Sir Gawain and King Lear: Juxtaposition of Literary Journeys Essay Example

who courageously stood up to a green knight who challenged him to a duel on New Year’s Day. There are some striking similarities in both literary tales that may be seen.

Both tales began with a ceremony held in the King’s court before the presence of the king himself. This shows that both tales have for their purpose the central theme of power or the ability to rule over another person. The number three also plays a central role; King Lear divides his kingdom into three to be divided among his three daughters, while Sir Gawain, when he is on his quest, kisses Bertilak’s wife three times. He also is tempted by her on three separate times. And finally, the Green Knight, who turns out to be Bertilak himself, swings at Gawain three times with his axe.

The number three has been said to be of a great and meaningful tradition, since most religions have a connection to the number three; in Christianity, the holy trinity, and the fact that the number 3 is used 523 times in the Bible. Thus, the authors, Shakespeare in particular, may have intended to communicate the transcendence of their tales, and sought to resonate with a greater consciousness (Warren 87). Third, both these tales end with a certain tragedy. King Lear, loses his kingdom, his beloved court jester, and his three daughters.

His misery can best be seen in this part in the last act, right before he dies: And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life! Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more, Never, never, never,

never, never! Pray you, undo this button: thank you, sir. Do you see this? Look on her, look, her lips, Look there, look there! In the same way, Gawain also shows how he succumbed to temptation, and was ultimately shown to be weak because the whole exercise was actually a scheme concocted by the Morgan Le Fay, one of King Arthur’s enemies.

Thus, he wears a girdle to show his own shame. -"Lo, lady," he quoth, and handled the lace, "this is the bond of the blame that I bear in my neck, this is the harm and the loss I have suffered, the cowardice and covetousness in which I was caught, the token of my covenant in which I was taken. And I must needs wear it so long as I live, for none may hide his harm, but undone it may not be, for if it hath clung to thee once, it may never be severed. " With that, the journey of these characters comes full circle: each is humbled, and has lost his pride.

In the end of his turbulent journey, King Lear loses his life and everything he had in the beginning. In the end, Gawain loses the fact that he thinks he is infallible. Both Shakespeare and the author of Gawain’s tale have succeeded in showing the reader the difficult paths that all people must eventually take, in the name of self discovery. Conclusion This idea of a journey is one that is present in some of the most revered written works of our age, as well as some of the most underrated. This is exactly what one will be able to

see when one analyzes Shakespeare’s King Lear as well as the legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

The former is a literary opus, one that has been revered, oft-quoted and most valuable pieces of literature written by Shakespeare. The latter is a more underrated tale The story of Gawain is not as well known, and only students of English literature are truly aware of this tale. Still, both tales are classic examples beautifully written by their authors to showcase the truth of the human condition: that sometimes, one has to undergo a difficult journey in order to realize the truth that he is called to see in his own life.