Sir Gawain and the Green knight (summary and analysis)

The article I read called “An essay in Enigma” by Derek Pearsall was a good article.  He had some interesting points and I agreed with a lot of his interpretation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.  He implied that Bertilak de Hautdesert was in fact Sir Gawain’s father.  This is believable to me because Lord Hautdesert mentioned that “in my manor lives the mighty Morgan Fay,” who was his aunt.  Therefore, it is not a far reach to conclude that the Green Knight was in fact Sir Gawain’s father.  (2445-2446) I believe his father and his aunt was testing Sir Gawain’s claim of being a noble knight, and found it to be true.  I think Lord Hautdesert was very pleased at the honesty and integrity that Sir Gawain displayed.  I think that the Lord Hautdesert was taunting a teasing Sir Gawain as if only a father could by pretending to cut off his head and then stop when Sir Gawain flinched, and continued to tease him.  I do not think the lord or Sir Gawain’s aunt intended to do any kind of harm to Sir Gawain, just test his claims to be a noble knight so it reflected well on his family.

            Lord Hautdesert also boasted that he knew of the visits that Sir Gawain received from the lords wife, and about the girdle that Gawain received from his wife, but he also stated that he knew that Sir Gawain was an honorable man and did not accept the advances of Lord Hautdeserts wife.

            The other interpretation that Derek Pearsall brought up that was I found was quite amusing was, “Arthur, enraged at the Green Knights insulting behavior, seizes the axe and begins to whirl it about.  The Green Knight remains unmoved and draws down his coat in a marvelously realized disdainful gesture.”  In this statement, the article says that Arthur was not just “practicing” but attempting to chop off the Green Knights head, but that he was too short by a few feet or shorter than the Green Knight.  I found that statement quite funny but very believable considering the description.

            Derek Pearsall’s analysis was helpful and made a lot of sense.  When he started the article he said that he wasn’t entirely sure what the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was actually about, but his interpretation made sense and had an very analytical approach.  Mr. Pearsall also said he does not know why it is significant but it is and it is meant to “deliberately set up to engage our interest and provoke our frustration.”  I think Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is very entertaining because of the fantasy, but it is also interesting to analyze because of the implications but not statements that lets the reader to interpret what the author meant.