Discuss how this short passage represents the theme of shame and show the significance of that theme within Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

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University Degree Linguistics, Classics and related subjects

Discuss how this short passage represents the theme of shame and show the significance of that theme within ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’

Throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the idea of shame is explored both through Gawain’s own experiences but also through the presentation of the contrasting courts of Arthur and Bertelak, both of which the reader is drawn towards questioning the morals of by the end of poem. As this essay will discuss, it is, ironically, the grief and shame that Gawain clearly expresses in this extract that highlights the depth of his integrity and moreover the deeply flawed integrity of the court, who in prizing renown and honor more than anything else have instead been shown to have very superficial and certainly not honorable values. The poet does not seem to wholly criticize the shame-honour value system of the Arthurian court here, rather he uses the character of Gawain to show that these values are worth something but only when they are combined with strong personal integrity, which both the poet and the green knight, acting on behalf of Morgan le Fay, find severely lacking in Arthur’s court[1].

To this end, this extract, which is set when Gawain returns to Arthurs’ court after his experiences at Hautdesert, presents Gawain in a state of severe anguish and suffering over the shame that has come over him. The poet here describes how, as Gawain retold his tale, his blood was “Rushing, now hot, now cold,/ And his face flushed in shame”. While it could here be suggested that the use of the verb “Rushing” shows how Gawain is feeling adrenaline at retelling his tale, the fact that he responded in a similar manner upon initially learning of his failure from the Green Knight – “ The blood rushed from his heart, flushing his face./ He shriveled in shame at what the bold man told him” – instead suggests strong feelings of anger and shame at the realization that the he has failed to live up to the ‘knightly’ virtues [2]. This repetition of the image of Gawain’s blood “rushing” emphasizes just how strong an emotional reaction Gawain has had to his failure with the Green Knight – even recalling the event leads him to a have noticeable physical reaction to the emotions brought up by the memory. Also, the poet’s use of the term “heart” when initially describing Gawain’s reaction further shows how he truly feels that his failure to resist the temptation of the green girdle has cast shame on his morals and with that anyone who he is associated with[3]. However, it is the use of the word “heart”, along with the repeated vivid description found in the extract, that encourages the reader to sympathize with Gawain here as he is being presented as suffering deep internal turmoil over his shameful failure, contrasting strongly with the superficial reaction of the court[4].

This is a preview of the whole essay

As was previously mentioned, the poet does not only explore the idea of shame in relation to Gawain in this extract, but also to the entire court of King Arthur and arguably to the wider readership. Upon Gawain’s return, the other knights of the court simply react to him by “Laughing loudly”, attempting to detract from Gawain’s shame by declaring that they will wear a similar green band to the one Gawain took from Lady Bertelak. The idea of the court as “Laughing” is one is that explored throughout the poem. The Festival at Camelot which we are initially introduced to is described as one of “great mirth”, whilst Arthur and Gawain are said to have “laughed” as the Green Knight rode away from Camelot[5]. In total, the phrase ‘laugh’/ ‘laughter’ or the present particle “Laughing” can be found in the poem twenty-one times, suggesting that poet’s description of the court as “Laughing Loudly” is done to demonstrate how the court has failed to change or learn as much as Gawain[6]. Ironically, the image of the court “Laughing” suggests that they are still as joyful and happy as they were in the poem’s opening fitt, when in reality it is they and not Gawain who should be bearing the feeling of shame over their moral failure. However, by having the court react so casually to Gawain’s retelling of his journey, the poet suggests that the court is so naïve and unaware of the real world that they cannot accept the feeling of shame, instead taking the green girdle that Gawain brings back and transforming it into an object of honour that will simply serve to identify a knight of Camelot.

Through his presentation of the court in this extract, along with the rest of the poem, the poet manages to highlight how the feelings of shame and guilt – internal feelings- are ones that need to be welcomed in Arthur’s court. If they are not welcomed by the court; with the repeated use of the verb “laughter” suggesting they have not been; even after Gawain’s realization of their importance, then the court will likely suffer as Gawain did at the Green Knight’s hand. The poet would have been aware that his audience would know the story of Camelot, and thus his inclusion of the following lines would have been extremely foreboding to his contemporary readership – “No one can hide, without disaster, a harmful deed. What’s done is done and cannot be undone.” By having Gawain speak these words, the poet manages to show not only that Gawain has come to terms with the fact that he will have to live with the shame that came with his failure, but that the court, if they do not change their ways and values, will suffer “disaster” in the future – as the mythical story of Camelot tells us. Furthermore, when it is considered that the events of this poem were set up by Arthur’s half-sister Morgan le Fay, the failure of Camelot to stand up to it’s reputation as the greatest in all the land becomes even more foreboding, as the reader realizes that eventually the court, seemingly unaware of it’ failings, will fall from greatness and suffer shame, pain and betrayal.

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[1] R Kendrick, 'Gawain’s ethics', Annuale Mediaevale, (1981), 27.

[2] Keith Harrison, trans. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, ed. by Helen Cooper Oxford World’s Classics (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008). IV: 2371- 2372

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Keith Harrison, trans. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, ed. by Helen Cooper Oxford World’s Classics (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008) I: 45, 464.

[6] Stevens, Martin. “Laughter and Game in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” Speculum, vol. 47, no. 1, 1972, pp. 65–78., www.jstor.org/stable/2851217.