TBE GAWAIN - PENTANGLE: A STUDY OF STRTJCTURE AND SYMBOLISM

IN SIR GAWA I N AND THE GREEN KL'l"IGHT

by
Joanne M. Coons

A Thesis Submitted ~o the Faculty of the

College of Humanities
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

\laster of Arts

Florida Atlantic University

Boca Ra~0n, Florida

:vlarch 1979
0 1979

JOANNE MARIE COONS

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

i i
THE GAWAIN-PENTANGLE: A STUDY OF STRUCTURE AND SYMBOLISM

IN SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT

by

Joanne M. Coons

This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate's

thesis advisor, Dr. Allen W. Greer, Department of English, and
has been approved by the members of her supervisory committee.
It was submitted to the faculty of the College of Humanities
and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Arts.

SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE:
c:1L Ufrur/
Thesis Advisor

Chair-m an,
I

De 9! ,

~To; ~d Studies Date

iii
 ABSTRACT

Author: Joanne M. Coons

Title : The Gawain-Pentangle: A Study of

Structure and Symbolism in Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight---

Instituti o~: Flor i da Atlantic University

Degree: Master of Arts

Year: 1979

In Sir Gawain and the Green Kni g ht, the hero sets out

on a journey in which he is forced to make moral choices

that ultimately alter his self -kn owledge. Gawai:a's journey

is the direct result of a challenge offe red by the Green

Knight under the guise of a Christmas game . Metaphorically,

his actions are reflected by the pentangle, which althou gh

composed of oppositions, always l eads back to itself.

Gawain'3 di7tded consci ousness is further symbolized by

the Virgin - shield, which alludes to cari~as, and the magic

girdle, which alludes to cupiditas . Their opposition fo rms

the basic conflict of the poem: between spirit a nd flesh.

These symbols ini~iate two sequences of action whe rein

Gawain is tested, fails and is absolved . He retur~s to

C:!lmelo-r: a new man, wiser for h is folly, a true exemola1· of

Christiani-r:,y as symbolized by the penta~gle virtues .

iv
 CONTENTS

Page
ABSTRACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

INTRODUCTION l

CHAPTER I
The Gawain-Pentangle 9

CHAPTER I I
Cari~as/ Cupiditas: The Moral Journey 24

CHAPTER III
Structure and Symbolism. 34

APPENDIX . . 51
BIBLIOGRAPHY 52
 INTRODUCTION

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a Christmas story,

and like all Christmas stories, it contains elements of

make - believe: enchantment, merriment, and a kind of magic

which treads a thin line between truth and illusion, reality

and fantasy. The Gawain - poet has presented the reader with

a game, even as the Green Knight offered a game to the

courtiers at Camelot. Many plays a r e possible in the game,

but some are better than othe r s. There is a myriad of

meanings--all possible, all even probable, and all an

exasperating shade different . This much has been allowed

in Gawain criticism . Mr . Kiteley, for example notes the

ambi guity of the pentangle symbol; Mr. Howard, among other

things, comments upon the curious symmetrical design of

the poem; and Mr. Burrow is interested in the game - like

tone of the work.

I should like to consider all of the above within a

somewhat isolated framework . I wish to look at the poem in

a way which has not been suggested thus fa r. I will use

for my inner f ~amework, all the while acknowledging the

Gawain - poet's authority, the journey. The journey will

refer to Gawain's adventure. However , encompassing the

jou rne y is yet another, oute r frame -- that of the game.

l
 2

Th~ purpose of the game is to remind the reader of two

things: first, that in a game nothing is so serious as to

be a. r eal life a nd death matter; second, that a game is

enigmatic- - nothing is true and everything is true. The

tone is cot terribly serious, but not terribly light - hearted

either. When the Green Knight arrives with the offer of a

Christmas game, it becomes obvious that it will involve more

than a simple exchange of blows . Yet the conception of the

game always remains in the fore, and for this reason, one

never expects a life to be lost .

The idea of death, in fact, becomes a metaphor.

"Death" i::1 the poem involves a loss, but n ot a physical

loss. It is a dying to o ne kind of life (material), and

the re-birt h t a another (sp iritual ). Within the context of

the poem as make - believe or as game, death , while contain-

ing rea l elements of terror, is generally accepted rather

casually. Although the court is terrified when the Green

Knight's head is struck off, the whole episode becomes

somewhat droll as the decapitated figure calmly retrieves

his rolling head from the floor and gallops out of the hall.

Consequently, within the poem, one never expects a "physi -

cal" death. Nevertheless, one does anticipate a loss which

i s somehow rel ate d to the concept of the game .

Since Gawain is the ch ief player, he is the one who

loses something. The ide~ of l o~i~~ o ne's life t o f ind it

is, in a religi o us sense, the main theme cf Christianit v

 3

(John 12:25). Through his birth, death and resurrection,

Christ gained for man, who was lost through sin, a new life

by redemption. In the Christian sense, one renounces sin

in order to realize salvation. Metaphorically, this " death "

to sin becomes a re-birth in grace. Arthur's is a Christian

court; thus, it is appropriate to find the basic tenets of

the Christmas story enacted in Gawain's adventure. Because

o£ his ~ride, Gawain is made co realize his hum a n imperfec -

tion ~fter a se r ies of tes t s in whi ch he loses a false

co nc epticn of himself and finds the promise of redemption

through humility .

The poem, then, is concerned with the moral growth

of the hero. Within the frame of action, he moves from

ignorance t::- k11owle dge, from pride t o hur1i li ty. His

journey is two-fcld. Gawain's physical journey from

Arthur's court t o Bercilak's castle is real. But concomi-

tant with the physical journey is the spiritual one. Thus,

the journey can be seen on two leve ls: one adventurous

a nd fancit~l; ~he otrier somber ~nd se ri o us. Parentheti-

cally , it is also ChristTas, a time of festivity and gaming

but also a t1me of thought ana prayer.

Within the framewo rk of the journey, I will show the

symmetri cal oppositions which refer directly to and

visually demonstrate the central conflict of the poem:

 4

the opposition between caritas and cupiditas,l as

personified by Gawain and symbolized by his pentangle

emblem. The pentangle is the direct visual manifestation

of Gawain ' s consciousness. His consciousness is a divided

one, drawn to both caritas and cupiditas. 2 Likewise, the

entire poem is divided according to these oppositions.

Initially, Gawain's interior conflict is visually

perceptible in the pentangle emblem . This visual perception

continues throughout the symmetrical design of the poem.

Moreover, this design can be broken down into two

sequences of action which are also in opposition. The first

sequence is governed by the Vir gin -sh ield, symbolizing

caritas, as suggested by the virtue of clannesse in Gawain.

The second sequence is governed by the Lady-girdle,

symbolizing cupiditas, as sug g ested by one aspect of

1 rn the last twenty years, the terms caritas and

cupiditas have become a commonplace in the criticism of
Medieval literature. My purpose in using these terms is to
take advantage of what has already been done and to demon-
strate how the Gawain -p oet has shown thi s conflict in a
dynamic sense.
2 According to Christian doctrine, man is divided in~ o
two sides : the one striving for perfection thrs ug h charity
(caritas), and the other striving to b ·2C.Jme i rJJ.mer~;ed in
the things of the f J.esh t l: r o ugh C0\78 t .-usness ( cupid i t as).
St. Augustine made the follm\·ii1g comment: "'I call 'charit y'
the motion of the soul ~oward the enjoyment of God for His
own sake, and the enjoyment of one's self and of o ne's
neighbor for the sake of God; but 'c upidity' is a motion of
the soul toward the enjoyment of one's self, one's neighbor,
o r any corporal thing for the sake of something o ther than
God." On Christian Doctrine, trans. D.W. Robertson, Jr.
(N .Y.: The Liberal Arts Press, 1958), p. 88.
 5

cortaysye in Gawain. Gawain's increasing consciousness of

these oppositions causes them to become substantial, rather

than to remain abstractions. Furthermore, thes e oppositions

reflect the ba si~ confliGt between soirit and flesh as seen

in Gawain's choice between faith and the use of magic.

Ultimately, the conflict resolves itself at the Green

Chapel--a rather ambiguous destination, combining the

elements of both trickery and penance, perhaps emphasizin g

0
that all of is made up of oppositions.J Here Gawain

has a true consc iousness of himself as a human being

composed of bot~ st~engths and w?aknes ses. This recogniti o n

permits him to feel true contrition for his sin and this, in

turn, makes him worthy to receive absol~tion.

Thus, by the end of his journey, as a result of his

expanded consciousness, Gavvain ha. ~·: ~ Cecome a trulyr r iChrist .in.l:!~

knight. Within the larger frame of the game, this conscious-

ness is met with great levity at Camelot where the contrite

Gawain is gree ted with laughter and good-natured ribaldry

3 Regardi c1g the t~se of the word "Chape l, ,. Mother Angela

Carson has observed that "t he twelfth century word 'c hapel'
has not only the meanings of heavy blows and carnage, but
more significantly , that of the place where they are given
and ·.vhe:r- e the slay lng is accomplished,'' in "The Green
Chapel: Its Meaning and Its Function, in Critical Studies
of Sir ~awa1n and the Green Knight, ed. Donald R . Howard
a nd Christi'fm Za~:::her (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame
Press, 1968) , ~· 2 48 . Although Gawain initially understands
the word '' chapt::l'' in its modern sense, eventually he realizes
that: " ]Ji s i.s c!.1apel of meschaunce'' (2193).
 6

after relating his experiences (see Appendix).

