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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay
The code of chivalry in sir Gawain and the green knight
Sir gawain and the green knight critical essay
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In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain is expected to live by the chivalric code. Despite having the expectation, Gawain slowly begins to break this code. It is ironic because the whole quest that he is going on is to acknowledge the chivalric code he has. He is sent as the bravest knight in the kingdom. He goes to show the courage in the code. He does not want his kingdom to be acknowledged as cowardly. He breaks the code of honesty when he lies to the king. He did not remain loyal to his kingdom, nor to himself when he accepted the belt and when he uses the belt to save his own life, he abandons the concept of courage. While he may have broken certain aspects of the code, he did stick by some. He remained with the generosity of the code and with the faith in the Virgin Mary. …show more content…
He says no to all of them, but when he is given the option to possibly save his life, he considers it. Gawain is aware that it would break the chivalric code to accept this. He would accept it and in the terms of the agreement, Gawain was to relinquish everything that was given to him. When he was informed that this belt could save his life, he became intrigued. His instinct to save his own life overruled the rules of chivalry. He accepted the belt and when the end of the day came and the king gave up his offerings, Gawain lied to him. He kept the girdle a secret because he knew that if he were to tell the king about it, he would need to give it up and lose the chance to easily save his own life. He knew he was going to die. Gawain had nothing to lose. Because he accepted this gift and lied to the king, he broke the code of
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain shows qualities of a chivalrous knight. He demonstrates that by showing generosity, courtesy, and loyalty during his travels. 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 cho...
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
Despite being a knight, Sir Gawain sinned. He was greedy. He accepted a woman’s girdle because it would literally save his neck in the covenant he had with the Green Giant. The woman’s girdle was magical and saved people from every thrust or strike they would endure. Sir Gawain learned his lesson through all the guilt he feels when he was caught. Moreover, when Sir Gawain says, “Dread of the death blow and cowardly doubts meant I gave into greed, and in doing so forgot the freedom and fidelity every knight knows to follow,” (“Sir Gawain” 235). Even though Sir Gawain was a noble knight he still sinned against the knightly code and also against the Ten Commandments.
...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.
The guide pleads to Gawain that he will surely be killed if he continues on his mission and he tells Gawain to just leave and ride off in some other country rather than be killed (121). Gawain reaveals to us, yet again, his chivalry when he says that he would face his destiny rather than be a disgrace (121). When Gawain finally reaches the chapel of the Green Knight he is met with a roar. The Green Knight proceeds to play games with Gawain in an attempt to test his bravery and chivalry (127-128). The fact that Gawain did not retreat and run after several attempts were faked reveals how honorable Gawain was.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – A Test of Chivalry Essay with Outline: Loyalty, courage, honor, purity, and courtesy are all attributes of a knight that displays chivalry. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is truly a story of the test of these attributes. In order to have a true test of these attributes, there must first be a knight worthy of being tested, meaning that the knight must possess chivalric attributes to begin with. Sir Gawain is admittedly not the best knight around. He says "I am the weakest, well I know, and of wit feeblest; / and the loss of my life [will] be the least of any" (Sir Gawain, l. 354-355).
As a result, he learns an essential, inescapable fact about himself and human nature - there is no shame in being imperfect. The true test of Gawain's bravery was to bare his neck to the Green Knight and finish their trading of blows. Even with his 'magic' girdle, Gawain flinched the first time. The second and third times he was able to hold steady and accept fate. After the ordeal the Green Knight ridiculed him for his weakness and fear.
Yet, Gawain did err in accepting the girdle; that much cannot be denied. We, the reader, can forgive him since he repents fully, even going so far as to impose penance (of wearing the girdle eternally as a mark of his fall) on himself. It takes a mild rebuke by the Green Knight to crack Gawain’s façade of confident valor. His conscience compels him to break down when confronted by his host as to his indiscretion. However, this happened only when the host had revealed himself to be the same as the Green Knight. We realize that Gawain had previously perceived in Sir Bertilak an equal in knighthood; thus his ease in deceiving him in the exchange of winnings game. When Gawain realizes he was the subject of a test, he sees Bertilak/Green Knight in a different light. The Green Knight now becomes Gawain’s confessor and in doing so assumes a fatherly role.
