Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a temptation themed poem. Explain how this connects with Christian theology and influence, and if you think it was done purposely. Note the references to God and the religious season in which much of the action takes place.
ENGL 201 | British Literature to 1800
Myra Seaman | Fall 2012
There is a Christmas Feast referenced and a Christmas game is played in which Arthur loses and must sacrifice Sir Gawain. I believe this is a biblical reference to Jacob sacrificing his son. When it is time for Sir Gawain to face the green Knight he has a shield with a pentagon which has a religious reference to Christ is also supposed to show that Gawain is virtuous and truthful. With a little research I discovered the pentagon represents the five virtues: Franchise, Fellowship, Cleanness, Courtesy, and Charity which are all qualities Sir Gawain possess. Most of the story takes place in a Christmas setting with lots of subtle religious qualities. I think it was done purposely kind of like a subliminal message in my opinion.
I disagree with this. I didn’t read the scene as Arthur losing the game, it seems that before Arthur had a chance to play, Sir Gawain offers himself instead, as a noble act to lay himself down for his Lord, as it seems no man may withstand a blow from this green giant. This does not, in my opinion, accurately parallel with Jacob sacrificing his son, because God told him to do so, as opposed to Sir Gawain offering himself willingly in Arthur’s place,
Furthermore, although there are many Christian themes throughout the poem, I see no religious significance to the Green Giant challenging the court on New Years Day, but rather evil entering their midst during a time of prosperity and celebration, a classic plot design.
Throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Christian themes surface. The Christmas time setting is just one of the several mentions of Christ. As Gawain sets off in Part II to find the Green Knight, he looks to God for guidance. He prays to God, to Mary for help in his quest numerous times. In line 735, Gawain prays for lodging and has his prayers answered by line 764. The strong Christian influence was done with purpose, showing those in trouble should look to God and receive answers. Though the tale itself is not a Christian one, Gawain’s faith and constant trust in God to be with him and protect him give the text a certain holiness that the reader can feel.
As Cassie mentioned, Gawain does pray for lodging and then finds the castle. He is what is to be considered a “good Christian” throughout this work and thus God is there for him. It is important to note that had Gawain not been a man of faith, he probably would not have been presented with lodging, and the story could have turned out much differently. So I think a major theme throughout this whole story is that it benefits to be a man of faith, a Christian. If he were not he wouldn’t have had the morality and resolve to resist temptation. He would have died by the hand of the Green Knight; he may not have sacrificed himself for Arthur, and so on. So where people are saying there are Christian undertones, I have to disagree. There are Christian overtones. Religion is a central theme to this work and without its heavy influence it simply would not be the same.
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight there are many references to the Christian theology throughout the story by the setting, the constant prayers by Gawain to Mary and God, and also the blessing that Gawain, the lord, and the lady give one another in a number of instances. The main focus of the poem is in fact temptation and I think that the connection with the Christianity theology and temptation corniced with one another. In the Christian theology adultery is one of the ten commandments and in the poem Sir Gawain knows that it is wrong for the lady, the wife of the lord to be in his bedroom and he refuses’ her all the three times that she comes into his bedroom, but he does except a gift from her which happens to be the lord’s/ green knights. Later on in the story Gawain meets the green knight to settle the agreement that they made and the green knight strikes him but not to kill. He then reveals to Gawain that he is the lord and that he has been testing him. In line 2395 we see that the green knight has forgiven Gawain for taking this gift but resisted his wife’s temptation so he says, “The wrong you did me I consider wiped out.” This sort of forgiveness is a perfect example how the poem coincides with the Christian theology.
The concept of Christianity is carried throughout this poem in many ways other than those mentioned above as well. One of these would be through the nature of chivalry. This Christian-like undertaking almost fully controls the actions and behaviors of Gawain. This poem further supports Christianity by showing that when Gawain loses his sense of chivalry, or morality, by not giving up the girdle, he is duped into believing something that isn’t true. This poems supports the idea that, if you don’t follow Christian morals and codes of conduct, you will not lead the great life that you so desire.
I completely agree with your statement. When Gawain doesn’t give up the girdle, that also relates to Peter taking his eyes off Jesus when he is walking across water. It is known in the Christian faith that if we do not holdfast to God per se, we will “drown,” (and as you said) not living the lives that we do desire.
