Friday, March 27, 2020
Gawain, a hero or a coward?
I found it really interesting to read through some of the posts on Gawain and the Green Knight. Particularly that some people found him really heroic and an absolutely honorable knight and that others found him to be cowardly and only was honorable in order to appear so to others. In my reading, I personally leaned more towards the former. I think in general, he tried to do right by everyone that he crossed. Whether he did this because he was honorable in and of himself I couldn't say, but even when by himself he seemed to be trying his best. My argument would be that for one, he took Arthur's place in the Green Knight's game because he knew that he was less valuable than his king. He continued to pray to his god and Mary on his journey for guidance. Even when he got to the castle he did his best to play the Knight's game in accordance with the rules. He also turns down the Knight's wife even though he didn't want to. He did eventually break the rules in order to keep the girdle, however this was done merely to save himself. I certainly cannot judge anyone for breaking a rule to save one's own life. He then proves himself again by not running away when given the option even when the man promises to tell no one. I think this last thing is what really proves it to me. He could have saved his life and saved face and yet he did not turn and run. In the end, Gawain greatly regrets his cowardice in keeping the girdle and the knights of the round table end up wearing silk to make Gawain less self-conscious about the wound that displays his mistake. I saw some arguments that this was an effort to hide his mistake under the rug, but I see it as an act of solidarity and an acceptance that everyone makes mistakes. That's my argument but please comment whether you think Gawain was a good guy in the end!
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I totally agree with you. it didn't even occur to me when reading that Gawain was a coward. now that I think about it directly, I can kind of see where people might be coming from, but I would still say Gawain is a hero, even if he has a moment of what might be called cowardice accepting the girdle, I think you would be hard pressed to find many heroes who wouldn't do the same in his circumstances.
ReplyDeleteI also saw him as a honorable through the story. Gawain isn't perfect but his intentions are ultimately pure. I sort of feel like Tolkien wouldn't have liked the story so much if Gawain were ultimately a coward. He seems to prefer all his main characters to be honorable somewhere deep down. After all Gawain is a knight and he is still accepted by the rest of Arthur's knights after his trial with the Green Knight. I think the symbolism of the color green is also very interesting here. Green has an interesting place in color theory. The first association with green is the natural world. However green light is almost never generated in nature so when things besides plants have a green tint to them it often symbolizes the unnatural. There is also the association of green with envy and with witchcraft. So green out of all the colors might have the most even duality of meanings. So when Gawain is becomes "the Green knight" so to speak because of his cowardice and because of Morgan's envy he is at first condemned by the color. But when the other knights also take up the girdle it symbolizes rebirth and healing which redeems Gawain.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I saw Gawain as a noble individual who made a promise and kept his promise. I also liked how the author showed that Gawain was human as well. He did not disclose the girdle to the lord of the castle in an attempt to save his life, and I find it interesting how he flinched when the Green Knight first swung his axe at him. Gawain was someone who displays great virtues and noble qualities, but that does not mean he was perfect. Despite obstacles he remained true to the task at hand though many encouraged him to break his promise. That right there is truly heroic.
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