Sir Gawain And The Green Knight
by Sarah
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Not very much is known about the poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight". It was assumed that it was written some time between 1375 and 1400 of the Middle English time period. It was also thought that it was written within the northwest Midlands of England. This was thought because of the high level of literary sofistication and vividness the poem contained. This poem was once known as one of the finest Arthurian poems in all of english. It was given this title because of its use of sybolism. A very interesting fact about this poem is that it both starts and ends with thecharacter "Troy" and is able to be read backwards. This poem is mostly composed of opposing forces such as; -youthful innosense vs. worldly age -magical powers vs. mortal power and intellect -host/guest obligations vs. courtly love obligations These forces are put together in four different manuscripts (also called "fits"). The manuscripts roughly correlate with the four seasons of the weather.
