Study Guide for Gawain and the Green Knight
Listen
to the opening lines of Gawain
Gawain
resources
at luminarium.org.
Discussion Questions
- What is the verse form of this poem? (See pp. 157-158.) What
is distinctive about it?
- Why does the poem begin with a reference to the Trojan war? Does the
allusion make more sense by the time you get to the end of the poem?
- What time of year is it when the poem begins? Is this significant in
any way? What time of year is it when Gawain leaves Arthur's court?
- What is strange about the visitor to Arthur's court? What does he
say to the knights? How do they respond?
- What does Arthur do when the Green Knight leaves?
- What is depicted on Gawain's shield? What is the significance of the
pentagram?
- How is Gawain received by his host in the forest? How is he received
by the wife?
- What does the host occupy his time with? What agreement does he make
with Gawain?
- How does Gawain respond to the lady's advances? Is his behavior
admirable?
- What is the significance of the girdle as a token?
- What happens when Gawain finally meets the Green Knight again? How
does he respond when he realizes he has been tricked? Have we, as
readers, also been tricked?
- What is chivalry? In what ways is Gawain chivalrous? In what
ways is he not? Go here
to read excerpts from Ramón Lull's Book of the Order of Chivalry
(ca. 1276).
- Is there a moral to this story?