However, by the end of tbe poem, Gawain emerges as a

man transformed by his experiences into a wiser individual.

Through failure and its accompanying lesson in humility,

Gawain approaches the ideal of Christian perfection, as

the criticism of the poem has long maintained. The testing

of the hero is a wide ly accepted theme of the work. Even

the use of the pentangle as Gawain's emblem has been

identified as a reinforcement of those virtues, typically

Christian, which Gawain supposedly exemplifies.

While this study of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

basically accepts the Christian interpretation of the work,

it goes a step further. I shall isolate the pentangle

and, through a consideration of its historical associations,

extend its meaning within the context of the poem. I wish

to show that it is a metaphor for Gawain and that as such

the pentangle is assigned an importance equal to that of

Gawain in the action of the poem. Just as Gawain is

influenced by clannesse and cortaysye, figuratively the

pentangle is influenced by the Virgin-shield and the magic

girdle. The parallel between the actual drama and the

sy~bolic drama is an example of the syrrmetrical pattern of

the whole . Moreover, the symbolism directly contributes to

the symmetry of the poem.

The Gawain -po et uses the pentangle to signal the two

sequences of action in which Gawain is the principal actor.

 7

The action is precipitated by the testing process wherein

Gawain is required to make moral choices. These choices

become the matter of electing either to uphold the ideals of

clannesse or to succumb to the material desires suggested b y

one aspect of cortaysye . This dilemma and its eventual

conclusion are seen in the pentangle symbolism. In the

first sequence cf action, the shield is symbolicall y

strengthened by the portrait of the Virgin; similar ly,

Gawain remains faithful to clannesse and overcomes the

temptations of the flesh. But in the second sequence of

action, the pentangle is cloaked with the magic girdle;

similarly again, Gawain moves away from clannesse by giving

in to the temptation to save his own life. Once confron ted

with his guilt, Gawain finds his redemption in acknowledg-

ing the human imperfection within himself. So too the unit y

and perfection of the pentangle, also called the enrtless

knot, may be realized in always leading back to itself.

Appropriately, when Gawain r etur n s to Camelot, he

bears , in addition to the pentangle and the shield, a third

emblem, the magic girdle, symbolizing his new awareness of

himself and in th2.t awareness, the wholeness of his nature.

He returns to Camelot as the best which ii has produced.

He be comes an exemplar of the virtues of Christian man, the

same virtures which are symbolized b y the pentangle.

Gawain ' s journey has not been an easy o ne, but it has been

representative of man ' s journey through life and his

 8

endeavor to become Christ-like by redeeming himself within

himself. As Gordon Shedd has observed, "in the person of

Gawain we recognize the strengths and weaknesses of all

men, and with him we are reminded that the real opponent

against whom we strive is no external bogey man, but the

man within." 4

4
Gordon M. Shedd, "Knight in Tarnished Armour: The
Meaning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," Modern
Language Review, 62 (1967), 10.
 CHAPTER I

The Gawain-pentangle

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is not only a

Christmas poem, but it is also a poem about man. It is a

poem which portrays a particular man on his journey toward

self-actualization. It is a poem which painstakingly traces

his steps, sometimes heroic, more often simply human, from

ignorance to enlightenment; from innocence to knowledge .

Sir Gawain and the Green Knig-ht is a poem which talks abo11t

the state of man and the human condition, not as man would

like it to be, a "Camelot" of frivolity, but rather, as it

really is : a "Wh irr al" of thickets which becomes the more

dense , the more desolate with each new choice that m~st be

made, with each more compromising dilemma that must be

faced . Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is, in essence, a

dramatization of man 's fall into s in and redemption through

grace .

Moreover, in the world of Sir Gawain, things are not

always what they appear to be; this is particularly true

re garding the character of Gawain, as I •vill presently

demonstrat e . The tale is a romance , but not a n~ive example

of the genre; in fact. it violates the traditi o nal success

story pattern of the romance. The poem is Christian, but

9
 10

it operates within a landscape which has both primitive and

pagan elements. It is serious , but also profoundly funny.

Beneath the fairy-tale-like setting all is not the glimmer

of Camelot ; there is also the earthy barrow of the Green

Chapel. By using a make-believe setting to frame the

realities of the human predicament, the poem ironically

contrasts the ideal with the actual.

Appropriately, this contrast is treated in the opening

lines of the poem which set the tone for the events to

follow. The poet describes a "fa llen" world:

Where werre and wrake and wonder

Bi sypeJ hat.3 wont perinne,
And oft bo)e blysse and blunder
Ful skete hat~ skyfted synne.

(16-19) 1

In the world of the poem, just as in the world of men,

age-old conflicts emerge: the opposition between God and

king; between church and state; between spirit and flesh.

For at b~se, the poem talks about man's fallen state; that

is, it accepts his separation from an essential unity with

God. While these oppositions are ce rtainl y rooted in man's

nature , their resolution is dependent upon man's ability to

make moral choices.

On the surface. this appears to be a simple enough

matter. However, as man soon learns, choices are never so

1
All subsequent quotations from Sir Gawain and the Green
Knigh~ are from J.R.R. Tolk ien and E~V. Gordon ' s r ev ised
edition (Oxford, 1930).
 11

simple. There are always consequences, and with the in-

creasing complexity of a situation, the more serious the

consequences become and the more precarious is man's

position as the one who must make the choice. If man were

perfect, as Gawain initially believes himself to be, there

would be no problem. But because man is a " fallen" creature

and in the spiritual sense possessed of a divided nature, he

must wage a constant struggle within himself and he must

repeatedly make choices. This moral choice essentially

refers to a conflict between caritas and cupiditas as the

words were defined by St. Augustine. 2 While caritas

reminds man of his former spiritual harmony with God,

cupiditas lures him to the secular world. Caritas, then,

is the me a ns and goal of the Christian life, while cupiditas

results in the dissolution of the Christian ideal.

For the knight this conflict causes a dilemma which

finds its origin in the medieval concept of cortaysye.

On the one hand he is called to spiritual harmony with God

(caritas), while on the other hand. he is bound to a

worldly concept of honor which includes loyal~y to his lord

and to the courtly code of behavior known as chivalry; in

addition he is subject to the whims of his own human

2
see Introduction, note 2. See also David Farley Hills
'l!awa in ' s Fault in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," in '
Critical Studies of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, eel.
Donald R. Howard and Christian Zacher (Notre Dame: Uni ver -
sity of No tre Dame Press, 1968).
 12
nature (cupiditas). 3 Eventually, Gawain finds himself

caught completely unaware between two powerful forces in

his own nature. And finally, it is cupiditas, his desire

to save his own life, which dissuades him from caritas, his

faith in God, with his acceptance of the magic girdle.

The root of Gawain's failure, however, can be found in

the false conception he has of himself and of life in gen-

eral. What he does not immediately realize is that appear-

ances, his own included, are usually misleading. 4 In the

make-believe kingdom of Camelot, Gawain's initial choice in

accepting the Green Knight's challenge is made reflexively,

without much consideration either for the import of the

challenge or its possible consequences. Either out of

youthful brashness or pride or both, Gawain stuns the

knights and ladies of Arthur's court by asking leave to

take the Green Knight's challenge:

3
John of Salisbury states in The Policratus, "This rule
must be enjoined upon and fulfilled by every soldier ,
namely, that he shall keep inviolate the faith which he
owes first to God and afterwards to the prince of the
commonwealth. . It is vain to expect one to be true t o
his secondary loyalty who holds his primary loyalty in no
regard," as quoted in The Literature of Medieval England,
ed. D.W. Rdbertson, Jr. (N . Y.: McGraw Hill, cl970), p. 216.
4 Morton Bloomfield, "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight:
An Appraisal," in Critical Studies of Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight , ed. Donald R. Howard and Christian Zacher
(Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, cl968), p. 54,
has made the following observation: " Gawain, the perfect
knight, is also a human being and the Green Kni g ht is reall y
only a mask. His wife only seems to be unfaithful. The ol d
harmless lady is really a witch. . Nature is both h o rrid
and benign. Li f e is a t issue of contradictions, even in its
most aristoeratic and idealized form."
 13

"I am l:'e wakkest, I wot, and of wyt feb lest,

And lest lur of my lyf, quo laytes re sope,
Bot for as much as 3e ar myn em I am only to prayse,
No bounte bot your blod I in my bode knowe;
And sypen pis note is so nys, p at no3t hit yow falles,
And I haue frayned hit at yow fyrst, foldej hit to me,
And if I carp not comlyly, let all pis cort rych
bout blame."
(354-61)

For the young knight, all of this is a game . It is

Christmas. It is a time for merriment and joking . That

Gawain does not immediately recognize that beneath the

festive surface of the Christmas game lies a deeper, darker

truth of his own place in the universe is hardly surprising.

