Student Number: 150163480 1 The problem with Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is that he is always out of his depth. Discuss. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (2008) is a text rife with Arthurian conventions from the use of magic talismans to mythical creatures, hence it seems problematic that Gawain, a Camelot-born knight, seems to be out of his depth when it comes to common place occurrences like weather compared to mythical antagonists. Larry Benson believe this is because the subject of [Gawain] is [the] romance [genre] itself, suggesting that the poem is used more to deconstruct and analyse romantic conventions rather than depict Gawain s knightly virtues. 1 Developing this, I argue that the Gawain poet is using the protagonist as a focal point to explore more realistic situations than those occurring in typical Arthurian fiction, thus showing that Gawain s inability to adjust is less a problem and more a means to critique the Romantic genre. This is particularly clear when Gawain is first leaving Camelot to embark on his quest. Throughout his travels, he successfully battles with legendary creatures like dragons, wodwos and even giants without danger yet winter was worse as Gawain was [a]lmost killed by sleet. 2 Interestingly, the use of the comparative adjective worse does more than equate legendary creatures like dragons to the unexceptionally mundane weather. It shows realistic events to be more of a potent adversity to Gawain than fictitious Arthurian conventions. Rather than making the weather seem especially intimidating, the Gawain-poet seems to be making the fictional creatures Gawain faces inconsequential to his journey, ironically emphasised by the anticlimactic use of listing in lines 720-723 when naming Gawain s mythical foes. Sacvan Bercovitch s 1 Larry D. Benson, The Meaning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in Critical studies of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ed. By Donald R. Howard and Christian Zacher (Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1970), pp.295-306 (p. 296). 2 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight trans. by Keith Harrison (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), I. 719-728. All subsequent references to Gawain are from this edition, and will be given in parenthesis after quotations in the text.
Student Number: 150163480 2 response differs slightly from this as he believed that the juxtaposition of actuality with the marvellous becomes largely a means of stressing the former in the text, showing that Bercovitch believes that this juxtaposition is used to highlight realistic situations in the poem whereas I argue it is to undermine the more fictitious elements. 3 Regardless of the Gawain-poet s ultimate goal, Gawain s journey seems to offer two distinct purposes: it foregrounds the expectation that romantic conventions will be mocked and compared to more realistic issues whilst emphasising Gawain s inability to cope outside of the fictitiously idealised setting of Camelot. Though Gawain is clearly able to slay the wild beasts often found in Arthurian legend, he is clearly out of his depth when being challenged by more realistic problems of Gawain s world. As the protagonist is portrayed as naïve about the world outside Camelot, many critics have sought humour at the expense of Gawain. J. A. Burrows in particular finds the courtship of Gawain and Lady Bertilak particularly amusing as it is pure comedy, the comedy of embarrassment, given that these experiences reveal Gawain s proficiency in [t]he subtle speech of love (Gawain, II.926) to be lacking. 4 Though these experiences are certainly embarrassing for the knight, I strongly contest the fact that it is pure comedy due to the sinister tone adopted in the third fitt. For instance, upon housing Gawain it is revealed that the ambiguous lord know[s] very well [ ] [h]ow to draw out his game (Gawain, II.1124) and the use of entrelacement in the lord s hunting excursions and his wife s courting of Gawain suggests that the protagonist is less their guest of the castle and more their prey. As such, there is a major discrepancy between Burrow s view of comedy and the Aristotelian form wherein humour is not productive of pain or harm to others. 5 By foreshadowing the reveal of the seemingly jovial lord as the antagonistic Green Knight and 3 Sacvan Bercovitch, Romance and Anti-Romance in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in Critical studies of Gawain ed. By Donald R. Howard and Christian Zacher, pp.257-266 (p. 260). 4 J. A. Burrow, A reading of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, (London: Redwood Burn Limited, 1977), p. 78. 5 Aristotle on the art of poetry, trans. and ed. by Ingram Bywater (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1909), p.15.
