An Analysis on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

An analysis on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

The historical context surrounding the story, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, remains somewhat of a mystery. Yet, even today, authors and readers take to the book and indulge within its convoluted twists and mercurial attitude. The only issue? Historians and researchers have not been able to identify the creator of the story itself. Regardless, schools and institutions have no quarrel in reciting this classic. What sets the poem apart from other pieces of literature is that the vernacular has etymological roots to the Middle English era, but serves as a critical tantamount for moral tragedies.

The introduction begins with a dilemma that the author sets forth as the harbinger for the later part of the poem, of course, this information was held against the protagonist. The beginning of the poem begins by noting a knight, dressed in nothing but green, challenging other aspiring knights to attempt to behead him and retake his position of power. No one thought serious of the man, until one stepped forward and completed the knights challenge- the protagonist himself. After beheading the Green Knight, the aspiring knight took this said “position of power” and conjured a life of his own. Many critics relate this quandry to the current events that were taking place during the Middle Age era. With the political dynamics shifting in Camelot, the way people felt about the way things were being executed, lead people, like the person who possibly made this poem, to feel the way they did about the situation.

Aside from internal politicized disputes arising from differing viewpoints in Camelot, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight addressed issues regarding medieval moral theology. Perfectionism was a prominent idea during the time the poem was being written, but this was, of course, written correlatively in conjunction to the morality of romanticism. During the moment where Sir Gawain challenged the perilous green knight to combat, the challenger was troubled within the process. The moral question of the method used to retake the power the knight promised, was underlined with two different predicaments: the first was the actual physical act of killing the knight. The second was the positionality promised by the knight in the throne of power. This was tantalizing for all that listened to the knights warning, but no one took to arms. The turning point of the poem occurred when the protagonist challenged the knight to combat. In one quick motion, the knight had decapitated the knights head and proved his valor against the lot that refused to challenge the knight.

While detailing societal differences within the Middle Ages, something the poem also addressed was internal conflicts the protagonist was