Analysis of Contrasts and Transitions in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
In "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," the narrative complexity is evident through contrasting themes and transitions between different story strands. The poem explores contrasts such as outside/inside and active/inactive, reflecting deeper symbolic meanings. The transitions play a pivotal role in shaping the overall narrative structure, highlighting key moments and character developments throughout the story.
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The longest fitt: Fitt 1 = 490 lines Fitt 2 = 634 lines Fitt 3 = 871 lines Fitt 4 = 533 lines
The most complex narrative: Second Day First Day 1412-67: start of boar hunt. 1468-1557: second temptation scene (two kisses). 1561-1618: end of boar hunt. 1623-47: second exchange scene. 1657-63: the lady flirts with Gawain at dinner. 1670-83: Gawain is persuaded to stay another night. 1126-77: start of deer hunt. 1178-1307: first temptation scene (one kiss). 1319-64: end of deer hunt. 1372-1401: first exchange scene. Third Day 1688-1730: start of fox hunt. 1731-1871: third temptation scene (three kisses); Gawain accepts the girdle. 1872-93: Gawain confesses his sins and makes merry. 1894-1921: end of fox hunt. 1922-51: third exchange scene. 1952-97: final night of festivities; Gawain takes his leave.
A transition between the two strands of the narrative: The lord for blysse abloy Ful oft con lance and light, And drof that day with joy Thus to the derk night. Thus laykes this lord by lynde-wodes eves, And Gawayn the good mon in gay bed lyes, Lurkes while the daylyght lemed on the wowes Under covertour ful clere, cortayned about. (1174-81) abloy lance light laykes lynde-wodes eves gay lurkes lemed wowes covertour clere transported gallop dismount plays the edges of the forest beautiful lies at ease, dozes gleamed walls coverlet bright, beautiful
First contrast: outside / inside The lord for blysse abloy Ful oft con lance and light, And drof that day with joy Thus to the derk night. Thus laykes this lord by lynde-wodes eves, And Gawayn the good mon in gay bed lyes, Lurkes while the daylyght lemed on the wowes Under covertour ful clere, cortayned about. (1174-81) abloy lance light laykes lynde-wodes eves gay lurkes lemed wowes covertour clere transported gallop dismount plays the edges of the forest beautiful lies at ease, dozes gleamed walls coverlet bright, beautiful
Second contrast: active / inactive The lord for blysse abloy Ful oft con lance and light, And drof that day with joy Thus to the derk night. Thus laykes this lord by lynde-wodes eves, And Gawayn the good mon in gay bed lyes, Lurkes while the daylyght lemed on the wowes Under covertour ful clere, cortayned about. (1174-81) abloy lance light laykes lynde-wodes eves gay lurkes lemed wowes covertour clere transported gallop dismount plays the edges of the forest beautiful lies at ease, dozes gleamed walls coverlet bright, beautiful
Third contrast: joyful / melancholy The lord for blysse abloy Ful oft con lance and light, And drof that day with joy Thus to the derk night. Thus laykes this lord by lynde-wodes eves, And Gawayn the good mon in gay bed lyes, Lurkes while the daylyght lemed on the wowes Under covertour ful clere, cortayned about. (1174-81) abloy lance light laykes lynde-wodes eves gay lurkes lemed wowes covertour clere transported gallop dismount plays the edges of the forest beautiful lies at ease, dozes gleamed walls coverlet bright, beautiful
Gawain meditates on his imminent death: The freke ferde with defence and feted ful fayr; That ho were burde bryghtest, the burn in mynde had The lasse luf in his lode for lur that he soght Bout hone, The dint that schulde him deve, And nedes hit most be done. The lady then spek of leve; He graunted hir ful sone. (1282-89) In drye dourpyng of dreme draveled that noble, As mon that was in mournyng of mony thro thoghtes, How that destiny schulde that day dele him his wyrde At the Grene Chapel when he the gome metes, And behoves his buffet abide withoute debate more. Bot when that comly come he kevered his wyttes, Swenges out of the swevenes and swares with hast. (1750-56)
First connection: the lord hunts animals / the lady hunts Gawain.
First connection: the lord hunts animals / the lady hunts Gawain. Second connection: the lord masters his domain (the forest) and its inhabitants (the animals) / the lady masters her domain (the bed-chamber) and its inhabitant (Gawain).