For the reader is presented with an "untested " Gawain, one

who has never experienced the difficulty of making choices.

Early in the tale this is appropriate, for Gawain is only

at the beginning of his journey, steeped in ignorance and

the kind of innocence that goes with it. He has yet to

come to terms with the man he finds himself to be, and to

reconcile what he learns with his preconceived notion of

self with which he begins his journey.

The reader's firsT impression of Gawain, then, is a

highly unrealistic one . Beginning in the Camelot setting

which becomes more unreal with the entrance of the Green

Knight, the reader is presented with a utopian character

in the person of "gode Gawan" (109). But this is perfectly

acceptable in context of what eventually occurs . As the

poem unfolds, the reader becomes aware of a natural

progression in Gawain's character. The more Gawain becomes

 14

aware of his human nature, the more believable he is for

the reader. The poet does, in fact, present a completely

"human" portrait of the hero, unlike the romance character -

izations which had preceded this one .

Interestingly, it is with this more human portrait of

the hero that the medieval conception of Gawain ends, with

the possible exception of Mallory's characterization in

Marte Arthur, which is usually considered an example of the

early Renaissance period. From the French roma~ce comes a

Gawain heroic, but tarnished to an extent because of his

notorious weakness for the things of the world. B.J.

Whiting notes:

That Gawain was conspicuously lacking in the

qualities demanded of the winner of the Grail
will be admitted by his most ardent admirers,
except perhaps those who know him only in Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight. At his very best
he is a man of war and women, one whose charac-
ter requires no shading to make him the anti -
thesis of Galahad.5

The early romances also point to the fact that the concept

of chastity, which virtue he gallantly upholds in the poem,

was, if anything, foreign to him . 6 In the prose Tristan,

5B.J. Whiting, "Gawain: His Reputation, His Courtesy and

His Appearance in Chaucer's Squire's Tale," Mediaeval
Studies, ix (1947), 206.

6Whiting, p. 203, comments that Gawain is most assuredly

not a courtly lover as he is usually too polite and never
becomes emotionally involved with a lady. " The most courte -
ous cf knights, he is a foil to the courtly lover through
elasticity rather than chastity." This appears to be
accu .""='a te because although Gawain is laucl,ed for his chastit y
in the poelli, he is not beyond being powerfully tempted to lay
his virtu8 aside . This is particularl y evident on the third
morning when, upon seeing the lady , "Wi;Jt wallande joye
warmed h i s hert" ( l 762).
 15

7
Gawain's utter moral debasement is scrupulously effected

so that, finally, it is not Gawain but Galahad who becomes

the hero of the Grail. 8

Thus, when Gawain appears as the hero of Sir Gawain

and the Green Knigh~, despite the supernatural aura which

surrounds the tale, one is prepared to meet a Gawain who,

by and by, becomes a real person. Bercilak's servants

immediately accept his complete humanness for they promptly

allude to the hero's courtly rather than Christian reputa-

tion .

''Now schal we semlyche se s leJ te~ of pewe.j

And ~e teccheles termes of talkyng noble 11

(916-7)

Moreover, his cortaysye is linked with his "luf -talkin g":

11
In menyng of manere~ mere
~is burne now schal vus bryng,
I hope ~at may hym here
Schal lerne of luf-talking.''

(924-7)

7see Whiting , pp. 28, 133, 175-6, 210, 216, 221, 235-6 ,
293, 300, 314, 329 -30, 439 for specific references.

SJ. A. Marx has made a similar observation: "Gauvain

n' a j amais un hero du Graal . . i 1 est touj ours sensual,
brutal avec les femmes avec quelque chose de desabus~ qui
lui interdit le gain et le conqG:et des Objects Merveilleux, "
as quoted in M. Mills, "Ch ristian Significance and the
Romance Tradition ," in Critical Studies of Sir Gawain and
the Green Knight, ed. Donald R. Howard and Christian Zacher
(Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, cl968), p. 101.
Mills supports Mr. Marx 's observation by saying that
Gawain's courtesy alludes more to love-making ~han to either
hospitality or loyalty.
 16

Later at the castle, Lady Bercilak pleads with him to

instruct her in the art of courtly love:

"And c3e, pat ar so cortays and coynt of your hetes,

Oghe to a Jonke pynk aern to schewe
And teche sum tokene~ of trweluf c~aftes. "

(1525-7)

While "luf-talking" is fairly typical of the romance

Gawain, it is not so typical of the Gawain of this poem,

perhaps because there is really no opportunity for him to

engage in it. And the impression of Gawain that the reader

gets as the poetic drama unfolds is very different from the

one set forth in the pentangle description. 9

And quy -pe pentangel apendej to pat prynce noble

l am intent yow to telle, ~of tary h y t me schulde:
Hit is a synge pat Salamon set sumquyle
In bytoknyng of traw~e ; bi tytle pat hit habbej,
For hit is a figure ~at haldeJ fyue poyntej,
And vche lyne vmbelappe_; and '1oukeJ in oper,
And ayquere hit is ende'1e,; ; and Englych hit cal len
Oueral, as I here, ~e enaeles knot.
For-p y hit acordeJ to 'flis kynJ t and to his cler armej ,
For ay faythful in fyue and sere fyue sype~
Gawan watJ for gode knawen, and as golde pured,
Voyded.of vche vylany, wyth vertuej ennourned
ln mote;
Forpy ~e pentangel nwe
He ber in schelde and cote,
As tulk of tale most trwe
And gentylest knyJt of lote.

(623-39)

nonald R. Howard, The Three Temptations--Medie va l Ma~

9
in Search of the World (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1966), p. 38, sheds some light on the "different"
aspect of Gawain's character when he notes that there
existed in the medieval audience an essential tension,
whic h co rresponds to a simi lar tension in the character o£
Ga\va:.n, namely, "the conflict between the secular and the
Christian, the actual and the idsal."
 17

While on the surface this may appear contradictory, it

serves to establish a distinct and deliberate relationship

between Gawain and the pentangle. Initially, the pentangle

description presumes a relationship seen in terms of

absolute perfection. Both Gawain and the pentangle are

"bytoknyng of trawpe" (226) . However, the poet makes no

claim as to his first - hand knowledge of this assertion.

Rather, he relates the legend as he has heard it: "Oueral,

as I here ," not as he knew it to be. What the reader

knows is the Gawain which the poet shows him. He is a

young man with so exalted an opinio n of himself that he

feels worthy to bear the image of the Virgin Mother on his

shield.lO He is a young man who modestly feels deserving

to carry the pentangle as his emblem. Finally, he is a

young man who has found himself to be faultless without

ever having considered the possibility of being otherwise.ll

Moreover, Gawain has assumed the virtue of perfection

without having first proven whether or not he could even

approximate it. He lS most imperfect in his very ignorance

lOT.nls
. poln
. t will be discussed in Chapter 3, note 7.
11
Richard H. Green, "Gawain's Shield and the Quest for
Perfection, " in Sir Gawain and Pearl -- Critical Essays, ed.
Robert J. Blanch (Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
cl966), p. 184. He states that "the description of the
pentangle supports the idea that Gawain is the noblest of
Arthur's court and of all England . . he is the model of
perfection." While the pentangle is indeed related to
Gawain neither emblem nor man is the model of perfection
as presented in the poem. Rather, they symbolize Christian
man's aspiration toward the ideal.
 18

of his human nature. Ironically, as his human nature later

leads him astray , for which he chastizes himself unduly, he

ventures as close as any man can to the ideal of Christian

perfection. It is through human failure that Gawain

becomes conscious of his own identity as a man, and simul-

taneously, moves from ignorance to enlightenment.

It is appropriate, then, that the endeles knot is his

emblem. 12 For like man's nature, it always leads back to

itself. And while the pentangle is initially introduced, by

report, as a symbol of perfection, like Gawain, its poten-

tial for perfection ultimately derives from its symbolic

dualism. It is this dualism which I will explore and

extend to a corresponding dualism in the character of

Gawain. Like man, the pentangle is divided against itself.

And like man too, its unity comes in the joining of the

two sides, which in Gawain, is analogous to self-actualiza-

tion.

