Tasks for students
• Tell the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in your own words.
• Hints…
• author is anonymous
• written c. 1400 in Middle English
• Contents: love chivalry religion
Review: Characteristics of the Epic Poem 1. An epic poem is a long, highly-stylized narrative poem… 2. that recounts the exploits of its main character – the epic hero. 3. Because most epic poetry originated as sung or spoken
verse, it is rigidly metered and rhymed.
• Categories:
The matter of France: Charlemagne the Great
and Roland, Chanson de Roland.
The matter of Rome: Alexander the Great and the siege of Troy.
大家有疑问的，可以询问和交流
可以互相讨论下，但要小inition: A tale in verse, embodying the life and adventures of knights, reflecting the spirit of chivalry, i.e, the quality and ideal of knight conduct.
英语专业英国文学史课件Sir Gawain and the GreenKnight
• What are the features of Chinese culture at that time?
Historical Background
• 1066: King Harold ---Duke William of Normandy.
The Green Knight
Sir Gawain’s main opposition in the story. He is a richly decorated knight, who has green skin and hair.
King Arthur
The king of Camelot. Uncle of Sir Gawain. It is at his celebration feast that the Green Knight challenges the court to a game.
Religious Literature
• Emphasis: the moral and spiritual responsibilities
of the individual
• Themes: homiletic paraphrases of the Gospels; re-
iteration of the Christian doctrine of the terrors of the Last Judgement; lyrics for the Christ or the Virgin Mary.
–Arthurian romance poetry/courtly love poetry
–medieval alliterative poetry
–epic poetry
Major Characters
Sir Gawain
The story’s
protagonist. A loyal knight to King Arthur, as well as his nephew. Gawain goes on his quest to meet the Green Knight in order to uphold his knightly values.
• Written in long alliterative lines with the
rhyme scheme of ababa, in 101 stanzas
• important in literature because it represents all of the following significant poetic genres:
Historical Background
• The development of feudalism
• Knight: it originally meant
no more than a household servant, living in the lord’s hall and to serve him in war, and when necessary, to fight for the king. Later, the great barons gave land to knights on condition that they should be ready to fight when called upon.
Historical Background
• Churches: political power & religious authority
• Conflicts: serfs and the peasants against feudal lords
• Languages: Latin, French and English
The matter of Britain: Arthurian legends, Sir Gawain, Launcelot, Merlin, the quest for the Holy Grail, the death of King Arthur.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight