The one question that remained unanswered throughout the
entire story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for me was HOW THE GREEN KNIGHT
SURVIVED HAVING HIS HEAD CUT OFF?? Was that belt truly magical? If the belt was
magical, he could actually (try to) chop Gawain’s head off and he would have
lived. Then we would have known that that’s why the green knight lived as well.
However, the green knight only nicks Gawain’s neck, and then explains the
entire test to him. Because he doesn’t actually cut his head off, I couldn’t be
100% certain that the belt was magical at all! Maybe she just said that the
belt would make him invincible as a test and he failed. It seems just as likely
as a belt actually giving him invincibility.
Aside
from this issue, I did really enjoy the story. The test that the Green Knight
came up with was pretty ingenious. Not only was it entertaining for the court,
but it gave a very true test of Gawain’s honor. As a knight he is supposed to honor
all agreements, and in this test he actually makes two. Now why someone would
agree to be decapitated in a year, I have no idea. But Gawain does fulfill all
parts of both agreements, except for the final day with the King. By keeping
the belt he hopes to survive his execution. Unfortunately, this fails his test
of honor.
The
craziest part of the whole story though is the ending. Sir Gawain returns to
the court wearing his belt to remind himself of his failure. Next thing you
know, everyone is doing it! Green belts are IN, they represent HONOR. If there
was any lesson to be taken away from the story, this ending kills it. It’s a
Disney ending to me, everything has to end perfect and happy ever after. This
story had me right up until that ending, but the ending was just terrible. Yes
I understand that the court was doing it to make him feel better, but did he
really need to feel better? It’s just a reminder that he’s human and needs to
focus on doing better in the future. That’s a lesson everyone should carry with
them in life. That’s how I would have ended this story.
The Green Knight was able to survive because Morgan Le Fay used her magic on him, which is how he was able to become green and survive all of this. She wanted to startle Guinevere and I believe test the knight's chivalry because at this point they are all young and as stated in the beginning of the story, have no hair on their faces. It was pretty much all a joke from Morgan.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yes I remember this from class lecture as well. It makes more sense now.
Deletei thank you as well. I was wondering how he did it too
DeleteI'm a fan of Morgan le Fay and her random screwing with Arthur and the court. She may be his family but everyone has that one relative they want to teach a lesson, right? Morgan is just a little more capable than the rest of us when it comes to ability in that zone.
DeleteEntertainment for the 12 days of Christmas.
ReplyDelete