Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Gerald Morgan

Critical Essay by Gerald Morgan

SOURCE: Morgan, Gerald. “The Action of the Hunting and Bedroom Scenes,” “The Definition of Gawain's Sinfulness,” and “The Judgment of Gawain's Conduct.” In “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” and the Idea of Righteousness, pp. 106-69. County Dublin, Ireland: Irish Academic Press, 1991.

In the following essays, Morgan examines how the Gawain-poet demonstrates nobility through character, rather than by action; contends that Gawain's confession is truly pious; and explores the themes of sin and repentance in the work..

The Action of the Hunting and Bedroom Scenes

I

The moral seriousness of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is clearly established by the pentangle passage, and in the light of its values commentators have addressed themselves to the judgments of Gawain's conduct made by the Green Knight (2331-68), Gawain himself (2369-88, 2406-38, and 2494-512), and Arthur and his court (2513-21). It is not a matter of dispute that the moral outcome is determined in the series of bedroom exchanges, framed...
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