Test 1: Medieval Literature

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Summary

• GK challenges KA → GW to a game

  • GK beheaded, GW will be beheaded

• GW goes to meet the GK - meets a couple otw

  • Lord: We switch wtv we get all day

  • Lady: Tempts Gawain, gives green girdle

• GK = Lord, evt was a test

  • GW kept the girdle

• GW returns & wears the girdle as a reminder

The Green Knight

• Supernatural being

• Test of courage

• Hostile challenger

Arthur

Green Knight

• Bold, chivalrous leader

• Impatient, impulsive

Morte de Arthur

• Haunted by fate

• Proud, bold

• Regretful

Gawain

• Faithful knight

• Imperfections

• Aggressive, unforgiving

Morgan le Faye

• Trickery

• Supernatural being

Lancelot

• Loyal, powerful knight

• Affair with Arthur’s wife

• Prophesied to fight with Arthur under specific circumstances

Mordred

• Arthur’s son - hates Arthur

• “Coup” of sorts - stealing territory from under Arthur’s rule

• Kills Arthur in his final moments

• Arthur’s failures

Bedivere

• Asked to throw Excalibur in the lake

• Loyal, or maybe has ulterior motives

Lucan

• Bedivere’s brother

• Loyalty

• Dies for Arthur’s sake

The Hermit

• Faith and spiritual authority

• Former Bishop of Canterbury

The Three Ladies

• Queen Morgan le Fay

• Queen of North Gails

• Queen of the Waste Lands

• Transition, death

The Romance

A medieval genre of literature that focuses on knights going on quests for chivalry and love.

Elements of Romance

• Age of legends

• Stock characters

• Improbable, supernatural

• Battle

• Chivalry, Courtesy, “Courtly Love”

The Quest

• Attempting to complete a task

• Journey is an end in itself: enlightenment

• Social Pattern: Integration → Disintegration → Reintegration

Satire

Using humor, irony, or exaggeration to criticize something.

The Feudal System

• Rigid Social Classes: Aristocracy > Clergy > Peasantry

• Loyalty, unwritten moral code

• Legal system: Judges, Contracts

History of the Medieval Period

[1066-1520]

• William the Conqueror and the Normans invade England

• The Normans win the Battle of Hastings (ends the Anglo-Saxon period)

Thomas Malory

• Knight during the War of the Roses

• Imprisoned

• Wrote Morte De Arthur as a true example of knighthood

Wars of the Roses

Wars fought between Lancaster and York for the throne of England.

What are some of the themes of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?

• Chivalry, Courtesy

• Mortality

• Contract

What are some of the themes of Morte De Arthur?

• Nostalgia

• Fate

• Personal Pride

• Regret