...Gawain’s time in the wilderness, living nature, and his acceptance of the lady’s offering of the green girdle teach him that though he may be the most chivalrous knight in the land, he is nevertheless human and capable of error.
Gawain’s acceptance of Lady Bertilak’s girdle causes him to progressively lose himself internally in order to save his physical life. Gawain appears to be the perfect image of a knight, who exhibits himself as worthy and noble when he accepts the Green Knight’s challenge. Known to be “honored all over the world,” his remarkable valor and devout behavior define his character. He loses his honorable reputation, though, when he disrespects the honor of King Bertilak. Disgracing his knightly code, Gawain fails to exchange all of his gifts with the king and lies, without hesitation, to the king when he claims that “what [he] owed [King Bertilak] [he has] paid [King Bertilak]” (1941). Gawain directly lies to him without hesitation, proving that his conscience does not seem to be effecting his actions. Lying is a common action, but generally, it causes us to feel remorseful and guilty over our wrongs. Gawain breaks the code of chivalry that requires a knight to be loyal and honest, but he is not regretful due to his apparent selfish nature (“Code of Chivalry, 2 and 15”). He makes a deal with the king to “[trade] profit for profit,” yet he dishonestly “[hides] [Lady Bertilak’s] love gift” rather than honoring the king’s wishes (1677, 1874). Gawain makes a promise that he fails to fulfill. The girdle drives him to destruction because it pulls him away from what he knows to be good and
Sir Gawain was heroic in seeking out the Green Knight to finish the challenge that was brought to King Arthur’s men. “Said Gawain, ‘Strike once more; /I shall neither flinch nor flee; /But if my head falls to the floor /There is no mending me!’” (lns. 2280-2283) There was no physical power that forced Sir Gawain to keep true to his word. Gawain sought out the Green Knight, just as he had promised, and was now about to receive the blow that would send him to his death. This quote shows that Sir Gawain was ready to be dealt his fate, and that he knew there was no way for him to survive as the Green Knight had done earlier in the poem. This shows a very human side to Sir Gawain as he appears somewhat afraid of death, but ready to face it nonetheless. It is this willingness and readiness to accept death at the hand of the Green Knight that makes Sir Gawain a...
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
Gawain stands firm in his faith in the holy Mary, which is inside his shield, but he has weakness like every men. According to Mulburin, the book Isaiah 40.30: " Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall" ( ) Therefore, Gawain is a handsome young who sought after by another man 's wife. He endured the temptation by lady Bertilak to stay strong his faith, but becomes weary as time was coming near to face the Green Knight. Gawain becomes weaken in his faith when he starter to value his life, which goes against the Knightly Code. He put aside his faith in the Holy Mary when Lady Bertilak handed him green belt, she told him" through went on to beg him not to whisper a word of this gift to her husband, and Gawain agreed" ( Gawain 1862-1863). Gawain 's sins ,when he kept the green belt from Bertilak. He was told whatever I win in the forest it is yours and whatever my wife gives while I 'm gone, it will be returned back to me. (Gawain 1106-1107). Gawain failed to keep his bond as knight should, which goes against his virtues as
After reading through the piece of literature Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one will realize there are many elements present throughout that could be analyzed such as humility, chastity, and courage. It could be interpreted that the author meant for the main theme of the writing to be a theme of chastity. Although the element of chastity is present in that Sir Gawain is tested by many sexual temptations, the element of humility is one that is prominent and changing throughout the piece. Humility is apparent throughout the story in the way Sir Gawain displays false humility at the beginning, the way he keeps his humility during his stay at the castle, and the way he is truly learns humility after his challenges with the Green Knight are over.
In almost every example of romantic epics, and definitely every story concerning King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, the characters carefully adhere to a strict code known as the chivalric code.. The five main tenets of chivalric code or in other words the knightly code are: showing courage and bravery, being honest, having honor and being respected among peers, being kind to others, and being courteous and well-mannered especially toward females. Gawain is the very embodiment of these chivalric values but through his encounter with the Green knight and the lady he fails to uphold the code because of its rigidness and strictness.. Violence is the mechanism that Gawain uses to gain his capital which is honor and the upholding of the chivalric code. Even though violence does lead Gawain to respect and honor in the end of the poem Gawain points out how cowardly it is to follow a code that is so strict, that it allows no room for any human mistakes and that he was justified in trying to save his life over his honor.