For Next Monday & Wednesday: Fits III and IV

Sorry I had to cancel class on Friday, but there was no way I could stumble through class with my cough. I'm optimistic that a weekend of rest will help. For Monday, we'll return to Fit III, and do an in-class writing over an important event in the story. Here are some things to look out for as you read:

* There are three hunts and three attempts for the Wife to seduce Gawain...do these events share allegorical connections? Look at some of the language of each, and the ideas of hunting, trapping, outwitting, and being crafty. 

* Why does the Wife accuse Gawain of not being Gawain? How has he failed her image of the great 'lover' from Arthurian romances?

* It seems strange that Gawain, a great knight, lounges behind in bed while the Lord goes hunting with his men, and almost gets killed fighting the boar. How does the poet present this: as what would have been expected of a great knight (or guest), or somewhat questionable behavior?

* Do you think Gawain trangresses his oath to the Lord by keepin the girdle? It makes sense that he doesn't give it back, since he needs it, and the Wife striclty asked him not to speak of it (and he's supposed to serve her, right?). And yet, is this a significant ethical lapse for Gawain? 

Since you might have already read Fit III, I'm going to post the questions for Wednesday and Fit IV below, but they're NOT due until Wednesday. 

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: Fit IV

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Why does the poem suddenly introduce Morgan le Fay at the end of the poem? Was she behind this all along, as the Green Knight claims? Or is this a sleight of hand on the author's part, to reinforce the allegory? (in other words, can we trust the Green Knight's explanation--that this was really a test of Guenevere, and not Gawain at all?). 

Q2: Most importantly, does Gawain 'fail' in his final test with the Green Knight? Is the flinching a sign of cowardice or dishonor? How does the Green Knight judge him? Does Gawain agree? 

Q3: What do you make of Gawain's long rant against women? Is this another ancient work that seeks to throw women under the bus for the sins of men? Is the Lord's wife merely another Eve/Guenevere, etc. who is responsible for the 'fall' of men? Or is Gawain, himself, missing the point? 

Q4: Why do Arthur and all the knights decide to adopt the girdle themselves? Is this a way to erase his dishonor? Are they making fun of him? Is the whole thing a satire on the author's part?

For Wednesday: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Fit II

SUMMARY OF FIT II: A year passes, and Gawain is nervously awaiting his departure. No one wants him to leave, but he knows he has to go. Not much else happens here, so note how the poet describes Gawain, Camelot, and the world he travels through. Gawain journeys for a long time and has many adventures, all of which are glossed over. He finally reaches a castle where a beautiful woman lives, the wife of a gracious lord. They put him up in fine style and the wife is clearly more than a little in love with him. The host says that they should play a game (uh-oh): that whatever one gets during the day, they have to give to the other at night. So the lord will go hunting and share with Gawain whatever he captures. But what will Gawain give him in return???

Answer TWO of the following as before: 

Q1: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is very conscious of nature: we always know what season it is, and the poem indulges in poetic descriptions of Gawain's travels. Why is this? What effect does this have on the poem, that it has a "place" rather than just a "setting"?

Q2: What do you make of the description of the pentangle on Gawain’s shield on page 22 (lines 620 onward)? Is this similar to the poet’s description of Camelot’s perfection in Fit I? Or is he setting up Gawain for a fall? How can we tell

Q3: Somewhat related to Q2, does Gawain seem to be an ideal, chivalric knight? Does he display proper values and humility (especially with the Lord's wife)? Is the poet using him as the paragon of knightly virtue, or do his actions belie his reputation?

Q4: Stanley Abrams, writing in A Glossary of Literary Terms, defines “allegory” as “a narrative fiction in which the agents and actions, and sometimes the setting as well, are contrived to make coherent sense on the “literal” or primary, level of signification, and at the same time to signify a second, correlated order of agents, concepts, and events.” Where might some aspect of Fit II fit this definition of allegory? In other words, where do we see the poet working on two levels with his plot?

For Monday: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Fitt 1

For our next class, read the first Fitt (basically, Chapter, or Part) of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Remember that this is a Narrative Poem, which means it tells a story, and can be read more or less like a traditional story, except that it is a poem, which means how the story is told is more important than what happens. So consider this as you read and answer the questions below.

SUMMARY OF FIT I (just in case you get lost): After a tiny introduction connecting ancient Rome to modern Britain, the poet brings us to Arthur's court at Camelot. There, they are having traditional New Year's feasts and games, and in the middle of this celebration, a strange Green Knight rides straight into the hall. He challenges the company to a game of his own, but no one takes him up on it, until Arthur, embarrassed, finally agrees to do it. But at the last minute, Gawain, his young nephew, volunteers. The game is simple: they take a chop at each other's heads, and whoever is left standing, wins. Gawain goes first and chops the Green Knight's head clean off. The Knight then picks up his head and says, "Congratulations! Now come find me in a year for your turn." 

Answer TWO of the following questions in a short paragraph—at least a few sentences, but feel free to write more if inspiration takes you. In general, be specific and don’t go for easy yes/no answers. I’m not looking for an answer here; I simply want you to think out loud and consider some of the ‘big’ ideas of the poem.

Q1: Camelot is the mythical ideal of chivalry, a kind of never-never land of knights and great heroes. Given this stereotype, does the poet basically run with this idea, or challenge it? Is it more ideal or realistic, from your reading? In other words, is Camelot all it’s cracked up to be?

Q2: Discuss the poem’s description of the Green Knight on pages 7-9 (or lines 130 to around 200): what is significant about these details? What does the poet want us to see and experience about his appearance? What does this remind you of, besides a very large and threatening knight on horseback?

Q3: According to the poem, why does the Green Knight come to challenge Arthur and his court? By barging in like this (and on a horse, no less), he’s breaking the laws of chivalry and being quite disrespectful. What would make him act so flagrantly toward the greatest king in the land?

Q4: How does this poem read (or sound) differently as a poem than a prose narrative? What details or stylistic quirks jump out at you? Why do you think the poem does this? And you might also ask, why does this work make more sense as a poem than a traditional story?

Welcome to the Course

Welcome to our Spring 2025 semester's version of British Literature to 1800! I e-mailed everyone the syllabus already, but let me know if you have any questions about the basic information. Here is the intro to the class I wrote on the syllabus, which I really feel is important to my approach to the class--finding the modern connections to these now-ancient works (though they often don't sound very ancient at all). 

This course explores the development of British/English literature from its origins in King Arthur and Courtly Love, to Shakespeare’s divine (and divinely obscene) poetry, and finally into the scandalous Eighteenth Century, where literature was beginning to reflect the emerging market of young readers, many of whom (like Austen) also became writers themselves. Despite the distance of time and geography, these works always strike me as shockingly modern, full of characters, conflicts, and conversations which might have tumbled off social media. If you think “hawk tuah” was invented in 2024, wait until you meet Chaucer’s Miller and Wife of Bath! And if you’ve ever watched a Romantic comedy, or are a fan of Bridgerton, you’re definitely indebted to Jane Austen. Everything old is new again in this course, and I look forward to exploring these timeless works with you in the beginning of 2025!

Be sure to get the books of this course, since you will need ALL of them, and yes, we're reading each one (though we won't read the entirety of The Canterbury Tales or all the plays in Sheridan's collection). If you're curious, you can scroll down and see some of the questions and assignments I gave in previous years, though none of them will be the same as I give this year. But this is basically what the blog will look like as we move through the semester.

Take care and see you on Wednesday!