Examples Of Christianism In Sir Gawain

In Gawain and the Green Knight, the narration shows a complex level of characteristics of Sir Gawain including what makes him the embodiment of a Christian man and how he 's also very much human. When he juxtaposed to the Green Knight, who 's the symbol of nature and the Pagan ideas, his character is shown through even more. Gawain is the paragon of what a Christian should be. He 's devoutly loyal to God and the Virgin Mary. He also keeps a picture of Mary on his shield to show his love for her, and even prays to her when he 's distressed about his encounter with the Green Knight. Besides being a Christian man, he 's also known to be the most loyal knight to Arthur. As a knight, he 's very concerned with keeping his code of chivalry. He values

The reason behind the five also alludes to his Christian beliefs that goes back to the five wounds of Christ while he 's being crucified. These things make up who Gawain is, but in the narrative it also shows Gawain as only being human. He 's not perfect which differs from many other passages from this time. In most stories before, the characters are made out to be strong and fearless which differs from Gawain, who fears the Green Knight and is scared that he 's destined to die. Gawain is written to be relatable. Gawain is a prime example of what it means to be human. A person can be good, but never perfect. It shows in the story when Gawain goes to Bertilak 's castle, he 's being tested by the Green Knight to see just how noble of a person he is. Through the series of tribulations put on by the Green Knight and the wife, the audience can see that Gawain is a man with human tendencies. Once the hunt for Gawain begins, the readers can see him contradicting himself and his virtues. Once the wife begins to push for a kiss, he first denies her because he must remain chaste, but she 's pushing for it so he can 't be rude. He breaks one virtue to fulfill another. On the third day,

He described to be in all green which symbolizes the Pagans connection to nature which they believe to worship nature. Even the Green Knight 's chapel isn 't the typical chapel. It 's described more as a síd or a fairy mound where the two worlds of normal and the supernatural meet. The role of the Green Knight serves to bring out Gawain 's character and the differences in Christianity and Paganism. The Green Knight forces Gawain to realize his flaws as a man, but when the Green Knight catches him it isn 't a very worthy game because he traps him solely on the means that he lied to Bertilak. He also draws the lines between Christianity and Paganism by showing how the two ideologies from their points of worship. Christianity focus on God only and give thanks to him for the blessings while Pagans worship nature and give credit to the Earth for the blessings that the people receive. The Green Knight 's role is to show the difference not only between Gawain and him but also the two major religions of the time period. In Gawain and the Green Knight, the poet used the narrative to point out how Gawain was the embodiment of what it was to be Christian but also show that he wasn 't perfect. He had his moment of weakness where he doubted God. This also shows how the mortality of man could be man 's biggest downfall because fear for his life