John F. Kiteley makes an observation regarding the

novel use of the pentangle: "The poet, who we may safely

12 A.C. Spearing, Criticism and Medieval Poetry (N.Y.:

Barnes and Noble, Inc., 1972), p. 38, makes the following
comment regarding the use of the pentangle: "The effect
of the 90em, I wculd suggest, is to break the 'endeles
knot' (630) of the pentangle, which linked clannes and
cortaysye in the same line (653); to undermine the pious
gaiety or gay piety of Camelot, by driving a wedge between
courtliness and Christianity."
 19

assume, was well versed in Romance tradition, is thus

consciously providing Gawain with a n ovel device, perhaps

to emphasize the new concept which he has of Gawain's

character." l3 This ''new" concept of Gawain's character is

that he is the perfect Christian knight, bearer of the

perfect Christian emblem. But since Gawain has little real

conception of what it means to be either perfect or Christ-

ian until the end of the poem, he must be judged by the

standards of the pentangle. Ironically, in relation to

what Kiteley has said, this is precisely the point. It is

important to remember that there are two separate pentangles:

For~y pe pentangel nwe

He ber in schelde and cote.
(636 -7)
On the inside of the shield is the additional symbol of

Mary. Thus, the essentially secular object, now governed

by the image of the Virgin, becomes a spiritual symbol--an

emblem of the knight's inner moral perfection. Similarly,

the pentangle device which appears on the front of the

shield is governed by the Virgin . Consequen~ly, so long as

Gawain bears the Virgin-shield, he and his pentangle

emblem are drawn to uphold clannesse. However, once Gawain

has laid aside the Virgin -shi eld influence by his acceptance

of the girdle, both he and his pentangle have come under a

l3.John F . Ki teley , ' 'The Endless Knot: J.Iagical Aspects o f

·che Pentangle in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, " Studies
in the Li.terary Imagination, 4 ( 1972), 42.
 20

baser influence. The girdle, which is a worldly object, is

emblematic of Gawain's moral weakness. The pentangle device

which appears on his coat of arms is covered by the girdle,

symbolizing Gawain's submission to his human weakness.

A parallel is finely drawn between Gawain as Christian

man and the pentangle as a symbol of Christian man. Kiteley

himself is aware that there is ambiguity surrounding the

pentangle symbolism: "Most Gawain scholarship which con-

cerns itself with the pentangle . concentrates on .

the moral and religious . side of the significance.

I should like to consider . the 'other' side of the

pentangle. ' 114 It is this "other' 1 side of the pentangle

which now warrants attention. Kiteley goes on to explain

that although the pentangle was well-known as a symbol used

in magic, the poet's use of it within the poem as an emblem

of Christian perfection is simply his attempt to Christian-

ize a pagan symbol. The pentangle, which was a rare device

in the Middle Ages, has as colorful a history as does

Gawain. It was a symbol employed by the Greeks. They, in

turn, probably passed it o n to the Hebrews, 15 where lt became

14
Kiteley, p. 43 , begins to make a good case for the
"ot her" side of the pentangle but stops abruptly and
concludes that, although there is ambiguity present in the
history of the pentangle, i.e., its use in magic and popu-
lar superstition, the use of it as Gawain 1 s emblem is
simply the poet's attempt to Christianize a pagan symbol.
15 s l.1
·,. r.uawaln
· an_ct t1e
1 c-,reen I7>.Dlg
• h.....L, e.,_,,
d R ·T. o~<len
T ......
Q 11 ·
and E.V. Gordon (Oxford: Oxford Uni~ersity Press, 1925),
p. 91, note to 1, 620.
 21

associated with Solomon. Richard H. Green comments that

Solomon is a figure of perfect ion. . . . He was

for the Middle Ages a figure of Christ, the
exemplar of wisdom and kingship, of power over
demons. But in the Bible, and everywhere in
the exegetical tradition, he is a gravely
flawed figure, remarkably wise, but in the end
guilty of follies that cost him his kingdom;
and though he had power over demons, he was
ultimately their victim, for his weakness for
women turned him away from God and he built
temples to the powers of darkness.l6

If the pentangle is associated with Solomon, who was

considered a g ravely flawed figure in the Bible, then

Gawain, who represents the Middle Ages, takes it in error.

But in the long run, it is appropriate because like the

17
pentangle, Gawain is not quite what he appears to be.

Moreover, the pentangle has found its way into many legends

and superstitions just as Gawain has. Like Gawain, too,

its origin is not definitely kn own. 18 Consequently, when

1 Ebreen, pp. 185-6.

17
It is interesting to note that there are no associa-
tions made between Solomon and the pentangle in the Bible;
however, there are associations made between them in b ooks
of magic which were condemned by the church. Furthermore,
Vincent F. Hopper, Medieval Number Symbolism (N.Y.: Copper
Sqti.are , 1969), p. 122, states that " The Black Book of
Solomon prescribes that the magic circle should be 9' in
diameter, within which four pentangles must be drawn."
18
The magi cal aspect of the pentangle receives fu rth e r
impetus with the pagan-ritualistic interpretation offered
by Jessie L. Weston, From Ritual to Romance (Garden City,
N.Y.: Doubleday, cl958), p. 74. She identifies it as one
of the Black Arts. And David Hoy, The Meaning of the Tar o!
(Nashville: Aurora Publishers, cl97l), pp. 11-12 , notes
that the Tirot was introduced to Europe durin g the Middle
Ages. It was one of the novelties that the Crusaders
brought back from thE': Orient. Furthermore, he says,
"According to mystic tradition, there is a connection
 22

the Gawain-poet says of the pentangle,

Forby hit acorde~ to pis knyJt and

' to his cler arme~.
v

(631)

there is the same shade of irony which is present when the

somewhat imperfect person of Gawain is equated with an

emblem which is supposed to be representative of perfection

and truth. Kiteley is of a similar opinion though his

thesis ultimately takes a different turn. He says that in

fourteenth century England the magical qualities of the

pentangle were still predominant in popular superstition--

it represents a perfect number and therefore a fit defense

against evil spirits. This relates back to the assumption

(and we can only assume) that the appearance of the pentangle

in the poem is simply another example of the Christianiza-

tion of a pagan legend. However, this is of minor

importance. Although many medieval poets, notably the

Beowulf-poet , did in fact'~hristianize'' popular folk

legends , the use of the pentangle in this particular poem,

whether or not a part of such an effort , has a far more

specific purpose which directly relates to the theme of the

poem and to the characterization of Gawain.

between the Tarot and the legendary Holy Grail. '' However,
while no one knows for certain where the Tarot originated
o r with whom, its use of the pentangle s ymbol is ne ve rthe-
less revealing as it tends to re-inf o rce its appropriateness
as an emblem fer Gawain, because like his own nature, its
nature is also crossed.
 23

Because the pentangle is an ambiguous symbol, it makes

a larger statement about mankind in general; namely, that

like the symbol, man is divided . The ultimate unity and

perfection of the pentangle is seen in the joining of its

sides, each intersecting to form the whole. The ultimate

unity and perfection of Gawain as a man is seen in his

awareness of his faults, which in turn, makes him conscious

of his whole self , and this further enables him to bring

together, with a new sense of understanding, the . disparate

elements of his nature.

Gawain, like most men, out of pride or just simple

naivete, expects too much of himself and is ever surprised

when he finds himself la~king. But this is all a part of

the test, all a part of his journey into himself. With

each failure and its consequent personal shame, comes a

little more insight into the nature of the self. Herein

lies one of the essential truths of Sir Gawain and of

human nature in general as represented by the pentangle

symbolism.
 CHAPTER II

CaritasjCupiditas: The Moral Journey

Earlier, I have said that Sir Gawain and the Green

Knight is a Christmas poem about man and his journey toward

self-actualization. Necessarily, this journey involves

moral choices. The basic choice that Gawain must make

relates back to his own interior conflict between flesh

and spirit, which is the basis for his divided nature.

I have equated Camelot with a sense of unreality. Within

the Camelot setting then, it is evident that the Gawain

who speaks up in front of the Green Knight is both an

example of oee aspect of cortaysye and of a misguided

sense of perfection. 1 More simply, Gawain has a false

image of himself. But in Camelot, this is in character.

Gawain is never called upon to put his notion of perfection

to the test while he is within the enchanted court.

However, this situation changes dramatically once he bids

farewell and sets out to keep his bargain with the Green

1 A.C . Spearing, Criticism and Medieval Poetry (N .Y.:

Barnes and Noble, Inc., 1972), p. 44. He suggests to the
contrary that " The actual content of the speech . . is
supremely 'co rtays'; but Gawain's 'cortaysye ' is expressed
most fully in the way in which he says what he says. " His
manner of speech, Spearing notes, is the height of ccrtaysye
- - that is he tegs to take Arthur's place by deferring firs t
to Arthur , then to Guenivere, and finally to the whole
court by giv!ng no offence to anyone.
24
 25

Knight. Appropriately , the landscape also changes. Now

Gawain is thrust into the density of the Whirral:

So mony meruayl bi mount per pe mon fynde~,

Hit were to tore for to telle of fe tenpe dole.
Sumwhyle wyth worme j he werre,j , and with wolues als,
Sumwhyle wyth wodwos, pat waned in pe knarr~ . . .
For werre wrathed hym not so much, ~at wynter was
wors .

(718 . . 26)

It is in the midst of this realistic landscape that

Bercilak's castle suddenly appears, in a Camelot-like cloud

of enchantment . And while indeed there is a good deal of

magic going on at Hautdesert, the "tricks" which are

employed result in self-revelation. That is, they permit

Gawain to see himself as he really is. From the first, the

test for Gawain is one which tries clannesse. 2 Notice, for

example, his first meeting with Lady Bercilak.