Student Number: 150163480 3 thus suggesting that Gawain is in peril while sleeping in the castle, it seems that the Gawain-poet is trying to evoke pity for his protagonist rather than scorn. Admittedly he is still out of his depth, as he must confess to Lady Bertilak that [he is] not the man whom [she] ha[s] in mind (Gawain, III. 1241) in response to his reputation as a lover, yet the fact that he is being deceived in a seemingly safe location justifies his naiveté. Compared to his excursion in the wilderness wherein he was wholly at fault, here the blame lies with lord and lady Bertilak. This shows Gawain to be less out of his depth, and more in peril due to the deceit of those around him. Arguably the most interesting aspect of Lady Bertilak s courtship scenes is that she effectively puts Gawain in an impossible situation: break good fellowship by seducing the lord s wife or break courtesy by refusing to show a desiring woman a tiny token of the crafts of love (Gawain, III. 1526). This is especially problematic for Gawain as all five knightly values must be maintained together, illustrated by the five lines of the symbolic pentangle overlap[ping] [ ] with no ending anywhere (Gawain, III. 1526), emphasising that one breach of Gawain s chivalrous code will render him wholly unworthy as a knight of Camelot. By establishing this rather extreme moral code early in the poem and placing the protagonist in a truly unwinnable situation, it seems that the Gawain-poet is attempting to show the Arthurian morals as naïve and inflexible when faced with a more mature, realistic problem. Thus it appears that it is not Gawain who is out of his depth but rather that his knightly values are incompatible with the situations he is placed in after leaving Camelot. Indeed, Burrow s comment that the exemplary knight [ ] gives way [ ] for the first time, to human weakness when he takes the green girdle from Lady Bertilak seems to strengthen my argument. 6 Though it is difficult to judge Gawain s need for self-preservation as weakness, Burrow s argument that Gawain s first action which seems human is him taking the 6 Burrow, p. 104.
Student Number: 150163480 4 girdle also suggests that has Gawain abandoned his restrictive Arthurian roots in favour of a behaviour that adheres more to the new, unfamiliar setting. Though Gawain will come to see this event as a blunder of judgement later in the text, modern readers of the poem may see this as Gawain finally understanding what he must do to perform effectively in the alien landscape. Put simply, in rejecting the simple binary morality found in other Arthurian tales, Gawain is now adapting to his environment to proficiently respond to more complex and multi-faceted moral problems. One can certainly see Gawain s transformation throughout the poem by comparing his dialogue during critical plot points, particularly his speech to King Arthur in the first fitt and the Green Knight in the last. Keith Harrison commended Gawain s speech in Camelot as conspicuously courteous and self-deprecating, highlighting Gawain s suitability as an Arthurian knight with his eloquence and ability to demonstrate the courtesy that his role commands. 7 He begins his address to his King by asking to quit the table courteously (Gawain, I. 344) and his speech continuously affirms both the strength of Arthur as an individual and Camelot as a holistic entity all in all, this section is as much Gawain demonstrating his knightly virtues as it is accepting the Green Knight s dastardly task. As such, the juxtaposition in Gawain s demeanor in Camelot with the Green Knight s lair is staggering. Here, he seems to lack all composure exemplified by the frequent caesura in his speech when he exclaims [s]top striking now! (Gawain, IIII. 2321) and he refuses to stand strong when faced with his antagonist as he chooses to cowardly le[ap] away from harm (Gawain, IIII. 2315). Even more immaturely however, he further undermines himself by drawing upon his reputation in an attempt to intimidate the Green 7 Keith Harrison, Explanatory Notes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008) pp. 90-109, (p.94).
