Sir Gawain and the Green Knight :: English Literature Essays

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a fourteenth-century tale written by an anonymous poet, chronicles how Sir Gawain of King Arthurs Round Table finds his virtue compromised. A noble and truthful knight, Gawain accepts the Green Knights challenge at Arthurs New Years feast. On his way to the Green Chapel, Gawain takes shelter from the nippy winter at Lord Bercilaks castle. The lord makes an agreement with Gawain to exchange what they have one at the end of the day. During the three days that the lord is bulge out hunting, his wife attempts to seduce Gawain. At the end of the story, it is revealed that Morgan le Faye has orchestrated the entire situation to disgrace the Knights of the Round Table by revealing that one of their best, Sir Gawain, is non perfect. The passage begins with Lord Bercilak returning from his first hunting trip. As has been agreed, he hands over the angered boar he has killed to Gawain. In turn, Gawain gives the lord a kiss. The lord gives Gawain a chance to admit that he has been intimate with Lady Bercilak when he says, it might be the kiss all the better, would you but say where you won this homogeneous award (Norton 187. Gawain is a gentleman, who would never kiss and tell, so the two reaffirm their p motivate for the next day. The lords determination in pursuing the wild swine till the sunlight slanted is paralleled by his wifes determination in seducing Gawain as she was at him with all her art to turn his mind her way (188). Lady Bercilak attempts to exploit Gawains reputation as she tries to seduce him. She greets him in the bedroom and coyly asks how a man so well-meaning, and mannerly disposedcannot act in company as courtesy bids (189). Lady Bercilak is not subtle (she points out that the door is locked and the two are alone in the castle) as she offers herself to Gawain, saying, I am yours to command, to kiss when you please (189). She tries to make Gawain feel gu ilty by implying that he is insulting her by not succumbing to her seductions and proclaiming his love to her.