When Gawayn glyJ t on ]:>at gay, p at graciously laked,

Wyth leue la:,t of -p e lorde he went hem a3aynes;
pe alder he naylses, heldande ful lowe,
]Je loue loker he lappeJ a lyt tel in arme;, ,
He kysses hir comlyly, and knyj tly he melej.

(970 -4)

Gawain's attraction to Lady Bercilak reminds the reader of

his reputation for cortaysye. Obviously, if his chastity

were of an ascetic nature her charms would hold no allure

2
Spearing , p. 39. He suggests that Gawain's adventure
becomes a moral struggle which sets cortaysye against clan -
nesse. This is accurate as it is obvious that Gawain is
drawn to the material aspects of cortaysye· otherwise it
would not be so physically difficuit for him to remain true
t o c lannesse.
 26

for him. However, because they are mutually attracted to

each other, and this is evident on Gawain's first evening

at the castle when, during supper, they take "comfort of

her [their] compaynye" (1011), his self-imposed clannesse

becomes the object of the first test. While Gawain may not

be conscious of it as yet, the reader is certainly aware of

a blush which begins to color Gawain's lily-white counten -

ance.

The poet tells us that clannesse and cortaysye are two

of the virtues symbolized by the pentangle, and likewise,

they are personified in Gawain. As I have suggested,

clannesse and cortaysye, as aspects of caritas and cupiditas,

present a dilemma for man. Their pairing as two of the

points of the pentangle tells something of the conflict that

Gawain will soon have to face.

When on the first morning of the temptations, the Lady

steals into Gawain's bedroom, the conflict begins to con-

sciously impress itself upon him. Prior to this incident,

her physical beauty has already moved him for he thinks her

"wener pen Wenore," ( 945). And once she has seated herself

on Gawain's bed, she literally makes him a captive of her

charms. Moreover, he hardly resists when she,

. cache~ hym in armeJ,

LouteJ luf lych adoun and pe leude kyssej .

( 1305-6)

While Gawain does not succumb to her seduction physically,

and thus technically he remains true to clannesse, he is

 27

clearly tempted. 3 This is certainly evident in the kisses

and in - the instances where they casually brush against one

another. It is also evident by the third morning, when

upon seeing the Lady, "Wid t wallande j aye warmed his hert "

(1762).

Throughout the temptations, the Lady constantly reminds

Gawain of his reputation for cortaysye. When he does not

respond to her seduction, she baits him:

"Now he -pat spede;, vche spech pis disport J elde yow!

Bot -pat -Je be Gawan, hit gotJ in mynde. "

(1292-3)
His reputation and likewise his vanity thus challenged,

Gawain immediately shows another side of himself with the

retort:

"Querfore?" qual» -pe freke, and freschly he askeJ,

Ferde lest he had~ fayled in fourme of his castes.

(1294-5)
It is not long before Gawain becomes aware of the

conflicting demands of clannesse and cortaysye. When the

Lady sits beside him for supper on the second evening, she

makes subtle advances to him. Suddenl y Gawain is conf used

and angry with himself because he does not understand the

feelings going on within him. He is obviously taken with

her beauty, but at the same time he is angry for finding

3 spearing, p. 192. He notes that "the re is a persistent

cont rast between the outward c lannesse of ~heir con versation
and ~he actual suggestiveness of the Lady 's behaviour, a
contrast which of f ers a far more seductive temptation than
g reater ope nness and outspokenness could do. "
 28

himself so inclined. His confusion lies in the fact that

he is just awakening to a force within himself with which

he had not previously reckoned. This prompts a side of

him, which he has never seen before, to respond to Lady

Bercilak in a manner which, in his mind, confuses his image

of himself:

And euer cure luflych knyjt pe lady bisyde.

Such semblaunt to ~at segge semly ho made
Wyth stille stollen countenaunce, ~at stalworth
to plese,
pat al forwondered wat~ pe wyje, and wroth with
himseluen.

(1657-60)

Already, Gawain has changed considerably from his first

appearance at Camelot. Earlier, he would not have consider-

ed the possibility of finding himself lacking in any of the

pentangle virtues. When he learns that it is a struggle for

him to remain true to clannesse, he is angry with himself

for falling short of his expectations.

It is unimportant whether or not Gawain actually gives

in to the temptations of the flesh. What matters for the

purposes of Gawain's self-actualization process is that the

c onflict or the problem of the physical versus the spiritual

has arisen. Were he the knight of clannesse whom the

pentangle supposedly describes, there would have been no

temptation because he would not have responded to it. That

he does respond only proves to him and to the reader that

he is , after all, first a man and second, a Christian kni g ht.

As a human being he is naturally attracted to the lure of

 29

the flesh. And it is for being human that Gawain is both

angry and disappointed with himself .

Perhaps this is the reason that Gawain does not

immediately recognize that his acceptance of the girdle is

a gesture of disloyalty toward his host. Since he does not

give in to the lure of the flesh (he has even denied the

Lady a love - token, excusing himself on the grounds "pat

mislyke~ me, lade, for luf at ~is tymej I che tolke mon do

as he is tas, to non illej ne pine" (1810 - 12), he justifies

his acceptance of the girdle as an act of cortaysye to the

Lady whom he wishes not to offend by refusal, when actually

he takes it as a safeguard to protect his own life. It is

clear that in this situation, Gawain holds his life more

dearly than he holds his loyalty to his host.

There is no question that Gawain's dilemma is a

difficult one. On the one hand, his cortaysye demands that

he not give offence to the Lady. Moreover, since he has not

been able to please her by giving her a token of his own, he

can hardly reject the one which she offers to him:

' Nay, hende of hyJe honours,'

Quop )at lufsum vnder lyne,
'paj I hade noj t of yourej,
jet schulde )e haue of myne.'

(1813 - 16)

On the other hand, the Lady asks Gawain not to reveal the

gift to Bercilak:

And biSOj t hym, for hir sake, disceuer hit neuer,

Bot to lelly fro hir lorde.

(1862 - 3)
 30

This places Gawain in an impossible position as he has

given his word to exchange winnings each day with Bercilak.

Added to the already compl icated situation is the fact that

the girdle is a love token, even though Gawain accepts it

for its magical rather than amorous qualities. This

naturally casts a shadow over clannesse, even though Gawain

has not physically indulged himself. He has indulged his

imagination, and even though the girdle is accepted for its

magical powers, it is physically beautiful, it does belong

to the Lady whose charms have already enticed his imagina-

tion, and finally, it is a traditional love-token. Thus,

clannesse becomes slightly ambiguous here. Gawain is

confronted with a situation which requires not only discre-

tion, but also a discerning judgment.

The judgment is the more difficult because Gawain has

a reputation, within the context of the poem, for both

clannesse and cortaysye. Yet ultimately his decision is

made with regard to neither, for it is his desire to save

his own life--couetyse --which takes precedence. 4 Gawain

is only mildly interested in the girdle until he is told of

4 Regarding couetyse, St. Thomas Aquinas makes the follow-

ing remark in Summa Theologiae: "In one sense, it is an
excessive desire for riches. . In another sense, it
means an excessive desire for any temporal goods whatsoever.
And s o it is a type of all sins for in every sin there is
an excessive turning toward a mutable good. And thus
they say that covetousness is the root of all sin. "
Quoted by David Farley Hills, "Gawain's Fault in Sir Gawain
and the Green Knight," in Critical Studies of Sir Gawain
and the Green Knight, ed. Donald R. Howard and Christian
Zacher (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1968),
pp. 314-15.
 31

its magical properties. It is his inclination toward

couetyse which prompts him to desert the ideal of cortaysye

which he owed to Bercilak, and furthermore, it is couetyse

which makes a mockery of clannesse. Gawain has taken a

token, commonly known as a love-token, for love of himself.

He has sinned against clannesse first in thought by his

attraction to the Lady, and second in action by accepting

the love-token for the express love of his own life.

Furthermore, Gawain is consciously aware of his

disloyalty; otherwise he would not have taken leave of his

host the night before his departure, but would have waited

until the next morning. But since he will wear the sign of

his betrayal--the green girdle--on the morning of his

departure, he would not wish to meet Bercilak on that

occasion:

]et laft he not ]J e lace, -,e ladie;> gifte,

pat forgat not Gawayn for gode of hymseluen.
Bi he hade bel ted p e bronde vpon his bal) e haunchej ,
Penn dressed he his drurye double hym aboute,
Swyp e swep led vmbe his swange swete ly pat knyd t
pe gordei of pe grene silke, pat gay wel bisemed ,
Vpon -pat ryol red clo)'e pat ryche watj to schewe.

(2030 -36)

And even though Gawain does keep his appointment with the

Green Knight, his decision is somewhat less than admirable

in view of what has transpired. When the guide advises him

that no one would be the wiser if he chose to turn back,

Gawain insists on keeping his bargain. Under the circum-

stances, ~his is not so commendable.

 32

It is evident that Gawain is aware of his actions,

although his awareness becomes the more pointed as his

situation increases in complexity. However, it is not

until the Green Knight reveals his true identity that

Gawain is made to answer for his actions. Moreover, his

immediate reaction, once exposed, is to blame someone else.

