Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Character Analysis

A hero is a character, who is endowed with great courage and strength. A hero’s character is portrayed as a noble, gallant, and even infallible human being, who is close to perfection but for a fatal flaw. In medieval Europe, chivalry, loyalty, faith, and honor were very important characteristics traits thus a medieval hero usually adheres to a strict code of knightly conduct, which requires his absolute loyalty to his king, refusal to break his oaths, and the defense of the helpless. The hero is on a journey of self-discovery and while on this journey he faces many challenges that he must endure in order to prevail.

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is faced with the challenge of the Green Knight. The Green Knight appears in

First, he accepts the challenge of the Green Knight when nobody else will except for Arthur himself. He travels to the Green Knight even though he is facing certain death and honors his oath. When preparing for his journey he has the face of the Virgin Mary in the inner part of his shield so “that when his look on it lighted, he never lost heart”. While at the Lord 's home, he does not lie about his kisses with the wife, but instead returns them as promised to the Lord. He courtly denies the lady of the manor, sexual advances without hurting her feelings. Refuses her expensive gifts which he cannot repay, “Before God, good lady, I forgo all gifts; none I have I to offer, nor any will I take”. Yet he accepts the green girdle because he believes it will save him from the Green Knight. She says, “For the man that possesses this piece of silk… there is no hand under heaven that could hew him down”. His greatest foe ultimately turns out to be himself not the green knight. His fear of death leads him to accept the green girdle from the lady and conceal the truth from the lord of the manor, thus losing his faith in God. That single flaw it’s his fatal flaw but Sir Gawain repents and wears the girdle as reminder of his

During the middle ages, Christian knight were idealized heroes who were nearly characterized as perfect but here the main character has many flaws and makes many mistakes. Lazaro is born in a river; his father worked in a mill and was accused of stealing which is a contrast to Sir Gawain, noble status who was a knight and the nephew of King Arthur. Lazaro, goal is to gain a higher status but to do so he has to use illegitimate procedures like cons and lies whereas Sir Gawain is of noble status and focus on faith, chivalry and honor. Lazaro has no loyalty to any of his masters “He gave me the first shoes I ever wore out in my life; but they didn’t last me a week, and I couldn’t keep up with his gadding about. For that reason, and for a few other trifling matters, I left him”. Gawain put his life in danger to protect King Arthur, and his own honor. Lazaro lacks honor and pride he just wants material comfort, he constantly steals from his masters because he says his hungry and constantly con people for food “ With a weak, sick voice and my hands resting on my breast, with God before my eyes and His name on my tongue, I started to beg bread at