Wilder 1

Olivia Wilder
Professor Coolidge
Early Classic & British Literature
05/9/2013

Dying is a necessity. All those who face death must realize that it involves a gradual loss
of power and an acceptance of ones own mortality. King Lear, Sir Gawain, and the January all
have encounters with death in some form and they each have a natural resistance to this very
natural part of life. Each of these characters must come to a sort of agreement with the idea of
death; this happens through a gradual offering up of their own power.
King Lear is continually resistant of death throughout his life. In the beginning of his
story Lear speaks of death as something that is utterly shameful, like a baby crawling and
helpless, unable to walk.
Know we gave divided In three our kingdom; and t is our fast intent To shake all cares
and business from our age, Conferring them on younger strengths, while we unburthend
crawl toward death (2).
Although Lear may be right in having a certain resistance or fear towards his own death, one
cannot live life with a constant fear of his own mortality, but an acceptance of it. Unless there is
an receiving of the end of a life, life itself cannot be precious.

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The words Lear so desperately speaks to Cordelia as they are being taken off to prison
convey the passionate love Lear has for his daughter. He begs her to live a full life in prison with
him, acting as Gods spies (107). With these joyous, pleading words Lear is beginning to give
up his power; relenting what he thought a life worth living should be like in order to be forgiven
by his daughter. Lear faces death on every side but is only able to truly confront this part of
human life and fully relinquish his power as he holds his lifeless daughter in his arms. Repeating
almost as a mad man Never, never, never, never, never! (118), Lear seems to understand
Cordelia will never live again, thus coming to terms with his own mortality, he is dies.
Unlike Lear, Sir Gawains journey toward accepting his mortality does not end in his own
death. Gawain spends most of his life so afraid of his own death that it is almost comical that he
should be the one to journey and have his head chopped off by the Green Knight. It is evident
through Gawains procrastination that he is not so eager to begin this journey to his own death.
Gawain values honor over everything, but in order to accept his own mortality, he must
relinquish his pride in this code of honor and travel to uphold his end of the game.
As Gawain is finally faced with the Green Knights blade, he is terrified. By all accounts
Gawain should be assured and comforted because he has taken the green girdle to keep himself
alive. There is something about the uncertainty of death for Gawain. Perhaps he does not know
if there will be pain in death or maybe he is fearful because he thinks he will die a thief. The first
swing of the Green Knights blade is described:

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Had he seen it through as thoroughly as threatened the man beneath him would have met
with his maker. But glimpsing the axe at the edge of his eye bringing death earthwards
as it arced through the air, and sensing its sharpness, Gawain shrank at the shoulders
(171-172)
Gawain is truly afraid because he is still holding onto the power of his own pride. After he has
taken the actual cut on his neck and discovered the truth about the Green Knight, Gawain is
humbled. My downfall and undoing; let the devil take it. Dread of the death blow and cowardly
doubts meant I gave into greed, and in doing so forgot the fidelity and kindness which every
knight knows (179). Gawain learns from the Green Knight of the tenderness of life and the
frailty of flesh. By accepting the gift of the green girdle, Gawain is choosing to live with the
knowledge of his own finiteness.
In The Merchants Tale, the idea of coming to terms with ones own death is not laid out
in quite the same way as our other stories. January is completely repulsed by the idea of his own
death and aging throughout his story. He lives his life to the fullest, not able to accept the reality
of his mortality because he seems to have a list of earthly things he must achieve before his
death. Marriage is an integral part of Januarys story, and in a sense the perfect marriage is his
kingdom which he must let go of in order to understand the way life should lead into death.
January places great value in finding a young wife although he is not able to fully admit his own
age: Although I am white-haired, I fare like a tree that blossoms before the fruit has grown; a
blossoming tree is neither dry nor dead: I feel gray nowhere except on my head (385).

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There is not completely a sense of change in January by the end of his tale, but in a sense,
when January loses his sight he is giving up his power. This act is a type of death to self.
Through losing his sight, January becomes more selfish and protective of the things in his
kingdom, but is not able to fully control them. All January is able to do is sit by and witness his
wife making love to another man while he blindly stands by. Although January regains his sight,
his temporary blindness is reflective of his refusal to see his own finiteness.
Fear of death is innate. These characters fear death because it is full of uncertainty and
unhappy endings. As life goes on, there should be a natural progression of loosening the grip on
the things of this world and looking forward to the world to come. Lear must release his hold on
his kingdom because all that matters in his last hours are his family and the realization of his own
mortality. Gawain has a need to let go of his fear of death in order to live a truly honorable life.
January should have dropped his ideals of marriage and youth to rid himself completely of his
blindness. Knowing that a day will come for each of them to die allows these characters to live
more freely. Just as people must accept that they are born into this world without a choice, so in
the same way, death will come without permission.