Although the idea of whether Sir Gawain and the Green Knight reinforces the idea of chivalry and encourages its readers to follow that noble path, or points out all of the negatives and flaws in the ideology, I believe that the purpose of this text is to show that although we may never be perfect or ideal, we should still strive for that. The poem shows us on many occasions the great people the knights are, even though they are not picturesque and perfect, much like ordinary life. They are portrayed in a morally upstanding and glamorous way, without ever making them seem to perfect, which is something that no ordinary reader would ever be able to accomplish. Gawain on many occasions chooses the ‘knightly’ road instead of the road that many others would have …show more content…
taken. This, and other instances leaves me to believe that the entire poem is telling us that we can strive for perfection, even if we may not necessarily reach it. In the fist scene where we meet Arthur and his knights, they are seen partying and dancing during a fifteen day long party. “Then rode to the court for dancing and song. For there the festival lasted the whole fifteen days. With all the feasting and merry-making that could be devised (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 138, ll. 43-45).” Although not the stereotypical activity of knights, it does not violate any of their core tenants. Some actions of Arthur and some others even exemplify what chivalry is. “But Arthur would not eat until everyone was served. He was so lively in his youth, and a little boyish (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 139, ll. 85-86).” Here he is seen being courteous to all others, even though he is the king and could very well eat whenever he pleases. Instead he chooses to wait for everyone else, leading by example as opposed to simply claiming one thing and doing another. The scene between the Gawain, The Green Knight and the rest of Arthur’s knights where the Green Knight issues his challenge and Gawain accepts is also a prime example of chivalrous characteristics.
Although Arthur’s knights are initially reluctant to come forward and accept the Green Knight’s challenge, Gawain eventually comes forward; “Said Gawain to the king, ‘If you would, noble lord, bid me rise from my seat and stand at your side (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 145, ll. 343-344).” Gawain again shows chivalrous characteristics by being both courteous and honorable. He courteously comes forward to accept Arthur’s place, seeing as how he is the king. Also he steps forward to defend the honor of all the knights present. As the Green Knight was tarnishing it during his entrance speech. He then expresses the utmost humility while coming forward: “ I am the weakest of them, I know, and the dullest-minded, So my death would be least loss, if truth should be told; (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 146, ll. 354-355).” Even though he was the only one to step forward and take up the Green Knights challenge, he still refuses to give himself any sort of special credit, even though he may deserve it for being so
brave. The way the text describes Gawain as he prepares to leave to find the Green Knight and fulfill his vow is a direct representation of Gawain’s morals and character as it actually is, and not an attempt to point out his flaws. As Gawain is getting dressed in his armor before his departure the text makes an effort to describe him as morally pure as possible. “Gawain was reputed as virtuous, like refined gold, Devoid of all vice, and with all courtly virtues adorned (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 152, ll. 633- 635).” The text makes a direct effort the draw the comparison between the refined gold, which naturally implies flawlessness and purity, and the content of Gawain’s character, described as “devoid of vice (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 152, ll. 633-635)”. Gawain is seen as one of the premier models of what one of Arthur’s knights should be, as he is adorned with all of their courtly virtues. This is significant because although Gawain initially presented himself towards the beginning of the text very humbly, in these lines we are shown that he is more than he gives himself credit. Gawain’s character is continuously praised by the text as being somewhere near flawless, even though he is tested as the poem moves on. Not only is he devoid of vice, but “was generosity and love of fellow-men above all; His purity and courtesy were never lacking (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 153, ll. 652-653).” Gawain’s dress and character are described as such, not to show that he is not worthy of the praise bestowed upon him, but that he is a great man who does as best as he can. Although his actions with the Green Knights wife and his failure to follow through with his pledge can be interpreted as a moral failure, he does many would do, morally pure or not. Clearly the Green Knight is satisfied with his performance, as he lets him leave with only a cut, when he would have been fully within his rights to behead him. The purpose of the story of Gawain and the Green Knight is not to paint Gawain or chivalry in general in a negative light, but to instead highlight how we can use the ideals of chivalry to make ourselves more upstanding people, even while making mistakes along the way.
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...
. Based on the unit, we learned that when you begin to imagine how your characters will look and how they will act, there are two important approaches to remember. Please name and briefly define these approaches. Direct characterization and indirect characterization are two approaches to remember. Direct characterization-
In the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Poet Pearl, Sir Gawain, knight of the Round Table, acts chivalrously, yet his intents are insincere and selfish. It is the advent season in Middle Age Camelot, ruled by King Arthur when Poet Pearl begins the story. In this era citizens valued morals and expected them to be demonstrated, especially by the highly respected Knights of the Round Table. As one of Arthur’s knights, Sir Gawain commits to behaving perfectly chivalrous; however, Gawain falls short of this promise. Yes, he acts properly, but he is not genuine. The way one behaves is not enough to categorize him as moral; one must also be sincere in thought. Gawain desires to be valued as
Deception is one of mankind’s most versatile and powerful tools and is used nearly every day for both evil and good. Whether it be deceiving an army in battle or using exaggerations and myths to teach a child right from wrong, deceit allows one to advance his selfish or selfless intentions by providing them a source of influence on others. Such deception is evident throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight—the host’s wife’s dishonesty in particular—as it helps to spur the plot of the poem. Lady Bertilak’s purposeful deception of Gawain has questionable motives that highlight the theme of human imperfection and susceptibility to temptation.
