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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Fit IV demonstrates clearly how Sir Gawain and the Green Knight fits the pattern of romance by having elements of the romantic pattern in literature. It contains evidence of a hero, garden and wilderness imagery and a villain. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, has many garden and wilderness images in Fit IV. In the very beginning of the Fit, stanza 80, we read Daylight fought darkness this is a garden and wilderness comparison. We see images describing the weather in the first section Wild was the weather the world awoke to and Bitterly the clouds cast down on the cold earth, inflicting on the flesh flails from the north. These images all give us a sense of a wilderness, cold uncomfortable and gloomy.
The poem goes on to describe the snow, how the beasts are frozen, the sound of the wind and the deep drifts of snow. In stanza 83 the poem describes Sir Gawain s journey to the green knights chapel. The following contains many wilderness images By bluffs where boughs were bare they passed, climbed by cliffs where the cold clung: Under the high clouds, ugly mists, merged deeply with the moors and melted on the mountains; Each hill had a hat, a huge mantle of mist. Then the author goes on to write Brooks burst forth above them, boiling over their banks and showering down sharply in shimmering cascades. All these images give us the feeling that the green knight is close, everything is cold and would send a shiver down your back if it were read correctly. In stanza 84 the servant actually states in that wilderness dwells the worst man in the world.
He then says the green knight filled the field with gore, it strikes so sudden and sore. This gives us the wilderness image of a field filled with bodies and blood. In stanza 86 the servant describes where Gawain needs to go he says ride down this rough track round yonder cliff till you arrive in a rugged ravine at the bottom this is clearly more wilderness imagery. Throughout the rest of the poem we hear terms such as rough slope and cruelly jagged that carry on this image of wilderness. It is evident that since there are many different wilderness images it is a part of the poem s romantic pattern. Throughout Fit IV we see heroic qualities of Gawain, which are part of the criteria for a hero in the romance pattern in literature.
In stanza 80 we see Gawain getting ready to leave to meet the green knight. The poem reads the strong man sent for his steed and strength is a characteristic of a hero. Stanza 81 goes on to describe his clothes, leaving us with the impression that Gawain looks handsome and is an important figure, he is called a comely lord. Sir Gawain is also referred to as a prince, a noble knight and acts honorable and dignified by praising the porter. The porter also says to Gawain you are a lord whom I love with no little regard this shows us that he is kind and respected. When suggested that Gawain should not visit the knight he says if he did that he should become a cowardly knight with no excuse whatever.
When the green knight is about to hit Gawain with the axe, Gawain flinches, showing us that he is still human but then remains to take the blow. This shows us that he is truly brave even if he is in a frightening situation. And later when he talks about the girdle, he reveals that this was his flaw, he did not have full trust in god. When he returned to the court he is called a brave man.
All of these characteristics of Gawain make him a hero. In Fit IV we get a good description of the green knight as a villain which is an element of romance in literature. In stanza 84 the green knight is described as a villain. He is described as the worst man in the world, valiant and fierce and fond of fighting. The green knight is said to be mightier than any man that may be on earth and his body is bigger than any of the best four.
The servant states no man passes that place, however proud in arms, without being dealt a death-blow by his dreadful hand. The green knight is described as an immoderate man, to mercy a stranger. The servant goes on to say that he would even attack a priest. In stanza 89 we meet the green knight for the first time. His actions are all described as very strong, hard and mean, he thrust himself, when he came to water he vaulted over on his axe and he advanced fiercely along the field s width. These elements show the green knight is the villain in the poem and therefore contributes to the romantic pattern within the poem. 34 a
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