What is the significance of the hunting scenes in sir gawain

While exciting, this may not be the kind of excitement that an audience wanted in a story about a knight fighting a giant green beast. The descriptions of the slaughter of the animals are very graphic. We must take note of HOW the story is told as well as its content; a medieval audience might intuitively understand the symbolism of the doe, boar, and fox, but may not be all that interested in how that contributes to the overall morality of the story. I would disagree that the killing and hunting serves only as a purpose for spectacle — feudalism was more used to violent depictions in literature, than say, s England.

While Sir Gawain does not fare as well as Jesus, a medieval audience would understand that the knight is only human and learns humility in the promise. However, I believe that the animals represent Gawain at different stages of the seduction. The first slaughtered animal is a doe, a symbol of innocence and purity.

The second animal, a wild boar, is fierce and defensive. Finally, the fox is a symbol of cunning trickery. I agree the Doe and the deer represent innocence; however I also saw a parallel in the difficulty of actually catching a deer. They are fast and evasive creatures to hunt, but their meat and pelts are very desirable. While the meat of the boar is still desirable, it is a less revered creature in nature.

Finally the fox is likely the least desirable creature to hunt as the meat is scarce and the pelts are common. The deer is the most polite of the creatures, never affronting, but alway evading, and accepting a noble death.

The Boar is less noble in its attempts to survive, first attempting to escape, then attacking viciously. The fox would be the animal embodiment of the opposite of a chivalrous knight, as the fox is relentlessly represented as a trickster in literature, ignoble in its survival. Like the Boar with its head removed, Gawain almost has his head taken for his dishonorable behavior. I agree with the ideass that the animals represent Gawain at various stages in the hunt, both with their symbolic meaning and with their literal manifestations in the hunt.

It is a complete role reversal from the traditional roles of knight as hunter and lady as prey. The symbolic meaning of the animals, their characteristics, and the way in which they are killed are all related to Gawain and his loss of chivarly during his time in the castle.

Each animal is increasingly beguiling. Armitage invites comparison early on with the use of similar language to set each scene. Gawain is relaxed in the comfortable surroundings of his bed chamber whilst Bertilak is off and out in pursuit of the deer. This language further intimates the parallels between the hunt and the seduction. This sounds like the language of a sword fight, rather than a conversation.

The leap between the relaxed indoor scene to the slaughter of the hunt throws up the contrast, but also the similarity: they are both scenes of courtly recreation. The second day of hunting and seduction begins in a similar way to the previous. As laziness is one of the seven deadly sins this is hardly appropriate behaviour for a respectable knight and the fact that this is highlighted each day suggests a moral test.

However, it is important to remember that Gawain is put into this position of obligatory comfort by his hosts and so this is likely to be part of their plan to seduce him. From this point onwards however, the day runs differently to the former. The boar is far tougher than the deer and this suggests that day two of the seduction will be more difficult for Gawain just as the second day of hunting is more difficult for Bertilak.

This seems to put Gawain in the more powerful position, unlike the first day when he was the prisoner. The hunt has changed and so has the seduction. Lady Bertilak is forcing Gawain to make a moral decision: does he break the knightly code of courtesy, or his chastity? However, the difficulty of the moral testing Gawain is receiving has increased with each day, just as the kisses have and now the test shifts to one less about chastity and more about loyalty to his wager with the lord.

Most readers accept that this is where Gawain fails, as he takes the protective girdle and does not give it to Bertilak, thus suggesting that he has a desire to live that outweighs his loyalty to the wager. It has been suggested that Gawain refuses the ring because of its value, accepting it would make him guilty of the deadly sin of greed which in the context of his moral testing would be a failure.

Gawain is used to resisting these temptations already which may make turning the ring down part of his refusal to be seduced. Everyone is having fun when suddenly a mysterious Green Knight interrupts the celebration and proposes a challenge, which was accepted by Gawain.

That is the story of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, an alliterative poem written in the mid to late fourteen century. Due to the entertaining nature of this poem, it is often easy for the modern reader to miss the extensive symbolism and critics, on medieval society and the chivalric code, which the author employs throughout the text. One of the greatest and extensive use of symbolism found in the poem is in Fitt III. As any wrongful behavior would be seen not just an insult against her but also against the host, the lord of the castle.

As with the first day, the Lord of the Castle heads out to hunt and Gawain again being left behind faces his own huntress, and as a result, the parallel between the events continues. On the second day, the Lord of the Castle hunts a ferocious boar. Unlike the deer, the boar is not an easy prey to kill, and as the author shows is more than likely to turn and face the hunters. The boar being described as such: Twas a boar without rival that burst out upon them; long the herd he had left, that lone beast aged, for savage was he, of all the swine the hugest, grim indeed.

Many a. Get Access. Read More. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Hunt vs. Symbolism in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.