It is easy to read _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_ as a romantic celebration of chivalry, but Ruth Hamilton believes that "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight contains a more wide-ranging, more serious criticism of chivalry than has heretofore been noticed" (113). Specifically, she feels that the poet is showing Gawain's reliance on chivalry's outside form and substance at the expense of the original values of the Christian religion from which it sprang. As she shows, "the first order of knights were monastic ones, who took vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity. The first duties th...
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 self 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 least of any" (Sir Gawain, l. 354-355). To continue on testing a knight that does not seem worthy certainly will not result in much of a story, or in establishing a theme. Through the use of symbols, the author of Sir Gawain is able to show that Gawain possesses the necessary attributes to make him worthy of being tested. He also uses symbols throughout the tests of each individual attribute, and in revealing where Gawain’s fault lies. The effective use of these symbols enables the author to integrate the test of each individual attribute into a central theme, or rather one overall test, the test of chivalry.
Sir Gawain is presented as a noble knight who is the epitome of chivalry; he is loyal, honest and above all, courteous. He is the perfect knight; he is so recognised by the various characters in the story and, for all his modesty, implicitly in his view of himself. To the others his greatest qualities are his knightly courtesy and his success in battle. To Gawain these are important, but he seems to set an even higher value on his courage and integrity, the two central pillars of his manhood.
Honor, or reputation, is something that humans have been worried about throughout history, albeit some people more than others. Although bringing dishonor on someone’s name or family seemed to have more repercussions back in the older day, it is still something that people try to avoid doing. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (the author is unknown but referred to as the Pearl Poet) honor was an important factor as well. The story tells of a knight named Sir Gawain who has been challenged to a beheading game by a mysterious green knight. In this day and age, most people would just blow of the green knight as crazy and not even care about their honor as long as they could keep their lives. However, the knight is honor bound and takes the challenge;
Initially, Gawain’s strongest trait is humility, Beowulf’s is pride. In the beginning of Gawain and the Green Knight, a mysterious warrior enters King Arthur’s court to extend a challenge. Although he knows others in the court would handle the challenge better than him, out of respect, when King Arthur attempts to accept the challenge Gawain comes forth and suggests he takes his place. Gawain presents himself as “the weakest of them, I know, and the dullest-minded/ so my death would be least loss, if truth should be told/ only because you are my uncle am I to be praised/ no virtue I know in myself but your blood” (Broadview Analogy 269). Instead of bragging about his bravery, Gawain acts modestly and states that his death would be of little loss during this challenge. He is not self-absorbed and gives off the impression that the only reason he is a knight is because of his relation with King Arthur. By stating this, he gives off the impression that his self confidence is quite weak; this is astonishing for a character of this era. Although King Arthur has at least one of his knights to be proud of, it seems as though
When considering what is at stake when Sir Gawain accepts this gift from the Baron’s lady, you have to understand Gawain’s world is strictly based on codes of behavior. Chivalry is what guides his actions and also the way he behaves. This affects not only him but any man because one man’s honor affects a whole nation. This is the whole reason he kept his word and went on the quest to, what he thought, his death. When accepting the girdle, he was trusted to tell Bertilak the next day but kept it a secret. In his head, he wanted to keep to his honest ways. When you have something that could possibly save your life right in front of our face then it is very hard not to accept this no matter what the cost. What do you have to lose? Gawain’s pride and greed struck his spirit and it tore his self-confidence. The game was all a scheme to prove the honesty of Gawain. How you look at the outcome is what decides who the victor of the challenge was. Gawain is the winner if his life was the prize but in his own eyes he was the loser. He was a man of honor and valor, and to go against his chivalrous ways was a shame and a sign that he was a coward. Because of the failure, he promised to wear the girdle as a reminder of his weakness. Accepting the girdle put his honor and pride at risk though it gave him certain life. This could be counted as the climax because everything after he takes the girdle is an effect.
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.
...eas in one symbol is critical to the theme of morality and overall meaning of the poem, because it comments on the nature of morality and what moral behavior for a knight really is. Even court life need not be washed completely of human sin and the natural instincts all animals rely on, for being godly, as Gawain is, should not be viewed as the primary characteristic of being moral. There should be a balance between humanity and godliness, similar to Aristotle's idea of a golden mean, that all these knights seek. By showing that knights should achieve this balance, the author extends his message to the common people, who looked to knights as role models of morality. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight challenges the contemporary ideals of morality, presenting instead a golden mean that the common people would not have associated with their knightly role models before.
Though chivalry may have been a driving force during the time of King Arthur, much has changed since then. Chivalry was created as a structure to guide the lives of medieval knights, and it worked well for them. However, it has become an antiquated idea that only exists in relationships, and even today has started to melt away. While honor and chivalry were a driving force for King Arthur and The Knights of the Round Table, it has become an antiquated and unused idea today.
Defined as an agreement between two or more parties, a covenant represents a formal and binding obligation.
During the middle ages, chastity was well known issue passed down from the earlier concepts of Anglo-Saxon England. The religion of Christianity was a big part of their everyday lifestyle, it influenced their actions, thoughts, and beliefs. Men and women who practiced chastity were thought to be virtuous people who followed the steps of Christ and the Virgin Mary. It is through the christian church that these ideas were impose on society to follow. Sexual denial demonstrated their commitment to christianity specially for women because