Lost & Sir Gawain

Although separated by 1,000 years, medium, and special effects, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the hit television series 'Lost' share many themes.  The former may not have a smoke monster or involve an airplane crash, and the latter may not have a Green Knight--although with the at-times frivolously intricate and overly obtuse plot lines, anything could have been possible for future seasons.  The two do share, however, tests of virtues, hidden human connections and relations, and statuses of being embedded into history and a never-ending timeline.

A test of virtues is common to both Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and 'Lost.'  Jack Shepherd, who comes closest out of the ensemble cast to being the protagonist figure of 'Lost', is tested repeatedly just as Sir Gawain is, on his virtues by a force impervious to human intervention.  This force in 'Lost' manifests itself in a gamut of intangible ways, sometimes as a visible being such as the enigmatic and frightening smoke monster or immortal and evil Man in Black, but usually as a personal struggle or almost religious and transcendental entity that is beyond not only human control, but also nearly human comprehension.  Such a test, or rather series of tests, is placed upon Sir Gawain and his strength of character.  It is perpetrated most evidently by Bertilak, of course, but also tacitly by Gawain himself.

The idea of hidden human connections and relations is crucial to both Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and 'Lost.'  In 'Lost,' just as in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, identities appear much simpler than they actually are.  The revealing of startling family connections in 'Lost'--including but not limited to the true identities of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, etc.--marked watershed moments in the series.  Such is the same in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in which the reader and Gawain himself realizes that Beatlik is the Green Knight and the Old Lady at the Castle is Morgan La Fluer, or more significantly King Arthur's half-sister and Gawain's own aunt.  The revelations in both tales are crucial in connecting the puzzle pieces. This idea of hidden human connections and relationships is further demonstrated by historical ties and links.

Both Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and 'Lost' are embedded into history.
The optimistic essence of the future is present in the ending of both tales.  Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, for instance, ends with the following: "Many such, ere we were born,/Have befallen here, ere this./ May He that was crowned with thorn/Bring all men to His bliss!  Amen" (Norton, 165).  'Lost' ends with an equally spiritual tone that is forward-looking yet has reverence for the past.