The Pentagle and the Girdle

The Pentangle and the Girdle

Jae-An Wang
Analytical Writing
July 17, 2014

There is only one assumption: Everything in this world is flawed. Everything else comes from that assumption. This presumption is definitely not an exception in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, where imperfection is a central notion. Many people in the poem appear ideal, such as the beautiful wife of Bertilak, or the chivalrous knight Sir Gawain, but sooner or later their imperfections are brought to light. This happens several times throughout the story, such as when Bertilak’s wife tries to seduce Gawain, Sir Gawain accepts the green girdle from Bertilak’s wife but confesses nothing to his host, and when the Green Knight appears in King Arthur’s court. The poet uses the two symbols, the pentangle of perfection, and the green girdle of temptation, to show that even the best knight will have flaws.
The first significant symbol in the poem is the pentangle, which portrays purity and flawlessness. The narrator explains that many people in England refer to the pentangle as the “endless knot” (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 15). While this may not be significant, the pentangle is described as “a token of truth” (626), and in the Hebrew language, another term for truth is constancy or consistency, which may be another definition of perfection. The pentangle is “portrayed in the purest gold” (620), which is a clear sign that the pentangle was meant as a symbol of perfection, because a synonym of the word pure happens to be perfect.
The narrator explains how Sir Gawain’s shield with the pentangle painted on it fits his characteristics well, which clearly points to the conception that Sir Gawain is a supposedly perfect being. He is depicted as “Devoid of all villainy, with virtues adorned/in sight.”(634-5) and compared to “gold unalloyed” (633). Devoid means lacking, and villainy basically means impurities. When simplified greatly, lines 634-5 say: Pure with many good qualities, while the quote from line 633 is just talking more about Gawain’s purity. In later lines, the narrator emphasizes Sir Gawain’s connection with the pentangle:
Now all these five fives were confirmed in this knight,
And each linked in other, that end there was none,
And fixed to five points, whose force never failed,
Nor assembled all on a side, nor asunder either,
Nor anywhere at an end, but whole and entire (656-660)

Sir Gawain has five special characteristics are this quote is referring to: his keen senses, his dexterity, his loyalty, his religiousness, and his compassion. According to the quote, his five qualities are linked to each other without end, balanced, and complete, just like the pentangle. Theoretically, if you removed one virtue, the others would not be able to function, since they are all connected. This idea is used later in the story, when Gawain gives in to his fear of death and accepts the girdle from Lady Bertilak. The second, equally important symbol in this poem is the green girdle. Gawain accepts it when he learns that if he wears it, he could possibly gain invincibility: “When he gains the Green Chapel to get his reward:/Could he escape unscathed” (1857-8). Ultimately, it is fear of expiring that pressures him to receive the girdle from Lady Bertilak. In lines 502-531, the different seasons are described. It could be possible that this is showing Gawain’s overall mood throughout the year. In the “cold cheer of Lent” (502), Gawain is still getting over his worried mind, and how he will have to die at the end of the year. But then spring and summer come, and he takes his mind off of his troubles, which is reflected when “the keen cold lessens, the low clouds lift;” (505). After summer, however, “the grass turns to gray, that once grew green. /Then all ripens and rots that rose up at first,” (527-8), which is a vastly different image from that of the beginning of the year. The poet’s use of the words ‘gray’ and ‘rot’ underscores the feeling of death, especially since he showed what things used to be like. Any hope or peace of mind that Gawain had fades, and he goes back to awaiting his death. It is much more obvious that he is scared of dying when he begins talking in his sleep on his third day at Bertilak’s castle: Deep in his dreams he darkly mutters As a man may that mourns, with many grim thoughts Of that day when destiny shall deal him his doom (1750-2)
I am not religious, but I believe that if Gawain had had more (religious) faith, he would not have succumbed to fear, which wouldn’t have led to him deceiving Bertilak and not giving him the girdle. Ultimately, the transition between the two key symbols is crucial, and is essential in understanding this poem, especially since the plot revolves around them. The pentangle and green girdle make up the theme of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which is that imperfection always undermines perfection. The ideas of imperfection and perfection have raised many questions. For example, what is perfection? Humans and everything else in this world are imperfect, so how do we know or figure out what the term ‘perfect’ is? But that goes back to the idea of the book, that perfection is unattainable, unreachable, unachievable, not real to this world. And it is probable that anyone who tries to be perfect should meet the same fate as Sir Gawain, who was forced to accept that he was also a citizen of this imperfect world.