Gawain Questions (fit 2)

1. The first three stanzas are about the passing of time from the Green Knights appearance and challenge in the castle. They describe the change in scenery as the season changes; then Gawain decides it is time for him to leave.

The next two Stanzas show the motif of the arming of the warrior; they describe his armor in detail.

The next two describe his shield with the pentangle and what it represents, and also the Virgin Mary on the other side of the shield.

Stanzas 8-11 talk about Gawain’s travels through the country, the obstacles he had to overcome, such as the creatures he had to kill.

In the 13th and 14th Stanzas he finds the castle after praying for it; the castle is described. And he calls out to the porter, his intentions to ask if he can stay there.

In 15 through 17 He is met and greeted by the Duke who gives Gawain a servant and has him taken to his room. He is given a nice room, treated with much respect from everyone in the castle, and they feast with him.

In Stanza 18 he notices the Lady and how beautiful she is, and he notices an old lady that is with her, he sees she is of great honor. This stanza shows the motif in literature of the description of ugly women.

19 through 23 show the relationship between Gawain and the Lady, and Gawain and the Duke, he convinces Gawain to stay longer and rest and feast with them.

In the last Stanza Gawain makes a bargain with the Duke that whatever the Duke wins while hunting he will give to Gawain, and whatever Gawain earns he will give to the Duke.

2. When Gawain stays at the castle, on his way to the Green Knights Chapel the Duke and his Lady play a game with him. They make a deal that whatever the Duke wins while out hunting he will give to Gawain, and whatever Gawain wins while staying at the castle, he will give to the Duke. This in a way shows that the Duke is setting Gawain up, while he is hunting he has something to win honestly, whatever he manages to kill. But Gawain, staying in his castle has nothing to win that can be done in an honorable way. He is getting attention from the Duke’s Lady but trying to remain respectful so he cannot give in to the temptations of the Lady because that would not be an honest thing to do. In a way he might feel that he has to have something to give to the Duke because he made a deal.

3. While Gawain is on his journey he comes across many different creatures that he knows are violent enough that he must kill them. In the Christian faith, creatures such as dragons (which Gawain fights) can be symbols of Demons. Gawain fighting these creatures relates to the theme of Good vs. Evil; Gawain as a warrior, and on his way to uphold a deal which is Good, while these creatures, or demons are trying to destroy him. Because Gawain is fighting the Evil creatures, he has the help of God on his side.

4. In the first section Gawain is very modest. He doesn’t let Arthur take up the deal, instead he does because he says he is not as important as Arthur. “I am the weakest and the least in wit; Loss of my life is therefore of little account.” Line 354. He is acting as if his life is of no importance, when in fact it is. He is a great, known warrior of the round table but he is not acting like it. Warriors in general have confidence and are somewhat cocky.

In the second fit while he is staying at the castle he acts differently. He lets the people take care of him and treat him like a noble Warrior. He takes advantage of everything they offer him, such as a well-known knight should. He does not have the mind set that he is not important and his life means anything which he perhaps either only gets when he is around Arthur because he is King; or he only pretends while around Arthur to make Arthur feel more important. Gawain may be trying to be a good knight to his king by making himself seem so much lower in comparison. “I am, by birth, your nephew; besides that, nothing. My one virtue, your blood that runs in my veins.” Line 356 Gawain may say these things to his King to seem as a noble Warrior who is put in his place, but when he is at the castle on his journey he cannot act as if he has no confidence because he will not be respected which is very important for a warrior.

5. Arthur’s castle, where Gawain lives is a place where Gawain knows he is respected because he is a knight of the round table. It would have been easy for him to not take the challenge from the Green Knight, because Arthur accepted it. Gawain might have felt that it was his duty to take the challenge instead of Arthur because he is related to Arthur, who is King. He may feel like if he didn’t take the challenge he would not be worthy to be related to the King. For Gawain, Arthur’s castle could be a place of comfort because he knows he is respected, but also a place where he feels not good enough.

Gawain’s journey to the Green Knight could represent the second part of the challenge. The first being him taking the challenge; but the hardship of he journey showing that it would be easier for him to just go home. During his travels he comes across many creatures he must kill, he has to sleep in his armor on the ground, in the cold. Gawain does not have to even go to the Green Knight, it was a deal and the Green Knight left it up to him to see if he would show up. Him going would prove that he was honest in upholding a deal, and noble. His travels showed that if he were a coward and a wimp he would just turned back because he was not forced to follow through.

The castle that he finds is the third part of the challenge. The Duke treats him so well by letting him stay and feast every night and being overly hospitable to him. He is also getting extra attention from the Lady who claims she Loves him and sneaks into his room at night. The Duke convinces Gawain to stay more then he planned and tried again but Gawain said no. It would have been easy for Gawain to give in to the temptations of the castle. He felt very important with the attention he was getting for his quest, and he was constantly being tempted by the extremely beautiful Lady.