The fault, he says, lies with the female sex:

'And )'ur3 wyles of wymmen be wonen to sorde,

For so wat3 Adam in erde with one bygyled . .

(2415 - 16)

He does, however, acknowledge his own moral failure,

'Now I am fawty and falce, and ferde haf ben euer

Of trecherye and vntrawp e: bope bityde sor3e
and care!'
(2382-3)

which he later associates with a sin against clannesse,

and thus vows to wear the girdle evermore, "in synge of my

surfet" ( 2433) and as a safeguard against pride.

Whe n Gawain returns to Camelot and relates the story

of his misadventure, the others respond to it humorously

and vow to wear a green baldric as a sign of honor.

Typically, Arthur's court evinces complete moral ignorance.

Furthermore, the contrast between the world to which Gawain

has returned and the world which he has just left symbolizes

the change that has o ,: ;curred in Gawain himsel f. He has gone

from the ignorant naivete of Camelot to the reality of the

Green Ch cc):.:e l. When he returns to Camelot, he can no longer

identify with its lack of understanding. It has not

 33

changed, but Gawain has. For Gawain the girdle signifies

his newly discovered awareness of his human frailties. For

those at Camelot, the girdle is an ornament of honor. So

although Gawain goes back to Camelot, he no longer ''belongs"

there in the sense that he once did. His journey into him-

self has made him a better man, even for his imper fection.

Moreover, it is in coming to terms with his weakness that

he comes closer to the ideal of perfection and puts away

his false pride. Imperfection has taught him that true

perfection is not wit hin man's g rasp. It is only in the

striving toward an unreachable ideal that, as Christian

man, he can become not Christ, but Christ-like.

 CHAPTER III

Structure and Symbolism

I have said that Sir Gawain and the Green Kni g ht is

composed of two structural frames . The outer one is called

the game and the inner one is called the journey. A

complete recognition of the outer frame is necessary to

insure the reader's understanding of the poem. That is,

because Sir Gawain is first and finally a game, the inner

frame is kept from becoming too s omber and serious. More-

over, in a game, nothing is exactly what it appears to be.

Life and death are treated with a certain amount of levity.

While there is certainly a strong seriousness pr ese nt, it

is more a matter of degree than of kind. The outer frame

prevents the tale from becoming morose and overly didactic.

Dying in the poem is understood as symbolic death. This

n otion is far deeper and more profound than the idea of

physical death. The Green Kni ght's decapitation, while

initially terrible, is finally rather ludicrous. But when

Gawain beholds the Green Chapel , his identification of it

as a place of the devil figuratively connotes a far more

terrifying death which is n ot physical but spiritual.

Now I fele hit is ~e fende , in my fyue wytte) .

~at hat) stoken me ~is steuen to strye me here.

(2193 -94)
34
 35

Thus, dying in the poem refers to a symbolic dying of the

self to find the self.

So the game is not really a game at all. Ironically,

it becomes a kind of rus e at the end, which again , is not

quite a ruse at all, but something ~uch more profound a nd

serious. Thus , in the world of Sir Gawain nothing is quite

what it appears to be. There is always a qualification,

always another side to the story. This is true of Gawain

and likewise of his pentangle emblem. 1 The relationship

between the two has been established as an intimate one.

Symbolically, the pentangle is representative of Gawain's

actions. As he becomes more aware of his true nature, he

recognizes the duality within him, which is apparent in

the form of a conflict between spirit and flesh. This same

conflict is perceptible symbolically and structurally in

the poem . Of the symbolic motifs, the Gawain-pentangle is

the central one. This is so because the basis for man's

duality is best seen in man himself and in the pentangle

due to its assignment to Gawain as an emble m--a sign of

his natu:re.

Through symbol on the one hand and structu re on the

other, the poem dramatizes Gawain's journey and the choices

he rr,us t make en route. The pentangle, as a symbol of Gawain, -

1 Howard, Three Temptati ons , p. 173, notes that in the

Middle Ages "a symbol could signify two opposing concepts,
one good and one evil: a lion might s~and for Christ or
Satan, depending upon context."
 36

is logically the central symbolic motif and as such, it

initiates the symbolic drama. Since the poem accepts the

divided nature of fallen man, it can structurally be

divided into two sequences of opposing events--opposing

because at base the poem speaks about the basic opposition

in man--between flesh and spirit.2 Two symbolic motifs,

suggested by different aspects of the Gawain-pentangle

metaphor, dominate the opposing parts of the action. The

shield, symbolizing moral perfection, gove rns Fitts II and

III and influences all of the events in that first sequence.

The girdle, symbolizing moral failure, governs Fitt IV, and

influences all of the events in that second sequence. 3

The two sequences illustrate the conflict which is

implicit in the Gawain-pentangle motif. The ambiguous

pentangle functions according to which influence is domin-

ant at an appointed time, and Gawain's actions reflect

this . The shield and the girdle each reinforce a different

aspect of the central confl i ct as understood in the

2 Howard, ''Structure and Symmetry in Sir Gawain and the

Green Knight," in Twentieth Century Interpretations of Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight, ed. Denton Fox (Englewood
Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968), p. 51, has made a
similar observation . He says that the shield and the
girdle "initiate two sequences which form a major structural
parallel in ths poem."

3For the purposes of this study, Fitt I will function

as a prologue--it will provide the background for the tal e
and set the ground work for the oppositions in the poem.
I will call it the challenge epis o de.
 37

Gawain-pentangle metaphor; the shield reminds us of

spirituality while the girdle calls to mind the things of

tte fles h. 4 This brings to mind the underlying conflict

between caritas and cupiditas.

The shield and the girdle are symbolic of Gawain's moral

dilemma. In addition, the poet's use of the two separate

pentangle emblems symbolically illustrates the opposing sides

of the choices which Gawain is offered. Structurally, the

use of the two pentangles is part of the poem's symmetrical

design. Furthermore, the position of the pentangle is

reversed during the course of the adventure. While Gawain

is under the influence of the Virgin-shield, the pentangle

is clearly visible, suggesting his moral innocence. However,

once he is under the influence of the girdle, the pentangle

becomes obscured by that magic token, suggesting Gawain's

moral fail ure. This reversed position of the pentangle

extends the symmetry of the poem.

The shield evokes the chivalric ideal.

5 As a wordly

object, it reminds the knight of his duty to his lord. But

4
Howard, pp. 50-1, has observed that the shield and the
girdle a re juxtaposed in such a way as to present two con-
t r a.st in g types of worldliness: "The girdle an illicit and
self-centered means of holding on to life: the shield an
allowable, self-abnegating use of the world's gooas in the
service o f the highest Christian ideals, " in " Structure
a.:1 d Syrr.met ry."

'""
,:.\iowa rd, p. 46, notes that: '"As a part of the knight's
armour, it is not surprising that i t [the shield] has
symbolic meaning, for a knight's garme nts and gear , like a
priest's vestments, were often give n symbolic values, '' ln
'' St ructurs and Symmetry. ,.
 38

since Gawain's shield also carries on it the portrait of

Mary, it serves to remind him of his duty to God. 6 Symbol-

ically, this conflict is represented by the pentangle which

appears on the outside of the shield. Gawain is torn

between two masters; similarly, the pentangle is composed of

two intersecting sides. However, since the pentangle-shield

is governed by the image of the Virgin, it becomes a spiri-

tual symbol: it denotes a soldier of Christ, and it serves

as a devotional reminder to the knight and to the world.

The shield, then, functio ns in a dual sense: first to

remind the reader that Gawain is Mary's knight, so long as

he is under its influe nce; and second, to make the reader

aware that with its pentangle emblem, it represents the

spiritual aspect of Gawain 1 s nature, his clannes se.

Just as the shield is symbolic of Gawain's knightly

virtue, the girdle is symbolic of his human weakness . 7

Like the shield, the girdle is a worldly object. However ,

unlike the shield, it connotes vanity and self-worship

rather than faith in God, and thus it represents an aspect

6
Robert Holkot, a contempo rar y of the Gawain -p oet,
makes the following observation regarding the natur e of
the shield in his commentary on wisdom: "Our shj.e ld is
our faith. In the history of Britain it is written
that King Arthur had a picture of the glorious Virgin
painted on the inside of his shield, and that whenever he
was wea r y in battle he looked at it and recovered his hopes
and stre n gth. ." Quoted by Gr ee n , p. 182.
7
Howard, "Structure and Symmetry, " p . 48, makes a
. " 1
s1m~~ar
• - + .
o oser~a~1on.
 39

of cortaysye suggested by Gawain's material nature. 8

By the end of the poem, Gawain bears two emblems: the

girdle, symbolic of his human frailty, and the Virgin-

shield, symbolic of his chivalric virtue. Both emblems

are worn with a separate pentangle, and together they make

up the whole pentangle-nature. Separately, the shield and

the girdle only represent one aspect of it. But it is in

their union that the Gawain-pentangle is completed, just as

it is in Gawain's awareness of the union of spirit and

flesh within him that he is completed and brought close to

perfection.

