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“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
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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
He is not brave, selfless, chivalrous, or noble; with an immoral thought he only performs great acts in front of an audience. Knights are supposed to be fearless warriors, Gawain contradicts that stereotype. Once Gawain ventures towards the green chapel, he is overcome by fear. However, fear of death is not of the essence. When his escort offers to help him avoid the fight, Gawain had already obtained the green sash; he fights knowing he will not die. Gawain fears his kingdom will recognize his lack of pure motive and moral courage if he abandons the game, concerned that if he “forsook this place for fear, and fled,” Camelot will find out he is “a caitiff coward” who “could not be excused” for his lack of inner-chivalry (2130-2131). He does not go to the fight to prove he is chivalrous; his impure motive is to hide his immoral nature from
...stops him from sleeping with Bertilak’s wife, only until his finds a way to avoid death does he goes against them. What Gawain learns from the green knight’s challenge is that instinctively he is just a human who is concerned with his own life over anything else. Chivalry does provide a valuable set of rules and ideals toward which one to strive for, but a person must remain aware of their own mortality and weaknesses. Sir Gawain’s flinching at the green knight’s swinging ax, his time in the woods using animal nature requiring him to seek shelter to survive and his finally accepting the wife’s gift of the girdle teaches him that though he may be the most chivalrous knight in the land, he is nevertheless human and capable of error.
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain humbly approaches the King and courageously says, “For I find it not fit… when such a boon is begged… though you be tempted… to take in on yourself while so bold men about upon benches sit” (122-125) “And for that this folly befits a king, and ‘tis I that have asked it, it ought to be mine” (132-133). He, the weakest Knight, sees the injustice of someone challenging the King and instead of acting passively he willingly sacrifices himself for the King’s sake, which shows his loyalty, courage and integrity. However, Sir Gawain becomes a hypocrite even though the Green Knight says, “Friend mine, it seems your word holds good” (333-334) because the Green Knight’s wife “made trial of a man most faultless by far” (452) and he did not remain loyal and honest. The opportunity of remaining secure and safe presents itself and selfishly he chooses this course of action; consequently, he “lacked… a little in loyalty there” (456). In the end, the Green Knight reprimands him for his dishonesty and lack of integrity and in return Sir Gawain, shamefully responds “I confess, knight, in this place, most dire is my misdeed; let me gain back your good grace…” (Line 474-476) so even though he was not noble and loyal throughout the entire course he remains sincere in his apology. His loyalty to the King in the
The fact that he is willing to hold to his stated word is evidence enough that he has good ethics. After Gawain accepts the challenge of the Green Knight he promises to let the Knight perform the challenge to himself. Gawain also has respect for women and their wishes. Gawain’s respect is indicated by the immediate response of Gawain to kiss the lady of the castle after she comes in to greet Gawain for the first time. Gawain’s action stems from the lady’s statement, "So true a knight as Gawain is holden, and one so perfect in courtesy, would never have tarried so long with a lady but he would of his courtesy have craved a kiss at parting." The meaning of this quotation is if this man in the bed were truly the noble knight Sir Gawain, he would not have taken as long as he did to kiss the master of the castle’s wife. A few other examples from the ethics of Sir Gawain are the three promises or instances of gift exchanges with the lord of the castle. For the most part, Gawain holds to his word and gives to the castle lord that which he, Gawain, had received each day. The one instance that he breaks his code of ethics occurs when he exchanges the third gift of three kisses with the host, when in all actuality he had been given a girdle by the lady of the castle to aid him in his encounter with the Green
Chivalry began in the 12th century in the form of a knightly code of conduct,
Another trait of Gawain that is tested in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is his loyalty. While in search of the Green Chapel where he must face the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is tested by the lady of the castle he is lodging at. The lady tries to seduce Gawain, but he does not fall into her trap by sleeping with her. Instead, Sir Gawain remains loyal to the lord of the castle whom he has promised to be honest with, and the lady describes him as the "noblest knight alive.
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
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight fit in with the concept of a romance; it has all the elements that would make one consider the text as so. The tale holds adventure, magic, a quest and an unexpected reality check that even those who are considered “perfect” are also just humans. The author used this story as a way of revealing faults in some of the aspects of knighthood through the use of intertwining chivalric duty with natural human acts; thus showing to be perfectly chivalrous would be inhuman.
The chivalric code is a very complex, and perhaps somewhat foreign concept to a modern person. There are many rules and taboos that a knight must obey. Indeed, the very concepts of honor, love, and humility have been raised to the highest conceivable power, making it almost impossible for a mortal to become a true, perfect knight. Sir Gawain, in the passage [Norton, 1535-1622] of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, proves himself to be an ideal symbol of chivalry. One of the symbols of knighthood is a lady of knight's heart; knight's behavior with ladies is important in general, and Sir Gawain behaves as a true knight with the hostess of the castle. Another important side of being a knight includes the skill of carving an animal, and that is also described in the passage.
Sir gawain was gallant when he faces the green knight's challenge, when though he thought he might die. This is a perfect example of chivalry, because he faced his fear, and accepted a knight's challenge when nobody else would. Sir Gawain also showed virtue when he resisted the advances of the king’s wife, who tried to get him into bed for three nights. This is a great example of chivalry, because a chivalrous knight is supposed to respect the marital bond between a king and queen, which gawain did. One example of his shortcomings of chivalry could be when he tried to take the magical sash to protect himself from the green
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.
Sir Gawain, in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight written by an unknown author in the late 14th century, is a chivalrous knight because he stays in line of the code of chivalry and stays true to not only his king, but all kings. In the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Green Knight challenges the temerity of Sir Gawain’s kingdom. The king of the kingdom stands up for his castle to challenge the Knight, consequently, Sir Gawain steps in his place to save the kingdom and serve the king. Sir Gawain exemplifies the code of chivalry with this duty, among other duties performed along the way. He shows the utmost loyalty to the kings, the prowess of a bull, and an immeasurable amount of courtesy all directly following the guidelines on how chivalry is defined.
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).
In the early fourteenth century, knighthood represented respect and success for brave young men, and chivalry’s codes were necessary for those young men to uphold. In the book Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the author constructs the young Sir Gawain by testing his character. These trials, given by the Green Knight, challenge Sir Gawain 's loyalty and bravery to people’s astonishment Sir Gawain 's achievement is muddled. During the test he breaks his promise and takes away the green girdle that he supposes to exchange with Bertilak just likes his bargain.
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 ... ... middle of paper ... ...