The christian undertones are very prevalent throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The story opens and ends with characters joyously celebrating Christmas. Some of the more obvious elements of the story which hearken back to Christianity include the scene between Arthur and Gawain at the start of the story. When Gawain steps in to save Arthur and offers to journey to and battle the green knight, he symbolizes Jesus offering to sacrifice himself. Later in the story when the Lord’s wife tempts Gawain, I believe she represents Eve in the garden of Eden tempting Adam. Gawain himself says on line 2415, “And is brought to greif through womanly wiles…” here he goes on to describe several biblical characters who were beguiled by women.
Throughout the poem temptation and christian definitely play important roles. These two things are obstacles for many people and Sir Gawain proves to be a perfect example of this. Temptation and christianity go hand in hand because it seems as though temptation is god’s way of testing us- just as it is shown in the bible in the garden of Eden. Sir Gawain enters a game that he cannot escape, so in order to stick to his word he takes the journey to meet the green knight to finish the arrangement that they had agreed to. Temptation comes about when Sir Gawain stops to stay with the lord. When the host’s wife comes onto Sir Gawain he has to take a step back and consider his chastity to christ and his loyalty to the host. He gives into kisses, but feels that anything more would be going against all of this. I think that if Gawain did not have a relationship with god then he would have given into temptation. However, it is very hard for me to differentiate between giving in and not giving in because Gawain does allow for numerous kisses to occur and that seems to be giving into temptation in itself. However, in the poem this sort of thing seems to be excused. In lines 1302-1307 the scene occurs in Gawain’s room when the young women has invited herself to his room. The Lines say: “‘Indeed, let it be as you wish; I will kiss you at your bidding, as befits a knight, And do more rather than displease you, so urge it no further.’ With that she approaches him and takes him in her arms, scoops graciously over him and kisses the knight. They politely commend each other to Christ’s keeping.” This part of the poem connect temptation very closely to that of christian theology because it is saying that they stopped their intimacy because of christ. Gawain then shows repentance in the following lines- “as he prepares to get up as quickly as he can, calls for his chamberlain, selects his clothes, makes his way, when he was ready, contentedly to mass;” (1309-1311). I think that this was absolutely done purposely especially because the setting of the poem was during Christmas time, which is a religious holiday. I feel that one important correlation of the bible (christian theology) and temptation is easily viewed through the passage in Matthews 6:13, where it says- “and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Accepting the gift and not being truthful about it to the lord seemed also to be another example of temptation winning in the poem. The green girdle symbolized a protection for Gawain- however, it was not rightfully given to him and Gawain was not truthful about it when he shared with the host. I think the relationship between christian theology/influence and temptation are essential to this poem and show the morals of the characters throughout the poem.
I agree that temptation directly effects the characters, and directly relates to Christian theology. As Sir Gawain is tempted, he learns through those trials and tribulations. Christianity is often infused into English writing, because of it’s valid influences on the surrounding communities. God as a power, as a director, plays through his journeys as a character. The temptation placed in front of him does indeed become a test of faithfulness, and as he denies a woman three times (a biblical number due to the father, son, and holy spirit), we are reminded of biblical references related to 3 days and nights (jesus’ death and resurrection). His journey, his rewards, and his faith not only tie into Christianity, but also the surrounding culture, who are already looking for allusions to Christianity in the writing due to the power of the clergy over literature for many years.
Autumn brought up a very important point about the five virtues. Christianity is pretty much the underlying theme of this entire piece, but the gold pentangle painted on Gawain’s shield, or “the endless knot” (176) as they called it in England, is particularly emblematic. And really, just the number 5 in general – I mean, they dedicated almost two entire pages to the number 5. Seriously. I thought the references would never end. Anyway, the mysterious man who wrote this was obviously referring to the five wounds Christ suffered on the cross– both hands, both feet, and the piercing of his rib. Oh, and the Golden Mass, in honor of those five wounds is sort of analogous to all of the gold we see throughout Sir Gawain. Then came the five points, the five faithful ways, the five virtues, the five senses, the five fingers, the five joys, and so forth. All in a matter of two pages. But it ended, thankfully, and the rest of the story didn’t turn out to be like the movie “The Number 23”, though I did see things in patterns of five on my walk home from the library. That being said, this is probably my favorite story we’ve read all year. And back to the topic of temptation, yes, this was indeed a tail full of temptation. So I guess you can look back and compare Gawain to Adam and Eve and how they were tempted by the Snake in the garden to eat the apple. We all know how that ended. The destruction of mankind or something like that. But Gawain was not like Adam! No. He did not feed into his sexual desires, in fact, he settled for just a kiss or three. And a beautiful belt. And he was able to transcend Woody Allen’s number one fear – death! Sir Gawain, you are my hero.
