Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” Literary Analysis
literary analysis of sir gawain and the green knight
analysis of sir Gawain and the green knight
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” Literary Analysis
Code of Chivalry The code of Chivalry can be described as a brave, loyal, courteous, distinguished courage or ability that is admired for their brave and noble qualities. Chivalry is a system of ethical ideals that arose from feudalism and had its highest development in the 12th and 13th centenry.(Columbia ElectronicEncyclopedia).Respect is an essential part of chivalry. The code of chivalry is a set of rules followed by the knights during the middle ages. The evolution of heroic and chivalry code has changed over time beginning from the Middle ages to now. The three stories Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Lanval and Beowulf illustrate what it takes to be considered a chivalrous knight.
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain shows qualities
…show more content…
A mysterious knight shows up at the king’s castle and calls himself the Green Knight. The Green Knight then challenges one to play a game which he challenges the king to strike him with his axe if he will take a return hit in a year and a day. Sir Gawain steps forward to accept the challenge for his uncle King Arthur when nobody else in the castle would. He took the King’s role in the game to protect him from the Green Knight. He must learn to accept his responsibility as a knight, in accepting his fate.He demonstrates goodness at the hand of the Green Knight. He shows courage by accepting what is to come upon him during his voyage. His journey to find the Green Knight is filled with temptations.In the conversation with him and the “Lady”, Sir Gawain showed a Chivalrous code by keeping his loyalty to the king by not kissing his wife. The lady states “if I should exchange at my choice and choose me a husband for the noble I know….would I elect before you”. This quote simply means if she …show more content…
Sir Gawain demonstrates this quality when he is with the Lord’s wife. He did not take advantage of her while he stayed at their castle. When the lady attempted to seduce him, Gawain resisted her. “My lady gay, I can hardly take gifts at the moment; having nothing to give, I’d be wrong to take gifts in turn” (233). Sir Gawain shows respect to the lady of the house by not receiving her
Life during the Middle Ages was full of social change, division, and classism. This feudal society of Britain was divided into three estates. (social classes) Within the second estate was the the knight who was a soldier for the king who fought in many battles. Even though the knight is expected to have the strength and the skills to fight in battle, all knights during the Medieval period additionally had a chivalrous aspect to them. Chivalry was the honor code of a knight which included bravery, courtesy, honor, and gallantry toward women. Within the stories of the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” and “Le Morte d’Arthur”, the code of chivalry was broken by knights which show the corruption of England’s feudal society.
Chivalry stresses fighting ability, faithfulness, honesty, generosity, service to one’s lord, service to one’s lady and loyalty to other warriors. The first part of chivalry, which stressed fighting ability and service to one’s lord, is taken directly from comitatus. Chivalry was not always followed in Le Morte D’Arthur much alike comitatus in Beowulf. The biggest withdrawal from chivalry is done by Lancelot. Lancelot broke this social system by taking part in an affair with Guinevere, by doing this he shatters the law of service to one’s lord. It is this decision that results in other characters in the story to stride away from the rules of chivalry, and in the end bring down the society. His decision caused warriors to conspire to catch Lancelot with Guinevere, which in the end leads to Lancelot killing several knights to escape. A pattern forms where a character breaks one part of the code of chivalry in the goal of keeping another code of chivalry intact. Eventually, this results in the demise of the Arthurian society. Because of Lancelot’s failure to follow the code of chivalry, he and Arthur create a long war. A lot of confusion in the warriors results from this, much like when Arthur’s men are ordered to have Guinevere burned, yet it was a violation of chivalry to not be loyal to your lady, and also a violation not to follow an order of the king.
Today chivalry is mostly referred to in regards to how a man treats a woman. Many of this generation believe chivalry to be a synonym for courtesy. This is because the true definition has been lost over time as it was first used in the medieval times. Chivalry is the combination of qualities expected of an ideal knight, especially courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help the weak. So not only does it include courtesy, as we understand it today, but includes other honorable qualities. As chivalry is in reference to an ideal knight, it makes sense that we can identify this quality throughout The Green Knight and Morte D’Arthur. These texts are set in medieval times during the rule of King Arthur. Throughout The Green Knight and Morte D’Arthur chivalry is demonstrated, depicting what it
Chivalry was the code of conduct for knights in medieval Europe. Chivalry came from the French word “chevalier” meaning, “knight.” This code of conduct for knights originated from feudalism, the social-political system that governed medieval Europe. Nobility mostly made up the chivalric order, but not all (Dickerman, 611-12).
Chivalry began in the 12th century in the form of a knightly code of conduct,
The ideals of chivalry are inextricably linked with the medieval period, and even today it is an ideal we still pay lip service to. Many historians however have questioned whether the knights and nobility of the time actually took it any more seriously than we do. Johan Huizinga described it as “a cloak for a whole world of violence and self-interest” , an “illusion of society [that] clashed with the reality of things” , and in our rather cynical age, this is probably the predominant view of the middle ages. Nonetheless, it is not a view that has gone unchallenged by more recent historians, and even Huizinga concedes that for the nobility, chivalry constituted “an amazing self-deception” , an ideal that resonated with many young nobles who wanted to believe in it, for all its impracticalities.