Taken individually, however, the one symbol is set

against the other. Likewise, the sequence of events

governed by the shield is in direct opposition to the

sequence of eve nts governed by the girdle. The following

diagram illustrates the structural divisions and how they

8 A. Kent Hieatt, ' 'Sir Gawain: Pentangle, Luf-Lace,

Numerical Structure, " Papers on Language and Literature,
4 (1972)p,34l, has said that the girdle represents ev il.
He bases this o n the meaning of the word "lace" fou nd in
the OED : "a net, noose, snare" whi c h corresponds to OF
"laz" and Italian "l a ccio," but originating from the Lat ir1
"laq ueus, " of which the principle meaning is " n oose . ''
Hieatt obse rves: " Typically a personified principle o r
divinity spreads a lace to catch the unsuspectin g . "
Commonly th e word suggested the idea of a " noose " or a
"s nare '' --a device in which one is e ntr appe d. Applied t o
Gawain's circumstances this notion points to the tempta-
tion scenes during which he is almost, a nd then fi nall y,
ent rapped by hi s desire fo r self-preservation--a ref e rence
to his e ntrapment by the material aspect suggested by
cupiditas .
 40
are governed by the symbolic motifs. 9

GAWAIN - PENTANGLE

1st sequence - SHIELD 2nd sequence - GIRDLE

Fitts II and III Fitt IV
(Setting out from Camelot) (Setting out from
Hautdesert)
l. Mass and the arming of
the knight--description l. No Mass, but arming of
of the shield. the knight--description
2. Journey to Bercilak's of the girdle.
castle. 2. Journey to the Green
3. Description of the Chapel.
castle. 3. Description of the Green
4. Three temptations, Chapel.
three days of the hunt. 4. Three strokes of the ax.
5. Confession to the priest. 5. Confession to the Green
Knight.

SHIELL ~IRDLE
~ orn by Gawain
~ever after
GAWAIN-PENTANGLE

In both sequences of the poem, the hero sets out from

a castle. In the first sequence, governed by the Virgin-

shield, appropriately, Gawain sets out from Arthur's

c o urt. In the second sequence, governed by the girdle,

again appropriately, he sets out from Bercilak!s castle.

In the first sequence a Mass is offered and there is an

elaborat e description of the arming of the knight. In the

second sequence, however, there is no Mass offered, which

is curious since the day is a "holy day'' and the faithful

9 This diagram has been suggested by Howard, "Structure

and Symmetry," p. 51, though with a different interpreta-
tion and emphasis.
 41

are required under pain of mortal sin to attend Mass; but

there is an elaborate description of the arming of the

knight. That there is no Mass offered in the second

sequence is also appropriate since now Gawain has fallen

under the baser influence of the girdle. In both sequences,

Gawain undertakes a journey. Traditionally, the journey

has been understood in terms of a "pilgrimage," a journey

of the soul, a holy endeavor whereby, through prayer and

dedication, the pilgrims would receive the gift of sancti-

fying grace at the journey's end. 10 The concept of

sanctifying grace is likewise an interes~ing one because

in Christian doctrine it is linked with the waters of

baptism, the ultimate cleanser of the soul, which renders

man pure and totally free of iniquity, mortal and venial.

This relates back to Gawain in a somewhat ironic

sense. His first journey is to Bercilak's castle after

he has been "shriven " at Arthur's court. Thus he is in

the state of sanctifying grace. In the second journey,

where there is the curious absence of the Mass, Gawain

seeks out the priest to be confessed:

Sy pen, cheue ly to pe
chape 1 chases he p e waye,
Preu~ly aproched to a prest, and prayed hym ~ere
)at he wolde lyfte his lyf and lern hym better
How his sawle schulde be saued when he schuld seye
he lpen.

10 In Canterbury Tales , Chaucer uses the frame of the

joGrney.
 42

Pere he schrof hym schyrly and schewed his mysdede~.

Of pe more and ~e mynne, and mer c i besche3,
And of absolucioun he on ~ e segge calles;
And he asoyled hym surely, and sette hym so clene
As dome~da y schulde haf ben diJ t on pe
morn.

(1876-84)

There is no reason to believe that Gawain confesses his

acceptance of the girdle. But even if he has done so,

since he does not lay it aside but wears it anyway, his

confession is invalid; thus he is not in the state of grace,

but still under the influence of the girdle. 11

In the second sequence of action, Gawain's journey has

not brought him the respite which followed the first jour-

ney, but rather it has brought him to the chaos of the

Green Chapel, supposedly the place where he will find not

respite, but death . In both sequences, following the

journey there is a description of the final destination.

In the first sequence , Gawain prays to Hary:

' I beseche -p e, lor de,

And Mary, -pat is myldest moder so dere,
Of sum berber ~er ha ~ ley I my ~ t her e masse,
Ande -py matyneJ to-marne, mekely I ask,
And tert o prestl y I pray my pater and aue
and crede.'

(754-8)

11 J .A. Burrow, "The Two Confession Scenes in Sir Gawain

and the Green Knight," in Sir Gawain and Pearl , ed. Robert
J. Blanch ( Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1966),
p. 125 , suggests that Gawain's confession is in va lid
be cause he neither makes restitution nor resolves to sin
n o more. Moreover, he says that the medieval audience was
familiar enough with the penitential rite to know that
absolution depended upon the right dispositi o n of the
penitent.
 43

Immediately following, he crosses himself three times and

Bercilak's castle miraculously appears.

A castel pe comlokest pat euer kny~t a3te,

Pyched on a prayere, a park al aboute,
With a pyked palays pyned ful ')?ik ,
~at vmbete)e mony tre mo pen two myle.
pat holde on J7at on syde -pe hapel auysed,
As hit schemered and schon ?urj ~e schyre oke,.

(767-72)

In the second sequence, there is a description of the

odious mound that is the Green Chapel. This time, however,

Gawain does not utter a prayer si n ce he is under the

influence of the girdle .

'~o wiwysse,' quop Wowayn, 'wysty is here ;

)lis ori tore is vgly, with erbej ouergrowen;
Wel biseme~ pe WYj e wruxled in g rene
Dele here his deuocioun on p e deue lej wyse. '

(2189-92)

In the first sequence of action, there are two sets of

parallel events: the three temptations which are parallel

to the three days of the hunt. These, in turn, are parallel

to the three strokes of the ax in the second sequence of

action. Just as Bercilak encounters the animals in the

hunt, Gawain encounters the animal nature in himself. These

events are parallel to the three strokes of the ax in the

second sequence of action . For on the first t wo days, Gawain

has become aware of and has conquered some undesirable traits

in hi~self; therefore, the ax does not touch his flesh. It

is only for the third day's choice (t he acceptance of the

girdle) to give in to temptation rather than to conquer it

 44

that Gawain receives the nick on the neck, a reminder of

the unworthy sport of the day. 12

Finally, in the first sequence of action, the shield

influence wanes as Gawain makes his false confession to

the priest. This, in turn, is contrasted to Gawain's true

confession to the Green Knight, after his fault has been

openly revealed to him. Gawain's return to Camelot sharply

contrasts his setting out from Arthur's court. Initially,

he leaves with a false sense of his own worth; but finally,

he returns wearing the baldric of his fault, symbolizing

his awareness of himself as a human being with limitations

and subject to potential failure. Appropriately, the poem

ends with the fall of Troy, complementing not only the

symmetrical design of the work, but also symbolizing the

transitoriness of the human order and the cycle of ruin

which finally brings about restoration:

Mony auntere5 here-biforne

Haf fallen suche er ~is.
Now pat bere pe
croun of porne.
He bryng vus to his blysse! AMEN .

(2527-30)

S~ructurally, then, the events in the poem correspond

to the self-actualization p rocess which is taking place in

Gawain. That is, just as he is torn between oppositions

within himself, so too the sequences in the poem contain

12 This corresponds to Bercilak's hunt of the fox,

considered a base and verminous animal in the Middle Ages.
 45

opposing events. Within the structural division, the

symbolic motifs function in a similar fashion.

The two separate pentangles are representative of this.

While Gawain bears the pentangle - shield, which is gove rned

by the portrait of the Virgin, both he and his pentangle

emblem are drawn to uphold clannesse. Even as Gawain

approaches Bercilak's castle he is true to clannesse. Like

a holy pilgrim, he comes through sufferings and hardships

enroute.

Ner slayn wyth ~e slete he sleped in yrnes

Mo ny,te-:J pen innoghe in naked rokke',
per as claterande fro ~e crest pe colde borne renneJ,
And henged he; e ouer his he de j_n hard iisse-ikkles.
Pus in peryl and payne and plytes ful harde
Bi contray cayrej pis kny3t, tyl Krystmasse euen,
al one. . .

(729-35)

Finally, Bercilak's castle appears, " As l1it schemered and

schon J ur j ~e schyre okej. . " ( 772) .

Gawain remains faithful to clannesse even when he first

beholds the Lady, although his attraction to her is evident.

Immediately the tone begins to change and there is a fo re-

shadowing of the usurpation of the Virgin-shield influence

by the influence of the girdle, represented by the

anti-virgin image in Lady Bercilak.