I agree that the themes of temptation and Christianity are linked throughout the poem. The connection of theology to temptation is a little loose in part because Gawain’s actions also a play into the rules for courtly love. However, the mention of Gawain’s wariness of going too far with the lady in fear of sin as in lines 1773-4. I we can make the case for connection between Christian theology and temptation in the poem, I think that the argument can go one step further by saying that Catholicism is a connected theme. We see numerous examples of specifically Catholic traditions as it was the form of Christianity present at the time of the writing. Gawain prays to Mary for lodging so that he may go to Christmas mass. Also, each day before the hunt all of the men attend mass, and Gawain does likewise later each day. Gawain himself show religious fervor that is specifically Catholic by crossing himself in line 1202 and confessing to a priest in lines 1877-1882. With these being only a few examples of many, the inclusion of Catholic and more generally Christian ideas is definitely on purpose.
I think the underlying Christian principles and temptations we see throughout the poem absolutely were done with purpose. The entire poem is filled, to me, with religious undertones. To me, the Green Knight is in way, God himself. He has the ability to take his own life, yet not be fully dead. Or maybe he was never truly living, it’s hard to say. Regardless, he puts Gawain through a series of tests, most of them being temptation. When he sets up the “game” at the White Castle, Gawain is tempted by his wife who he clearly could have committed adultery with. After completing successfully all the trials, the Green Knight spares Gawain because he successfully avoided sin and temptation. Gawain however, demonstrates moral values of a faithful and devoted Christian by being ever repentant and still insisting on going to Mass and confession everyday, and then by wearing the green around his shoulder and returning to the Round Table, ever more sullen and ashamed because of the guilt he harbors. If we look even closer, it could be argued that Gawain in a way is like Jesus due to the fact that he offers himself up, and sacrifices himself for his King in front of the Green Knight. I think the poem was written very intentionally to have these religious meanings interwoven through it.
I agree with Kaya’s final statement, “This poems supports the idea that, if you don’t follow Christian morals and codes of conduct, you will not lead the great life that you so desire.” I agree that the over-arching tone of this poem is a need to follow Christian “morals” or “codes of conduct” in order to avoid a life of despair. However, I think it is important to point out that this sort of theology actually excludes Christ, and excludes the entire New Testament (which is pivotal to the Christian faith). What I mean by this is that references to God and prayers for blessings from God in this poem are reflective of a mentality that “I (a sinner) must do A, B, & C to get in to a “right standing” with God, hence why Gawain is punished for his dishonesty. Whereas, the Bible is a marriage of the Old Testament and the New Testament that hinges on the Cross of Christ. If this poem were reflective of the full Christian world view, there would be much less emphasis on Gawain’s sinful actions and much more of an emphasis on God’s grace through his son, Jesus. It is not that Gawain’s sins are insignificant, it’s simply that his righteousness, his right standing with God, would have been bought through the death of Christ and not through his own actions.
I think that one of the most important Christian themes of this story is that of the Green Knight being a stand in for a Christ like figure. In the Bible it is asserted that Christ died by the hand of man in order for man to be absolved of his sin. In this story we see Gaiwain literally behead the green knight, yet much like Christ the knight returns to life and tells him that he will appear again to issue some sort of retribution or judgement upon him. Gaiwain also is subject to a series of tests to see if he will be true to his duty and is tempted to do otherwise. It is only that the Green Knight is revealed to be his lord, and that he has been forgiven of his “sins”.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is linked to Christian Theology because the setting is during Christmas Time/New Years, but this setting is the complete opposite of what’s actually going on which is a beheading game of wits. There were also many references to Gawain and his prayers as the battle drew closer and closer. Gawain also accepts a magical belt that is viewed in a devious way and although Gawain knows of this, he still uses it. He used it because he thought it would help him fight karma and a cowardly end as Gawain did since he was basically tricked since the Green Knight was actually the Lord of the Castle.