Think about, and be prepared to discuss, five of these questions. Check any word you don't understand in a dictionary or glossary of literary terms.

The questions in bold will be addressed in lectures; the others in tutorials.

1. Does the text represent Arthur and his court positively or negatively?
   
   
2. Is there a real villain in the text? As we discussed in Beowulf, are heroic and villainous behaviours clear-cut or problematised?
   
   
3. What kinds of symbolism did you notice (e.g. colour, animal, etc.)?
   
   
4. What aspects of the text seem to have Pagan origins and what aspects Christian ones?
   
   
5. If the Green Knight is a type of the seasonal god of vegetation, how might he be seen to challenge chivalric ideas and ideals?
   
   
6. Whose judgment of Gawain's behaviour do you find most reliable or convincing:

Gawain's, the Green Knight's, or Camelot's?



7. How are women and the underclasses represented in the text?
   
   
8. What is the textâs view of history? What are Camelotâs origins?
   
   
9. What do we mean if we call the poem a "romance"? (Check a glossary of literary terms.)
   
   
10. Given your responses to the first nine questions, how does Sir Gawain and the Green Knight differ from Beowulf? Think about genre, literary style, world view, ways in which society is constructed by or reflected in the text.

Some key sections

Opening and closing references to Troy (Compare them.)

Opening portrayal of Arthur's Court

Gawain's characterisation: 341ff; 545ff. His shame/confession 2374ff.

Pentangle 619ff; Green girdle 1817ff.

The castle 763ff.

The Lady and Gawain 941ff; 1178ff; 1470ff; 1733ff.

The three hunting scenes: 1136ff; 1433ff; 1690ff.