Sir Gawain in Transition Essays -- Sir Gawain Papers

Sir Gawain in Transition Sir Gawain has played a significant role in Arthurian legends since the Middle Ages. His first-year major appearance in Sir Gawain and the super acid Knight depicts Gawain as a warrior rather than a womanizing knight like others from King Arthurs court. Even in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain focuses on his battle with the green knight rather than the advances of Bercilaks wife. During Gawains visit to Bercilaks castle, his wife makes three specific advances to entice Gawain into an adulteress relationship. Although Gawain faces certain death with the Green Knight, he declines any sexual involvement with Bercilaks wife. Gawains character remains faithful to his warrior image by rushing into battle with the green knight rather than prolonging his stay at Bercilaks castle. Although he exhibits this obsession with battle in many stories, Gawains role changes drastically between his appearance in The Wedding of S ir Gawain and Dame Ragnell and his later appearance in Howard Pyles The Story of King Arthur and His Knights. Although these stories employ similar plots, Gawains character undergoess a dramatic transformation. In The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell Gawain reveals his loyalty to King Arthur by agreeing the marry the offensive lady after she saves the kings life. This not the first appearance of the loathly lady in Medieval literature. In Chaucers Canterbury Tales, the Knights Tale reiterates the familiar folklore motif that concerns the transformation of the horrible hag into a beautiful woman after a man has placed himself under her sovereynte and incorporates the theme of A Riddle Asked and Answered (Wilhelm 467). ... ...en he learns to love the women he marries, Gawain argues with his new wife and then mutters so be it when confronted with her choice. Gawain refuses to learn from his mistakes in Pyles story. In both Pyles story and The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Rag nell, Gawain does not battle as he does with the green knight instead, he marries and enters the marital war zone rather than those fought on the battlefield. BibliographyLupack, Alan, ed. Modern Arthurian Literature. New York Garland Publishing, Inc., 1992. Vasta, Edward. Chaucer, Gower, and the Unknown folk singer The Literary Liberation of the Loathly Lady. Exemplaria. 395-419.Wilhelm, James J., ed. The Romance of Arthur. New York Garland Publishing, Inc., 1994. Web Text version of The Marriage of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell is at http//rodent.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/ragnell.htm