Academic Article- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

            In “Grace Versus Merit in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” by Larry S. Champion, the author explores the poem with a Christian like mindset that opens the idea that Gawain held religious allusions. To begin with, Champion gives several examples of other critics’ and their ideas with Christian influence in the poem, and then he mentions his opinion. Champion agrees with the critics’ ideas on religious power within the poem, but he thinks that they solely focus on that rather than the “intellectual climate of the age” (Champion 415). In other words, Champion connects Sir Gawain with the allegoric connection to biblical characters, Jesus Christ and Mary; he does so by saying that by taking the “protective girdle” he is “faced with the conscious choice between the dictates of self-interest and Christian honor” (Champion 416). In that context, Sir Gawain is of course being tested in a moral way.  

This interpretation that Champion gives of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is interesting in the sense that he illustrates Sir Gawain as having “Christ –like” characteristics, but is tempted to sin when he takes the girdle. Champion’s article helped me dissect into other meanings the poem has, and I can understand his viewpoint of the poem’s meaning. I agree with Champion’s argument that Sir Gawain has a spiritual connection with Christianity, but I also think that there is more to the poem than the obvious religious aspect. The validity is seen when he states, “the remaining work of our poet, in which he is assumed to be using extensive religious allegory, reveals his profound concern with the issue of human salvation and the traditional Augustinian nature of his theology” (Champion 418). He has valid points, but there is still the relevant importance of chivalry and the questioning to one’s “moral code” that is set aside from religion. Regardless, both my opinion and Champion’s dissertation go hand in hand when constructing a thought out message to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Works Cited:

Champion, Larry S. "Grace Versus Merit In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight." Modern Language Quarterly 28.4 (1967): 413. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 Sept. 2012.