Thursday, March 5, 2009
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (post 4)
In the second half of the third section of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain continues to be boringly angelic. It essentially continues in the same manner as the first part of the section: the lord continues to bring Gawain his spoils after each day of hunting, and Gawain sleeps, entertains the ladies of the court and resists the lord's wife's advances. The lord's hunting of a wild boar, with the difficulty of killing the boar emphasized and the lord's triumph explained in detail. The lady of the castle continues her affections, and Gawain keeps telling himself that he shouldn't fall for her. However, he does have one small moment when his goody-two-shoes facade slips. The poet writes, "In a worthy style he welcomes the woman/ and seeing her so lovely and alluringly dressed,/ every feature so faultless, her complextion so fine,/ a passionate heat takes hold of his heart" (1759-1762). However much he tells himself that he should not be involved with her, he still finds her attractive. This one tiny slip-up brings up a point the poet trys to make throughout the story: no matter how perfect or sinless someone may seem, they always have enought animal instinct left that they can never be completely free from sin. In this section, it is also suggested that Gawain is more gullible than he appears. The mistress of the castle gives him what she claims is a magical sash that will prevent the wearer from dying. However, considering her past attempts to win Gawain's love, whether this claim is true or not comes under suspicion. The lady speaks, "For the body which is bound within this green belt,/ as long as it is buckled robustly about him,/ will be safe against those who seek to strike him,/ and all the slyness on earth wouldn't see him slain" (1851-1854). On one hand, as this is a story set in the time of King Arthur, a magic belt seems like it could completely real; on the other the lady's history of embellishing the truth to get Gawain on her side could have progressed into her lying outright. It also seems likely that she could be in league with someone, possibly the Green Knight. If that is so, she might want to give him false confidence so he will do something stupid. This brings up another theme of the peom: the difference between truth and lies. Is the Green Knight real? Does the lord of the castle sincerely want to help Gawain? The rest of the poem will tell.
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3 comments:
Great inference about the belt. I would have probably just set Sir Gawain off as super gullible, but I suppose you have to remember the time period he was in. Also great job finding themes!
I like how you've been able to find themes in this poem that can be applied in today's world. Although many people today don't face the challenge of deciding whether a magic belt is truth or lies, being able to distinguish between what is false and what is true is certainly a dilemma faced today.
You bring up many great themes in you blogs, and they are always connected with us today and I think this is the absolute best way to read a book. You connect it to the present-day world and issues we face everyday, like the environment and telling truths from lies.
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