Class Today 10/18 B; 10/19 AHW DUE THURS (B) FRI (A):

• Unit 3 Vocabulary NotecardsToday:

•Take a few notes on Medieval Literature•Watch a BBC Documentary introducing Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and work on a worksheet that WILL BE COLLECTED and counted as a 30 point quiz grade.

But first, if you missed it… Mr. Lin Dougie-ing

Medieval Literature A notable amount of medieval

literature is anonymous. Medieval authors often tended to re-tell and embellish stories they heard or read rather than invent new stories.

Characteristics of Medieval Literature• Heroism– from both Germanic and Christian traditions,

sometimes mingled• Beowulf• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

• Presentations of idealized behavior– literature as moral lesson• loyalty to king• chivalry

• use of kennings (especially in Beowulf)– A figurative, usually compound expression used in

place of a name or noun. Example, storm of swords is a kenning for battle.

Use of Allegory• An allegory is a figurative mode of representation

conveying a meaning other than the literal.• Much of medieval literature relied on allegory to

convey the morals the author had in mind while writing--representations of abstract qualities, events, and institutions are thick in much of the literature of this time.

Poetic form and devices• Alliterative Revival• Bob and Wheel– Bob: one line of two or three syllables– Wheel: four three-stress lines– Entire structure rhymes ababa

Bob and Wheel• The bob-and-wheel is a structural device common in the Pearl Poet's poetry. The example below comes from the first

stanza of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The bob appears in red, and thewheel appears in blue. Alliterative components are in bold print, and rhyming components are in italic print.

• Sithen the sege and the assut was sesed at Troye,The borgh brittened and brent to brondes and askes,The tulk that the trammes of tresoun ther wroghtWas tried for his tricherie, the trewest on erthe--Hit was Ennias the athel and highe kynde,That sithen depreced provinces and patrounes bicomeWelneghe of al the wele in the west iles.Fro riche Romulus to Rome ricchis hym swythe,With gret bobbaunce that burghe he biges upon fyrst,And nevenes hit his aune nome, as hit now hat.Ticius to Tuskan and teldes bigynnes,Langaberde in Lumbardie lyftes up homes,And fer over the French flod Felix BrutusOn mony bonkkes ful brode Bretayn he settes with wynne,

• Where werre and wrake and wonderBi sythes has wont therinne,And oft bothe blysse and blunderFul skete has skyfted synne.

Examples of Allegories…

Popular Themes in Medieval Literature

• Chivalry

• Courtly Love

Chivalry • Chivalry was an idealized

system of manners and morals– Restricted to nobility

• The Medieval knight was bound to the chivalric code to be loyal to…– God– his lord– his lady

• Chivalric ideals include...– benevolence– brotherly love– politeness

• Sir Gawain is an example

• Basically MANNERS

The Ideal of Courtly Love

• This relationship was modeled on the feudal relationship between a knight and his liege lord.

• The knight serves his courtly lady with the same obedience and loyalty which he owes to his liege lord.

• She is in complete control; he owes her obedience and submission

The knight's love for the lady inspires him to do great deeds, in

order to be worthy of her love or to win her favor.

• “Courtly love" was not between husband and wife because it was an idealized sort of relationship that could not exist within the context of "real life" medieval marriages.

• In the middle ages, marriages amongst the nobility were typically based on practical and dynastic concerns rather than on love.

Characters in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

• Arthur: poet’s qualified approval• Sir Gawain: representative, not

elect• Green Knight: ambiguous nature– Green body: supernatural– Green and gold equipment:

courtly youth– Holly bob: life, peace– Axe: war

Sir Gawain • Sir Gawain accepts the Green

Knight’s challenge.• He honors his word and searches

for the knight’s Green Chapel.• Gawain finds a lord and his lady

on his quest who offer him shelter on Christmas day.

• The lord has the lady tempt Sir Gawain three times on the rules of courtly love.

• Gawain resists--all but one advance.

• The Green Knight reveals himself to be the lord and spares Gawain for his honesty.

The Green Knight• He challenges King

Arthur’s knights to a New Year’s game.

• The Green Knight wants to exchange “one blow for another.”

• The stranger will stand for the first blow if the other knight will agree to have his turn in a year and a day.

The Structure of the Poem

• Three Gawains Representing the Three Fitts (The 3 Steps towards Heaven):– Courteous and brave brother of Round Table– Flawless exemplar of Christian chivalry– Flawed everyman

Fitt One: The Game• Gratuitous (thus romantic, not heroic)• Governed by rules (romantic, not heroic)• Seasonable (customary Christmas drama)• Quasi-legal (rules are reiterated)• Tests important knightly virtues• Involves seemingly inevitable death• Ernest/game ambiguity makes it possible for Gawain

to treat the obligation lightly, but does not make it right for him to do so

Fitt One: The Process

• Midwinter: Indoors/outdoors– Wine, feasting, celebration– Cold, sleet, rain

• Arming of Gawain

Fitt One: The Pentangle• “Truth” – “Loyal to people, principles, or promises”– Possesses “faith in God”– “Without deceit,” “sincere”– “Upright and virtuous”

• The Fifth Five: Five Virtues– Generosity, companionableness, courtesy,

pure mind, compassion – Secular and social– Interdependent

Fitt Two: The Journey

• Eight weeks: 11/2-12/24• Departs on All Souls’ Day • Four phases– Arthurian England– N. Wales (Winifred’s Well)– The Wirral – “Strange country”

• Realistic and fantastic

Fitt Two: Temptation

• Lady maneuvers based on her misconception of Gawain – courtesy is all

• Courtly ladies can pursue• Kisses are not adulterous

Fitt Two: Hunt and Bed

• Day three represents a departure from the noble conduct of days one and two.– Deer/boar are noble; fox is ignoble

• The victim (hero). . . – Flees an adversary (hounds/lady)– Retreats from prospect of another adversary

(Bercilak/Green Knight)– Succumbs to original adversary (hounds/lady)

Fitt Two: The Girdle

• Green and gold (should remind reader of Green Knight)

• Not accepted for monetary value or beauty• Gawain acts differently after his fall:– Gawain goes to Confession, not Mass– Gawain awaits host, instead of host calling– Gawain goes first, not host– Gawain wears blue, color of faithfulness

Fitt Three: Confession• Shame and mortification• Reparation: Gawain returns girdle (and it is given

back to him)• Statement of sin: Gawain admits cowardice,

covetousness, untruth• Request for penance -- Bercilak (Green Knight)

refuses

Fitt Three: Judgement– Condemnation – Gawain did sin– Mercy – Sin was from love of life, not from lower

passion or malice– Contrasting responses show decorum• Bercilak shows comparatively more mercy, for

Gawain is more prone to despair than to presumption• Gawain shows wounded pride, but is harsh on

himself– Problem of shifting blame to women – perhaps to

make Gawain’s behavior realistic?