Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Chivalric Code Essay

The Medieval poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, presents a denunciation of changes to the chivalric code which could lead to its destruction. By comparing Lady Bertilak (the archetype of depravity and lust) to the Virgin Mary (the archetype of chastity and purity), the Gawain poet points out the incompatibility between spiritual love and the courtly love which had undermined the values behind chivalry. In its essential nature, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a warning to its aristocratic readers that fraternizing with women must be forbidden so as to avert destruction of their way of life.

At first, the force which bound chivalry together was love, also called “caritas” or “charity.”1 All of scripture taught the importance of love in

this sense. Distinguished from the spiritual sense of love was the worldly sense of love, “amor.” “Amor” was the love of earthly things – things which were tenuous and short-lived.2 Despite these drawbacks, possessions were pursued during the Middle Ages, as was romantic love. The pursuit of romantic love was often referred to as “courtly” love.
Courtly love was the knightly worship of an ideal embodied by his beloved. For the most part, it was expressed in terms that were feudal and religious. Just as a vassal was supposed to obey his lord, so a knight was supposed to obey his lady. Courtly love began in the eleventh century and spread throughout Europe during the twelfth century.3 Given the Church's wariness towards the flesh, a number of writings show the divide between chivalry and the Church at that time.
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the conflict between spiritual and courtly love is underscored by the Virgin Mary. Mary is unique among women. She is the model of female behavior, representing subservience to God. She is untarnished by sexuality, which, at the time, was considered the root of evil in the Church. The fact that Gawain is Mary's knight is apparent as he dresses for battle. Mary is represented as one of the points of the pentangle, through the five pure Joys, and her visage is “etched on the inside of his armoured shield.”
It is important to note that Gawain's prowess “all depend[s] on the five . . . Joys / That the holy Queen of Heaven had of her child.” As long as Gawain is facing the trials which stem from his bargain with the Green Knight, his courage holds. During his travels, Gawain is beleaguered by hardships. He “ha[s] death-struggles with dragons . . . [and] battle[s] with bulls and bears and boars.” In “peril and pain,” he entreats Mary to find him shelter. She answers his prayer by showing him the way to Bertilak's court.
When Gawain comes to Bertilak's court he finds himself in a different world. In Arthur's court, Guinevere sits on a platform, taciturn and silent. In Bertilak's court, Lady Bertilak is a temptress testing the limits of Gawain's chastity and courtesy. At one point, she “presse[s] him so hotly” that the conflict is clear: “He was concerned for his courtesy . . . / But more . . . for his . . . plight if he should plunge into sin.”
Gawain knows that chastity takes precedence over courtesy. However, he is having a hard time balancing the two. As the Gawain poet points out, “peril would have impended/ had Mary not minded her knight.” Although Mary, representing his spiritual love and faith, saves him from losing his chastity, Gawain disavows her. When Lady Bertilak demands if he has another love, Gawain cops out, saying, “'I owe my oath to none.'” His faith in Mary has been lost in the bargaining.
The result is Gawain's ruination. It was his fidelity to Mary which gave him prowess and courage. With a weakening of his faith in her – which can be seen as a weakening of his spiritual faith, as well – he accepts Lady Bertilak's green girdle. He forfeits the pentangle linked to the Virgin Mary and adopts the girdle linked to the Lady.
There are further problems to be gleaned. The pentangle is an “endless knot,” and as such, it is impenetrable. But the girdle is not endless. It needs to be fastened and unfastened. In the words of Marina Warner, “loosed, the girdle gives promise; fastened, it denies.”4 In other words, Gawain is giving up the pentangle, a symbol that protects, for a symbol that can be undone and make Gawain fall into sins other than the loss of his chastity.
Seen in this light, Gawain's acceptance of the girdle undermines the values behind chivalry.

When he takes the girdle, he breaks his oath to Lord Bertilak. He prioritizes his wishes over the Lord's. Here, the Gawain poet makes his strongest point – romantic love will unwind the bonds which hold the chivalric code together. Only the religious values from which chivalry arose can provide an adequate support. Caritas and amor are antagonists.

The tension between courtly love and spiritual love is emphasized during the final encounter between Gawain and the Green Knight. The reader sees that Gawain's fate rested on his loyalty to Lord Bertilak. After Bertilak reveals the meaning of the test, he tells Gawain: “Your conduct and your kissings are completely known to me.” He also reveals that he had instructed Lady Bertilak to try him.

This is not the end of the message. While Gawain has learned about the drawbacks of courtly love, the other knights of the Round Table have not. They “laugh loudly” and embrace the girdle, concluding that “each brave man . . . should wear a baldric.” Since Arthur and his knights have not learned about the dangers of courtly love, they will be defeated. The tale becomes a caution, not for Gawain or for Arthur's court, but for the reader, who knows what will befall Arthur's court. By the time Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written, the fall of Camelot was a popular part of the

lore.
This is underscored by references to “the siege and the assault” at Troy. According to legend, Paris gave Aphrodite the apple of discord. She, in turn, gave him Helen of Sparta and her girdle. In time, Arthur's court will face the fate of Troy. It will be annihilated by the discord caused by the desire to possess the most beautiful woman. The message is clear. For the chivalric code to remain strong, fraternizing with women, in the name of courtly love, must be banished.