Choices of Gawain

The five virtues of being a knight are friendship, generosity, chastity, courtesy, and piety (Sparknotes Editors). Those five virtues are what Sir Gawain so closely puts his faith in the epic poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. They are what make him who he is. "Gawain's courtesy is associated with his virtue in the symbolic device of the pentangle in the shield.” (Morgan 770). They are important factors to why he volunteered for the Green Knight’s challenge and to why he honored his promise even when he learned what his own fate would be. Gawain is determined to keep this code of chivalry no matter what it takes. Whether it be stepping up to a challenge, refusal of a woman’s advances, or even dying, Gawain will do anything to defend his honor – to an extent.
When the Green Knight rides up to the New Year festivities on his green horse and proposes a game to King Arthur, Gawain steps in and chooses to accept the challenge. The challenge is to take the axe from the Green Knight’s hand and strike his neck with it. “I find it unfitting, as my fellow knights would, when a deed of such daring is dangled before us that you take on the trial.” (Sir Gawain I.348-50). He feels the need to prove himself to the others and wants to protect the king as well. He chooses to strike the knight and after doing so, his head rolls on floor, and to the astonishment of everyone, the Green Knight picks the head up and words come out of its mouth saying “Sir Gawain, be wise enough to keep your word and faithfully follow me until you find me” (Sir Gawain I.448-49). Gawain must go to the Green Chapel in exactly one year and find the Green Knight, so that he may take the axe to Gawain’s neck. Even though this task ultimately means Gawain’s death, he is d...

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...nd keeping his word to the Green Knight, outweigh the bad choices.

Works Cited
Hardman, Phillipa. "Gawain's Practice Of Piety In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight." Medium Aevum 68.2 (1999): 247. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
Morgan, Gerald. "The Significance Of The Pentangle Symbolism In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight." Modern Language Review 74.(1979): 769-790. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
Pugh, Tison. "Gawain And The Godgames." Christianity & Literature 51.4 (2002): 525-551. Humanities Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Trans. Simon Armitage. The Norton Anthology of
World Literature. Gen. ed. Martin Puchner. 3rd ed. Vol. B. New York: Norton,
2012. 727-80. Print.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2003. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.