Although Lady Bercilak is not in herself evil, she is

still an anti-type of the Virgin because she is the instru-

ment or the mirror of the "d ark " power within Gawain. Her

relationship to the ''darl<" powers is Sltggested in the scene

 46

where she is led from the chapel by a matron as old and

13
ugly as she is young and beautiful:

An oper
lady hir lad bi pe lyft honde,
~at watJ alder pen ho, an auncian hit semed
Bot vnlyke on to lokepo ladyes were,
For if "Pe j onge wat) ~ep , 3 ol;Je wat' pat oper

(947-51)

The hag is really the witch, Morgan le Fay, we later learn,

who has been the perpetrator of the whole adventure. The

witch is too grotesque to be an aesthetically acceptable

anti-type of the Vi rgin . But Lady Bercilak, on the other

hand, is lovelier than Guenivere. The Lady's relationship

to the witch suggests that she will influence the girdle

symbol even as the Virgin influences the shield. Moreover,

Lady Bercilak's relationship to Morgan illustrates another

important point, namel y, the duality of evil: sin too is

alluring, often more so than goodness. 14

Even though the Lady is more alluring than Guenivere,

Gawain rejects the seduction of the world and clings to

the Virgin-shield influence. He successfully withstands

the three temptations of the flesh, owing again to the

Virgin-shield influence, for the poet says:

13 The juxtaposition of the old woman with the young one

may be no more than a statement of the natural order of
things; namely, that all beauty decays. The physical world
is transitory, as suggested in the description of the fall
of Troy.
14 st. Thomas Aquinas states in Summa Theologae (I q. 39,
art. 8), that one of the three conditions for beauty is
integrity or perfection. Thus, that whi ch is broken or
injured or incomplete is ugly. ''Beauty," The Encyclopedia
of Philosophy, 1967 ed .
 47

Gret perile bitwene hem stod,

Nif Mar~ of her kynjt mynne.

(1768-9)

Although Gawain does not actually sin against clannesse,

his fear for his life makes him guilty, finally , of couetyse.

Instead of entrusting himself to Mary and the influence of

the Virgin-shield, he chooses safety in the acceptance of an

object of magic--the girdle. When Gawain goes to confession,

that he does not lay aside the girdle only proves that,

symbolically, the pentangle has come under another influ-

ence. Presented with a choice between loyalty on the one

hand and safety on the other, he chooses safety, and thus

he is found lacking in both clannesse and cortaysye.

Logically, the next set of parallel events occurs in

the second sequence of action governed by the girdle motif.

Ag ain, as in the first sequence, Lhere is a description of

the arming of the knight. This time, however, the poet

does not mention the shield--for Gawain has symbolically

put aside this pentangle by choosing to accept the girdle.

Therefore, there is a description of the girdle which

contrasts with the description of the shield in the first

sequence.

Whyle ~e wlonkest wedes he warp on hymseluen--

His cote wyth ~e conysaunce of )e clere werkej
Ennurned vpon veluet, vertuus stone~
Aboute beten and bounden, enbrauded seme,,
And fayre furred withinne wyth fayre pelures--
3et laft he not pe lace, pe ladie~ gifte,
pat forgat not Gawayn f o r gode of hymseluen.
Bi he hade belted pe bronde vpon his bal'e haunche~ ,
~enn dressed he his drurye double hum aboute, ~
uwy~e swe~led vmbe his swange swetely pat knyJt
 48

pe gorde 1 of -pe grene si lke , ~at gay we 1 bisemed,

Vpon ~at ryol red clo~e 1at ryche wat) to schewe.

(2025-36)

Just as the Lady influences Gawain, so too, the girdle

influences the pentangle. As the pentangle-shield is

emblematic of Gawain's knightly virtue, the pentangle-girdle

is emblematic of his fault. Just as the pentangle was

superimposed over the Virgin-shield, so too is the girdle

superimposed over the pentangle on Gawain's coat of arms.

In the elaborate and detailed lines noted above (2025-36),

the Gawain-poet leaves little doubt about the meaning of

his choice ( "Sw~ e sweJ> led vmbe his swange swetely pat

knyj tj ~ gordel of te grene silke, -pat gay wel bisemed"),

the choice, that is, to save himself, thereby ignoring the

demands of cortaysye.

The poet reminds us that Gawain has accepted the

girdle not for the richness of its beauty or as a love-

tcken even though it is just that, but rather, as a magical

token to save his life:

Bot wered not pis ilk wy;;e :for wele pis gordel,
For p r yde cf pe pendauntej, Ja) polyst ;pay were,
And) a) }'e glyterande golde glent vpon ende;,,
Bot for to sauen hymself, when suffer hym byhoued ,
To hyde bale withoute dabate of bronde hym to were
o:per knyffe.
(2037-42)

Like the shield, the girdle is a worldly object. But

unlike the shield, it is used for a worldly end. It does

not , as does the Virgin-shield, remind Gawain of his

struggle ~o overcome the temptation of the flesh; rather,

 49

it reminds Gawain of his human frailty.

Appropriately, on the journey to the Green Chapel

there is no intercession of the Virgin; no glorious castle

appears in the mists, but instead, an image in complete

contrast to the description of the castle, which symbolizes

the choice which Gawain has made:

A balJ berJ bi a bonke pe brymme bysyde,

Bi a forj of a flode ~at ferked pare;
pe borne blubred ~erinne as hit boyled hade.
(2172-74)

All of the events in this sequence of action are in complete

opposition to their parallels in the first sequence, again

reflecting the choice which Gawain has made. Similarly,

this choice is reflected in the pentangle which now figura-

tively " wears" the green girdle, even as Gawain does.

I have suggested that the shield represents Gawain's

choice to uphold the virtue of clannesse. The girdle, on

the other hand, represents his human weakness--his choice

to save his own life. Each symbol represents an aspect of

Gawain's human nature, and he is not a whole man until he

realizes -rhat his human disposition tends toward both.

Thus, when armed with the girdle, he also picks up the

shield. Symbolically, Gawain has pulled together the

opposing aspects of his human nature. Both pentangles

lead back to each other, and like their endeles knot,

Gawain too is led back to himself in the new consciousness

he has gained of himself. Through his failure he learns

that imperfection is as much a part of human nature as is

 50

the striving toward that perfection. Where previously he

had only half a vision of reality, in the end , armed with

the shield and the girdle, brought together in the pentangle

emblem, his vision of life and of himself has broadened to

include his humanity.

Unlike the final portrait of the knight, the Gawain

of the opening lines of the poem is reputedly the very

mirror of Christian chivalry--a flawless reflector of the

ideals of Camelot. The balance between the man and the

ideal is supposedly so perfect that both can be symbolized

by one geometrical figure. But just as the poem contains

two pentangle emblems, so too is Gawain torn between two

conflicting desires. And it is in his acceptance of both

as integral parts of his nature that he becomes a complete

man. Furthermore, it is in accepting imperfection as a

part of his nature that Gawain, like the endeles knot,

comes back to himself to find the perfection inherent in

self-awareness.

Appropriately, the poem ends with the fall of Tr oy .

Appropriately, too, by the end of the poem, Gawain can

attest to the vanity of all mortal kingdoms. And even as

the vanquished city of Troy lay in ashes, so too does

Gawaia's " old world" with its misconceptions and false

aspirations. He returns to Camelot a new man to build a

new world on the ashes of the old.

 APPENDIX

TROY

GAME
(laughter of Camelot)

THE JOUR~EY

Gawain Pentangle/Shield

I
Clannesse Virgin/Shield
I I
Cortaysye Lady/Girdle

Spirit vs. Flesh

I
Green Chapel

/\
tricke'\ / penance

consciousness
I
contrition
l
absolution

Gawain, Christian Knight

THE RETURN

(laughter of Ca~elot)

GAl.IE

TROY

51
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

List of Bo~ks Consulted

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Blanch, Robert J. , ed. Sir Gawain and Pearl. Bloomington:

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Howard, Donald R. The Three Temptations--Medieval Man in

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and Christian Zacher, eds. Critical Studies of

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Savage, Eenr y Lyttleton. The Gawain-Poet. Chapel Hill:

Uni versity of North Carolina Press, cl9 56.

52
 53

Spearing, A. C. Criticism and Medieval Poetry. New York:

Barnes and Noble, Inc. , 1972.

The Gawain-Poet: A Critical Study. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press, cl970 .

Tolkien, J. R. R., trans. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,

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Weston, Jessie L. From Ritual to Romance. Garden City,

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List of Articles Consulted

"Beauty." Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 1967 ed.

Engelhardt, Geo r ge J. ''The Predicament of Gawain." Mode rn

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Pentan g le. " Studies in the Literary Imaginat .i on , 4
(1972), 41 -5 0.

Lass, Roger. " Man ' s Heaven: The Symbolism of Gawain's

Shield . '' Mediae val Studi e s, 28:1 (1966) , 354- 360.

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Log anbi 11 , Deem. " The J-ledieval ~'lind in Sir Gawain and the
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 54

Shedd, Gordon M. "Knight in Tarnished Armour: The iJeaning

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