Fitt III is viewed as a break from the action of the poem. Sir Gawain and the Lord of the castle have agreed to exchange what they receive during their days. Sir Gawain stays at the castle and the Lord goes hunting. What is the significance of the gifts that they exchange at the end of each day or don’t exchange? Also what is the overall significance of Fitt III?
Why does Sir Gawain and The Green Knight begin with mentions of Troy and Rome? Why are Aeneas (Troy) and Romulus (Rome) mentioned before King Arthur (Britain)? Aeneas, Romulus and King Arthur are all literary characters with a “historical” significance. Is there a comparison that is being made between King Arthur and his Knights and the conquering forces of Aeneas and Romulus? Does the Green Knight then represent the natural force of Britain that King Arthur and his knights are conquering or something else?
Stanbury states that Chaucer’s usage of metaphors “links human qualities to objects from the nonhuman living world” and “naturalizes social arrangements and hierarchies” (7). Is this apparent in Book of the Duchess and why is it important?
Also Stanbury states that Chaucer rarely depicts nature as a “wilderness” but rather as a “landscape” (7). Does Chaucer reflect nature as a “landscape” or a “wilderness” in Book of the Duchess and does it frame a “social hierarchy?”
The description of nature in medieval literature is usually focused on nature as being a “beautiful place.” Chaucer uses this description of nature inside the dreamer’s dream. The dreamer is led by a puppy to a green path that leads him to a beautiful place filled with flowers and green groves with thick trees and is filled with animals (387-442). However the black knight is an “alien” in this beautiful scene of nature. The black knight is unaware of the scenery and is focused on his internal sorrow (445).
In this scene does Chaucer continue the usual description of nature as a “beautiful place” or does he change it or challenge it by introducing an “alien” figure into the scene? Are there other examples of this in the poem? Also does Chaucer view the depiction of nature as a “beautiful place” as being an actual depiction of nature or a fake depiction?