Throughout medieval times, proper manners were an influential part of people’s daily lives. Men, in particular, were often called upon to be protective and were expected to treat others with dignity. This highly regarded standard originated in 1170 AD when the concept of chivalry developed, which became an esteemed tradition especially among knights. A code of conduct was implemented for the appointed knights that outlined the core values of knighthood. Despite their occasional shortcomings, knights were viewed with a high status and were well known as respectful people. Eligible candidates for knighthood participated in dubbing ceremonies, which became a way for them to demonstrate their chivalric principles, affirm their hard work, and declare their worthiness. The Middle Ages in Europe established a civilized class of knights through an explicit code of conduct, elevated their rank in society, and acknowledged their emergence through dubbing ceremonies.
Before diving into what chivalry is about, it is necessary to understand about the time surrounding its prime existence. This Middle Ages lasted roughly about 1,000 years long. War and religion strongly influenced the way life was carried out and how rulers lived. It is believed that the idea of knighthood originated with a famous emperor from France named Charlemagne. He made two authoritative commands, the most popular is, “Charlemagne’s Code of Chivalry.” This began what modeled the way knights would live their lives for many years to come. These “virtues are seen time and again in ...
Though chivalry may have been a driving force during the time of King Arthur, much has changed since then. Chivalry was created as a structure to guide the lives of medieval knights, and it worked well for them. However, it has become an antiquated idea that only exists in relationships, and even today has started to melt away. While honor and chivalry were a driving force for King Arthur and The Knights of the Round Table, it has become an antiquated and unused idea today.
Chivalry has greatly diminished since the Middle Ages. Respect, courtesy, and honesty have little meaning to today’s youth. There are exceptions to this. Helping the elderly, family, and friends are just a few things young people can do to resurrect chivalry. I don’t think it’s possible to be as chivalrous as the knights in the Middle Ages were because our lifestyles have changed so drastically.
Closely associated to the romance tradition are two idealized standards of behavior, especially for knights: courage and chivalry. The protagonist within many medieval romances proved their worth by going on quests, as many a knights went in those times, thus returning with great tales of their travels and deeds. Many modern people think of chivalry as referring to a man's gallant treatment of women, and although that sense is derived from the medieval chivalric ideal, chivalry could be seen as more than that. Knights were expected to be brave, loyal, and honorable-sent to protect the weak, be noble to...
Literally, chivalry means, “The sum of the ideal qualifications of a knight, including courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms (Random). Chivalry is most known from the middle ages; the time of the knights and kings. There was even something known as the knight’s code of chivalry. All knights were to sympathize with the elderly and the orphans, never accept a reward, always fight to help others, always obey authority, protect their fellow knights’ honor, compete against unfairness, always keep faith, never lie or deceive anyone, respect women, and never refuse a challenge (Knights). The knights of the middle ages lived by 12 points which were faith, charity, justice, sagacity, prudence, temperance, resolution, truth, liberality, diligence, hope, and valor (Knights).
Throughout many of the stories that we have read about chivalry, they have taught us what the knight’s code was all about. The Green Knight was a story about accepting challenges and never backing down, even if you don’t want to. The Green knight challenges one of the other knights to a dual, and the knight promises that if he does something that he would not have to fight him, but if he breaks his promises that he would get his head cut off by an axe. The Chivalry code is big on promises they do not break promises, but if they do it has costly measures. The story King Arthur and the Excalibur, these stories showed that knights have honor and loyalty. The Chivalry code of the knights is a code that some even follow today.
Chivalry was a big part of this fourteenth century and it was embodied throughout the men of king Arthurs round table. In General, Chivalry was a set of religious values and moral goals that medieval knights
In today’s society the differences in morals between the rich and the poorer classes are virtually non-existent, but during Medieval times “morals and, above all, the virtues at its center, played an important role not only for distinguishing between good and bad, but, more importantly, even for the structuring of society” (Virtus 1). The aristocracy class and the immoral poor class had morals but how they demonstrated them varied; the aristocratic class used chivalry as the basis of their morals, while the immoral poor class did not. Chivalry was not only a code of conduct for those who followed it; chivalry was a way of life. ‘Chivalry first arose in Europe during the Crusades. Chivalry dealt with loyalty honor, and service to women on and off the battle field’ (“The Medieval Period: 1066-1485” 76). The Knight in The Canterbury Tales is the perfect example of someone who follows the code of chivalry. Chaucer describes him with much admiration as “a most distinguishable man, who from the day on which he first began to ride abroad had followed chivalry, truth, honor generousness and courtesy” (Chaucer, "The Prologue." 117). While Chaucer praises the knight for ...