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Sir Gawain & the Green Knight

Sit Gawain and the Green Knight

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ' is alliterative poem written by anonymous poet referred as the Pearl-poet . The poem is considered to belong to a series of Arthurian legends . The events take place in the mythical past of King Arthur 's court before the recorded history , though after the fall of the Roman Empire . The poet tells the story from the point of view of the main hero - Gawain . However , occasionally the moments happened outside the scope of Gawain experiences are narrated by the author . The

poem tells about the importance of chivalry , about Christian morality and code of heroism . The poem is a combination of symbolism irony and legend . Therefore , the discusses main conflict , themes , tone and main characters involved in the plot (Borroff , 12

Firstly , it is necessary to admit that the tone of the narrator is straightforward and rather ironic . The narrator prefers to discuss frankly characters ' motifs , though he prefers not mentioning whether he approves or criticizes the code of chivalry , court behavior and ethics involved . For example , reflections about the mystical past are enveloped in tone of nostalgia and in several lines the author is on the verge of criticism . The poem is thus characterized by high levels of ambiguity because the author involves signs and symbols instead of defined meanings (Borroff , 18

The main conflict of the poem is attempts of main hero , Gawain , to find out what is more important for him - knightly virtues or his life . On the one hand , he realizes that it is honor to die in single combat with enemy , though , on the other hand , he doesn 't want to die . The author vividly portrays hero 's thoughts , reflections and anxiety towards his fears . For example , from the beginning Gawain accepts the challenge to fight with the Green Knight , because he remains unaware of his supernatural abilities . After the Green Knight has survived blow , the hero has to seek him to return blow and he is aware that it means death for him . When Gawain finds the host who promises to show the Green Chapel , he protects his knightly virtues and remains courteous towards host 's wife . Despite the fear of being killed , Gawain struggles with the Green Knight and host . In such a way the author shows that knightly virtues are on the first place for noble warrior (Weis , 407

The main themes of the poem are the nature of chivalry and the letter of the law . It is argued that the world of the poem is governed by specific code of behavior - code of chivalry . Therefore , this codes shapes behavior , thoughts , values , ideals and actions of Sir Gawain as well as other main characters in the poem . As it is mentioned , the virtues of chivalry come from Christian morality meaning that chevaliers promotes the ideals of spirituality in to improve the fallen world . Gawain is also concerned with the ideals of Christian morality , spirituality and the code of chivalry...

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