Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1979

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Greer, Allen W.

Abstract

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the hero sets out on a journey in which he is forced to make moral choices that ultimately alter his self-knowledge. Gawain's journey is the direct result of a challenge offered by the Green Knight under the guise of a Christmas game. Metaphorically, his actions are reflected by the pentangle, which although composed of oppositions, always leads back to itself. Gawain'3 divided consciousness is further symbolized by the Virgin-shield, which alludes to caritas, and the magic girdle, which alludes to cupiditas. Their opposition forms the basic conflict of the poem: between spirit and flesh. These symbols initiate two sequences of action wherein Gawain is tested, fails and is absolved. He returns to Camelot a new man, wiser for his folly, a true exemplar of Christianity as symbolized by the pentangle virtues.

Extent

61 p.

Comments

FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1979.|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Identifier

FADT13959

Format

pdf

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