First connection: the lord hunts animals / the lady hunts Gawain. Second connection: the lord masters his domain (the forest) and its inhabitants (the animals) / the lady masters her domain (the bed-chamber) and its inhabitant (Gawain). Third connection: the lord hunts deer, boar and fox / Gawain behaves like a deer, boar and fox [?]
Hunting scenes: exemplary hunter pursues all three types of game (red, black and small), and does so brilliantly.
Hunting scenes: exemplary hunter pursues all three types of game (red, black and small), and does so brilliantly. Temptation scenes: exemplary rhetorician tempts Gawain in every possible way, and does so brilliantly.
Hunting scenes: exemplary hunter pursues all three types of game (red, black and small), and does so brilliantly. Temptation scenes: exemplary rhetorician tempts Gawain in every possible way, and does so brilliantly. Temptation (and exchange) scenes: exemplary knight balances obligations to both his hosts, and does so brilliantly.
Hunting scenes: exemplary hunter pursues all three types of game (red, black and small), and does so brilliantly. Temptation scenes: exemplary rhetorician tempts Gawain in every possible way, and does so brilliantly. Temptation (and exchange) scenes: exemplary knight balances obligations to both his hosts, and does so brilliantly. Throughout Fitt 3: exemplary poet describes all types of aristocratic hunting practices and courtly conversation, weaves together the strands of the narrative, and does so brilliantly.
Gawains ethical tightrope-walk: For that prynces of pris depresed him so thik, Nurned him so negh the thred, that nede him behoved Auther lach there hir luf auther lodly refuse. He cared for his cortaysye, lest crathayn he were, And more for his meschef if he schulde make synne And be traytor to that tulk that the telde aghte. God schelde, quoth the schalk, that schal not befalle. With luf-laghyng a lyte he layd him biside All the speches of specialty that sprang of hir mouth. (1770-78) prynces pris depresed so thik nurned him so negh the thred lach lodly crathayn meschef telde aghte specialty princess excellence pressed, urged so hard, so insistently pushed him so close to the limit take, accept rudely churl, boor (from Old French cracheron, spittle; see Middle English Dictionary crachoun http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/med/) harm, wrongdoing dwelling owned partiality, affection
Gawain returns a kiss to his host: He haspes his fayr halse his armes withinne And kysses him as comlyly as he couth avyse: Tas yow there my chevisaunce, I cheved no more. I wowche hit saf fynly thagh feler hit were. Hit is good, quoth the goodmon, grant merci therfore. Hit may be such hit is the better, and ye me breve wolde Where ye wan this ilk wele by wyt of yourselven. That was not forward, quoth he, frayst me no more. (1388-95) haspes halse comlyly couth avyse tas chevisaunce cheved wowche hit saf fynly feler grant merci breve this ilk wele forward frayst clasps neck appropriately; nicely could devise, could manage take winnings acquired vouchsafe it completely more many thanks declare this same wealth agreement, pact ask; test
Gawain refuses to say where he got the kiss: He haspes his fayr halse his armes withinne And kysses him as comlyly as he couth avyse: Tas yow there my chevisaunce, I cheved no more. I wowche hit saf fynly thagh feler hit were. Hit is good, quoth the goodmon, grant merci therfore. Hit may be such hit is the better, and ye me breve wolde Where ye wan this ilk wele by wyt of yourselven. That was not forward, quoth he, frayst me no more. (1388-95) haspes halse comlyly couth avyse tas chevisaunce cheved wowche hit saf fynly feler grant merci breve this ilk wele forward frayst clasps neck appropriately; nicely could devise, could manage take winnings acquired vouchsafe it completely more many thanks declare this same wealth agreement, pact ask; test
Gawain accepts the magical girdle: Is this wrong? (If so, why? If not, why not?) What motivates Gawain to do this? Is he breaking the rules of the Exchange Game or of the Beheading Game and do we blame him, in either case? What should Gawain have done?
Gawain goes to confession: Does he confess to taking the girdle, and to promising the lady that he would conceal it from her husband? Does he behave differently after the confession? What is the function of this passage in relation to the rest of the poem?
