Great Books: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Dr. L. Michael McCloud, vice president of academic affairs, presents "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," a masterpiece of medieval romance. Young Gawain takes up the absurd deal of trading beheading blows with the Green Knight as a game. Accepting the deal because he is allowed to go first, Gawain is amazed as the Green Knight's body casually picks up its head and announces that Gawain’s turn to go under the axe will come in one year’s time. Gawain’s journey to meet his fate highlights issues of personal honor, fairness, social obligation and what it means to be caged by the expectations of others.
This presentation, in the new JCCC CoLab, is part of the spring 2017 Great Books Mini-Lecture Series, which is designed to introduce you to watershed texts that have changed their readers’ views of the world. It’s a series of short talks on great books.
The Great Books series is sponsored by the JCCC English/Journalism Common Read program.
For more information on this and other happenings at the college, visit www.jccc.edu.
Very cool. I like how this lecture shows that Sir Gawain is a story of a knight's failure- he was willing to kill a person (chop the Green Knight's head off) but he was unwilling to accept his own fate (he kept the protective girdle a secret from Lord Bertilak). But, this story also shows that Gawain redeems himself by penance- he wears the girdle around his sleeve as a stigma. Despite his "failure," his response to repent by stigmatizing himself is in and of itself perceived by his fellow knights as a redeemable act (if not wholly, at least partly) because they imitate him. This story shows that even knights are human, and even if we make mistakes or fail in our honor, we (as knights, or just regular joes) are still virtuous by the mere fact of our human desire to do better and make up and repent for our errors.
Dr. McCloud very nice guy!
I really enjoyed this lecture, would love to see more from Dr McCloud.
It's not everyday that I find someone who can link Batman and the Greenman via Sir Gawain.
I'm really impressed and I've certainly enjoyed this lecture, thankyou Dr. L. Michael McCloud.
Dr. M, I need more lectures like this!!!!!!! Sooooo interesting. Can’t get enough, I’ve watched this three times already. Please make a UA-cam channel!!!!
Fantastic lecture! Helped me prepare for class and understand Gawain! Thank you!
A very informative and interesting lecture. Thank you for posting it.
Thank you so much for this lecture Dr McCloud! So fascinating and has really helped me digest 'The Green Knight' (2022) movie a little deeper and appreciate this story so much more
Watching this lecture I realized how bad the movie was...
Superb presentation.
This was wonderful
This is very interesting to compare to the recent movie!
This is wonderful.
Thanksgiving? Maybe equinox?
What is the quest in the poem ?
To find and face the terrifying confrontation with the Green Knight/mortality/morality/faith/initiation
🪓📖🏵️
the freamer in Pearl does not pass out from a loss of blood and certainly does not attempt to commit suicide which would be mortal sin rather "I felle upon that floury flaght -
Suche odour to my hernes schot,
I slode upon a slepyng-slaghte
On that precios perle wythouten spot." and then has a dream vision
That's a good point, but if you look at the end of the poem (the verse beginning on line 1165), the speaker describes his madness to cross the stream (i.e. die) and how such a desire was not pleasing to God. In other words, his suicidal intent is not made clear until the very end of the poem. However, this desire occurs after he sees the vision of Pearl--and it's not from a loss of blood, as you correctly point out.
I just stumbled upon this presentation while preparing for my finals. Absolutely loved it, thank you so much Dr. McCloud!
Thank you for sharing this! One of the best presentations I have ever seen
Dr McCloud, you are a mesmerising lecturer and story teller. This will definitely help in my future studies.Thank you.
First lecture that brought me to tears. This man has a true passion for the subject and brought a true deeper meaning to good literature.
Thanks for the upload, really helped me for my midterm assignment!
I was genuinely surprised at how much I enjoy this.
Thank you, this was very helpful!
Dr. McCloud is the proverbial "gentleman and scholar". What you see is what you get. Well done, my friend.
Thoroughly enjoyed your presentation out of all the videos seen on this topic so far. Came here after seeing the flim The Green Knight and your nuance and detail make ALL the difference. It's like seeing experiencing depth into something that's been presented as a two dimensional story so far...
I wish if I had a professor like him, I should admit that Dr. L. Michael McCloud is very talented and I truly admired his way of explaining and analysing the story. Thank you.
i got a question on sir gawain's journey he faces 3 major test. Offering to take place of King Arthur, refusing the advances of Lady Bertilak and keeping his appointment with the Green Knight. Desribe how Sir Gawain changes as he deals with each of these test ? i have a assignment if you answer this questions i will appreciative
So sad that you failed 😔 rest in piece
umm i think the first hunt was for deer not the boar
I learned so much more about British literature in the first 15 minutes of this lecture than the current British literature course I’m taking, thank you you made this story so flipping interesting.
My reading of research suggests the poet grew up using the language dialect and pronunciation of North Staffordshire around the towns of Leek and Heaton. As additional evidence I note that in The Pearl one line uses the word ‘meer’ meaning border and the next line uses ‘brooke’ and the stream and now village of Meerbrook lies smack between Leek and Heaton. The Green Knight poem was likely commissioned as entertainment by Knight of the Garter Sir James Audley partially to honour the memory of his close friend the renowned knight of the Garter Sir John Chandos called an exceptional knight and commander,Viscount and Governor of Aquitaine, in the first 30years of the 100 years War. James and John were founder members of the order which has the same motto as embroided on the green sash by Arthur. The gold pentacle on red is similar to the arms of Sir James Audley and forms a letter A five times. Audley owned hunting lands to the north of Heaton Staffordshire that included a wild green chasm in the rocks, called today Lud’s Church.
An interesting move for a teacher, announcing “I pronounce this wrong, I know that it’s wrong, and I’m going to continue to pronounce it that way, because that’s the way we do things.” I wonder about that…
It’s pronounced gah - win, me thinks.
My lecturer should take lectures from you
10:05
Galahad does appear in Malory. Unless I miss heard this lecturer specifically states that he does not. So I am confused that he could make such a mistake.
Great Lecture; many thanks to Dr. McCloud for the thorough mapping of influence and influenced
This was excellent to watch/listen to, a fantastic presentation by Dr McCloud.
Excellent lecture, thanks Dr McCloud.
Thank you, this rules
Amazing lecture!
Great lecture, man!
Loved this
I think this is the best lecture I have ever watched. Working on my masters...and I have not had any this good thus far! This was a great help for my Mid-English literature class. Thank you!
In my second year at college I saw a flyer announcing there was to be a two-part course on Arthurian legend offered the following semester. Even though I was deeply interested in the subject I didn't even consider it because it "wasn't part of my major." Now, here I sit, nearly twenty years removed from that day...no longer using any of the degrees I earned but still just as interested as I was then. As greasy as UA-cam can be...this sort of thing makes me thankful for platforms where such an engrossing lecture like this was once only available as a college course (with all the cost attached) is now available free for anyone to learn from and explore. I appreciate the posting.
he is also wrong about to whom the green knight's challenge is directed--Gawain was always his object. Furthermore the poem was written and read to a court in the late 13 hundreds a court surrounded by woods--they didn't know what was out there!!!! What happened could have been imaginatetivly possible to such a court ( which no doubt resembled the court described in the poem) and he is wrong about the final confrontation between the grene knight and bertilak