Sir Gawain and Green Knight Essays: Allegory :: Sir Gawain Green Knight Essays

Allegory in Sir Gawain and the Green nickname Discuss the allegorical significance of the pursuit words of the Green Knight, You are so fully confessed, your failings made known,/ And bear the plain penance of the point of my blade,/ I hold you polished as a pearl, as pure and as bright/ As you had lived free of fault since first you were born. These words are uttered by the Green Knight almost immediately after he delivered the third blow on Gawains neck (l 2391-2394). They should be understood as referring to events which began with Gawains arrival at the Lords castle. The words confessed and penance appearing in the Green Knights utterance may lead one to connect them non only with events of the narrative, but also with the Christian idea of sin. According to Christian ideology all human beings are sinners, though- owing to Gods lenience and kindness- sins may be forgiven. But before this happens there is need for confession and penance. Absolution is the final stage which may be reached only by those who shot the former ones. When Sir Gawain is looked at closely, the events of the story correspond to the sequence temptation -sin - confession - penance - absolution. The sin committed by Gawain was not being loyal to the passkey by concealing the green girdle. This weakness of character resulted from the love of life - the girdle was to protect anyone who wore it. What happens at the Green Chapel are the later move of the cycle confession - penance - absolution. The penance is the fight with the Green Knight during which Gawain receives a cut on the neck and absolution (granted by the Green Knight) is come through through blood, which makes it even more meaningful. On the other hand, a nick on the neck is not an extremely painful experience (although the way in which it was attained was definitely very stressful) and shows that Gawains sin was only a minor one. He did not sin against chastity as he did not give in to the ladys wishes. But still, in this interpretation Gawains character turned out to be faulty. There is a different possibility of interpretation - one which broadens the allegory even more. It may be said that Gawains primary fault was sinning against courtesy. If courtesy was in mankind what he had been tested on, Gawain did not stand a chance of passing this test.