Student Number: 150163480 5 Knight as he says that the knight can count on what [he has] heard (Gawain, IIII. 2325-2326), referring to a supposed reputation for violence and bloodlust. Indeed, critics have suggested that the Gawain-poet is using references to other Arthurian characterisations of the Gawain character, some of which differ widely from the courteous, respectable knight of the opening fitt. 8 By using intertextual references to blur the characterisation of Gawain in Gawain and the Green Knight and Chaucer s creation, the poet may be attempting to further emphasise the discrepancy between the protagonist s knightly reputation and his more problematic behaviour when under stress. This exemplifies his stark change in demeanour, showing the transformation that has occurred in the wild and Bertilak s castle. Though Gawain has failed in upholding the courtly values expected of him in Camelot, he has succeeded in adapting to a more realistic setting and has become a more rounded character because of it. Gawain s radical transformation is further emphasised due to the cyclical nature of the poem, as Gawain s adventure begins and ends in Camelot. Burrow also noticed this important facet of the poem, suggesting that it serves as a convention of the Medieval test-narrative, which typically ended in a knight succeeding in a difficult quest whilst upholding and thus affirming his knightly virtues. 9 In Gawain however, the knight in question returns to his home flushed in shame (Gawain, IIII. 2503) as his use of the green girdle broke the rules of engagement with his antagonist whilst demonstrating his lack of faith in religion. If the purpose of Medieval test-narratives were to explore and affirm the values that the fictional Camelot held dear, Gawain s failure in his quest subverts the narrative goal by denying the credibility of those same values. Incredulously, Camelot s response to this is not shame nor any type of remorse but rather the same type of mirth 8 For a more brutish characterisation of Gawain, see: Richard J. Moll, Frustrated Readers and Conventional Decapitation in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Modern Language Review, Volume 97, (2002), pp. 793-802. (p. 795-798). 9 For a more detailed analysis of the test-narrative, see Burrow, p. 160-164.
Student Number: 150163480 6 shown early in the poem as the round table merely engage in [l]aughing loudly (Gawain, IIII. 2515). Though it is perhaps intentionally ambiguous as to whether the knights are laughing to mock or support the fallen knight, their incongruous mirth during a truly subversive event adds an unsettling tone to the ending as their reaction is far from what is to be expected of them: fear towards the outside world or consoling words to the fallen knight. By highlighting the static characterisation of the knights of Camelot through Gawain s dynamic transformation, the Gawainpoet is actually celebrating Gawain s change and thus critiquing the rigidity of the other knights. Rather than Gawain being portrayed as out of his depth in the ending, he is arguably the most adaptable and realistic character in Camelot. This further adds credence to the view that Gawain being out of his depth was not his fault as an individual but rather a consequence of the conditioning that he suffered through his comfortable life at the Arthurian round table. As such, the problem of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is not Gawain s reaction to the world but rather the unconvincing romantic conventions that held him back for the majority of the piece. Indeed, Gawain s transformation from unrealistic knight to convincing character is arguably one of the more commendable aspects of the poem, as the Gawain-poet s critique of Arthurian narratives would have been weakened without it. Though Gawain s introduction to the reader highlighted that he was out of his depth in the wilderness, the final fitt of the poem highlights the real problem of the poem to be the conventions and lack of experience afforded to Camelot as a whole. Word Count: 2,016 I hereby certify that this submission is wholly my own work, and that all quotations from primary or secondary sources have been acknowledged. I have read the section on Plagiarism in the School
Student Number: 150163480 7 Style Guide / my Stage & Degree Manual and understand that plagiarism other unacknowledged debts will be penalised and may lead to failure in the whole examination or degree. Bibliography Anon, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight trans. by Keith Harrison (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008). Aristotle, Aristotle on the art of poetry, trans. and ed. by Ingram Bywater (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1909), Benson, Larry, The Meaning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in Critical studies of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ed. By Donald R. Howard and Christian Zacher (Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1970), pp.295-306 Bercovitch, Sacvan, Romance and Anti-Romance in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in Critical studies of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ed. By Donald R. Howard and Christian Zacher (Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1970), pp.257-266 Burrow, John, A reading of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, (London: Redwood Burn Limited, 1977) Harrison, Keith, Explanatory Notes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008) pp. 90-109 Moll, Richard, Frustrated Readers and Conventional Decapitation in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Modern Language Review, Volume 97, (2002), pp. 793-802