The final exchange of winnings: He metes me this goodmon inmyddes the flore, And all with game he him gret and goodly he sayd: I schall fylle upon fyrst oure forwardes nowthe, That we spedly han spoken there spared was no drynk. Then acoles he the knight and kysses him thryse As saverly and sadly as he hem sette couth. By Cryst, quoth that other knight, ye cach much sele In chevisaunce of this chaffer, if ye had good chepes. Ye, of the chepe no charge, quoth chefly that other, As is pertly payed the porchas that I aghte. (1932-41) Why does Gawain initiate the exchange this time? Why does he mention the drink with which the agreement was sworn? Is there anything significant about the way Gawain kisses the lord this time? What is the tone of Gawain s response to the lord s comments?
The structure of fitt III itself is the most symmetrically organised piece of narrative in Middle English: three days of simultaneous action in hunting-field and bedroom in an a-b-a pattern (opening of hunt, bedroom conversation, completion of hunt), followed on each day by a meeting in the hall. The pattern encourages readers to observe the subtleties of variation, the similarities and differences in the large-scale deer-drive, the fierce challenge of a boar-hunt, the dogged pursuit of a scent in a fox-hunt, the ambiguities and rhetorical shadow-play in the conversations between Gawain and the Lady, the gradations of bonhomie in the exchanges of winnings between Gawain and his host Throughout the poem there is an interplay of indoor and outdoor scenes: Camelot at Christmas, Gawain s lonely winter journey, the alternation of hunting field and bedroom, the warmth and comfort of Hautdesert followed by Gawain s chilly early waking and his ride by rushing mountain streams to the Green Chapel. These contrasts are conveyed by apt linguistic shifts, most marked in the differences between quick-moving lines of outdoor action and the tortuous sentences of the dialogues about love between Gawain and the Lady. (Tony Davenport, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , in A Companion to Medieval Poetry, ed. Corinne Saunders (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), pp. 385-400; 391, 393) [available online] The hunt is a spectacular demonstration of mastery over man, beast and land; a display that Susan Crane has called a mimesis of aristocratic power because as in warfare, it marshalls man and beast in strict hierarchical order under the direction of a single noble The institution of the forest was created to satisfy the appetite of aristocrats like Bertilak for game. (Michael W. Twomey, How Green Was the Green Knight? Forest Economy at Hautdesert , in Arthurian Literature XXX, ed. Elizabeth Archibald and David F. Johnson (Suffolk: Boydell and Brewer, 2014), pp. 27-54; 48, 50) [available online] [T]he symbolism of deer, boar and fox is not to be pressed to the point of identity any more than is the symbolism of the pentangle. To look for an identity between symbol and referent is to deny the very meaning of a symbol, which lies not in denotation but in suggestiveness. Judgment is always required of the reader in knowing how far and in what directions to press the potential significance of a symbol. To look for a symbolic identity between Gawain and the deer, boar and fox respectively is an error of judgment based upon the elevation of character at the expense of fable, and the consequent imposition of a psychological frame of reference alien to the poet s exposition of his abstract, co-ordinating idea We may contrast in this respect the symbol of the pentangle and its value of nobility or righteousness. The poet intends to apply this symbol directly to Gawain, and he goes out of his way to do so, enforcing the relation with a syllogistic precision (623-35). The symbols of deer, boar and fox are not fastened on Gawain in this way. (Gerald Morgan, The Shaping of English Poetry (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2010), pp. 55-56) [available online] [The three hunts] reflect the three distinct categories into which game could be divided, each involving different hunting challenges and tactics. The deer belong to the category of red game, often hunted in great numbers; the boar to that of black game, which required courage, since the animal (bear or boar) was dangerous, and usually hunted singly; the fox to that of small game, where the quarry (commonly fox or hare) was typically a pest. (The Works of the Gawain Poet, ed. Ad Putter and Myra Stokes (London: Penguin, 2014) [Kindle e-book], Introduction to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, location 6151) Bertilak sresponses to Gawain s kisses foreground the question of their value, and the related but unspoken question of their meaning. There is an obvious awareness of the possible erotic significance of kissing within the poem: Gawain s initial wariness about agreeing to kiss the Lady shows this clearly. But as Gilbert notes, the returned kisses between Gawain and Bertilak represent homosocial, not homosexual behaviour: if anything, they are an affirmation on Gawain s part that non-sexual bonds of loyalty between men take precedence for him over heterosexual desire. In this way, far from representing a sexual act, the returned kisses constitute a rejection of sex. (Conor McCarthy, Luf-talkyng in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , Neophilologus 92 (2008), 155-162; p. 161) [available online]
