to have ha""# endings $comic structure%. A (uestion about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight $henceforth ))*% is whether it is co!ic in this usual, ro!ance sense. C. 'o!ances are usuall# !ore concerned with the individual hero than e"ics, which focus instead on the societ# that the e"ic hero re"resents. +. ee slideshow $,-"ic and 'o!ance Contrasted.% for other significant differences. II. Historical background to SGGK: timeline A. 'o!ance and its associated ideolog# of chivalry e!erge out of an atte!"t to curtail the "roble! of feudal violencethe constant state of warfare that e!erged in -uro"e after the de facto colla"se of the Hol# 'o!an -!"ire c. 1000. &# 11/0 or so, chivalric romance (or medieval romance) is well-established as the do!inant for! of secular literar# culture on the Continent. &. &ecause of the orman Con!uest $1000%, events in 1rance have an i!!ediate i!"act on -nglish culture, but it is not until the rebirth of -nglish $instead of 2or!an 1rench% as a literar# language in c. 122/ that 3iddle -nglish ro!ances li4e ))* begin to be written. C. 5he lateness of -nglish ro!ances ex"lains so!e of their distinctive features. ))* in "articular see!s to (uestion the ideals of ro!ance $including chivalr#%, which b# then !ight have been seen as so!e b# out!oded or unrealistica theor# that !a# hel" to account for the "oe!6s consistent tone of iron#. III. "asic facts about SGGK A. Co!"osed 1780s, !a4ing the "oe! cote!"oraneous with the wor4s of Chaucer. &. Author was "robabl# clerical, and !an# suggest religious readings of ))* on this basis. C. Language is 3iddle -nglish, with traces of 9ld -nglish $e.g., the alliteration and so!e vocabular#%. 5he long, alliterative stan:as are ca""ed b# a series of rh#!ing lines called the bob and #heel, which "rovide su!!ar# and;or offer a counter"oint to the !ain idea of the stan:a. I$. %lot analysis A. 5he Christ!as revels at Arthur6s court dis"la# the chivalric ideal in all its glor#, but a sense of iron# hangs over the descri"tion. Arrival and challenge of )reen *night, which ) acce"ts.

&. )awain6s <ourne# suggests a degree of realis! as well as focusing on )awain6s isolation. C. )awain is tested b# the lad# three ti!es, who te!"ts hi! to slee" with her, and b# &ertial4 $with who! he has engaged to share half of all that either wins%. 5his is a test of )awain6s truth $3- treuthe% as well as of his courtes#, and his challenge is to !aintain his co!!it!ent to both of these "otentiall# conflicting values at the sa!e ti!e. +. -ach test has its "arallel in &ertila46s activities for the da#the "rogressivel# !ore difficult hunts of the stag, boar, and fox. 5he last of the hunts, in "articular, suggests a "arallel to )awain6s $or is it the lad#6s=% tric4er#. -. 5he outco!e of the test is a!biguoushas )awain failed or not=but he res"onds to it with anger, bla!ing wo!en and swearing to wear the girdle as a re!inder of his sha!e. $>uestion? how does the girdle differ fro! the &entangle on )6s shield as a s#!bol of what this "oe! is about=%. $. 'orm and meaning A. 5he overall "lot of ))* ta4es the for! of a series of exchange-ga!es $both the e(change of blo#s ga!e and the sharing of the #innings ga!e, which turn out to be "art of the sa!e, larger ga!e. A sense of "la# "ervades the stor#, des"ite its serious ethical !essage. &. 5he "oe! diverges fro! the conventions of ro!ance in a nu!ber of wa#s? b# substituting an ethical test for the usual !onsters and ene!ies, !a4ing the test ta4e "lace in the bedroo! instead of on the battlefield, and b# ending in a wa# that could be inter"reted as tragic or onl# "artl# co!ic $although this final "oint is sub<ect to !uch debate a!ong critics%. $I. )a*or themes A. elfhood and societ#? )awain exe!"lifies the values of Arthurian societ#, es"eciall# chivalr# he stands for this societ# in the wa# that an e"ic hero !ight. &ut )awain is often re"resented as alone and isolated, forcing us to as4 if individual and social ex"erience can be reconciled in this "oe!. &. &elief and 4nowledge? How does chivalr# stac4 u" as an ideal in this "oe!= +oes the e!"hasis on chivalr# conflict with the "oe!6s invest!ent in Christianit#= How= C. 5he ga" between ideal and realit#? the "oe! uses iron# throughout, suggesting a tendenc# toward satire that will be full# ex"lored b# Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales $see next wee4%.

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