The author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight gives a story depicting what a perfect knight should be by giving the character of Sir Gawain. The reader sees the challenges he endures and little by little the reader realizes that the mythical idea of a ‘perfect knight’ is not achievable. These tests that are given to Sir Gawain include bravery, honesty, and chastity. These values apply only to the noble knights and had nothing to do with the commoners. Gender roles are also of huge significance in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The author demonstrates to the reader how women and men in those times should were expected to act, with special emphasis on chivalry and courtly love.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’s central theme is based on
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medieval chivalry. Chivalry was an important code of conduct to a knight’s daily life. This code was part of the oaths and vows sworn by the knights. The code included honesty, bravery, loyalty and chastity. Rules of chivalry also include courteous behavior, especially that of men towards women, also known as courtly love. As the story develops, many of these themes are recurring throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Chivalry is often connected with the Christian concept of morality, hence the reason to avoid female contact to be in mind and soul, dedicated to God and Lord. This is also why Sir Gawain feels awkward when the Lady comes to him when he is naked in his bed. He know that as a chivalrous guy he should follow the code of chivalry. You are Part of the code of chivalry was to be an honest knight. It was important to speak the truth at all times and obey those who were in power. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain was an honest knight when he told the truth and obeyed Bertilak. "Truly, God has been gracious to us indeed, in allowing us to receive such a guest as Gawain, whose birth men will happily sit down and celebrate in song. In knowledge of fine manners this man has expertise; I think that those who hear him, will learn what love-talk is." (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight) Since Bertilak has treated Gawain so well, and given him these compliments, he feels he has to keep his promises to him. Even though it was risky for him to give the king the kisses, he stayed true to the agreement. It is difficult for Gawain to both be truthful and courteous, but somehow he is able to be honest with the king and keep his code of honor with his wife. Up until the last gift, Gawain remained an honorable knight, but he realized the impossibility of his situation. He made the choice of keeping his promise with the lady rather than preserving his honor to the king. “Two men may love one woman or two women one man.” This is one of the courtly love rules and even though Gawain could have relied on this to return love to the king’s wife, he chose not to. At the time noble marriages were arranged by the parents to increase their political and financial gain. Often it did not reflect the couples true feelings about each other. While procreation was a spousal duty, romance was usually brought in by outside relations. The situation in the story between the Lady and Sir Gawain is a perfect example of how knights were expected to act with women. In the story, Bertilak’s wife represents the female archetype of the time, disobedience and lust. On the other side is Gawain, the chaste knight who would not succumb to the temptress. This is what Gawain might have thought when the Lady came to him every night. Being attracted to her was tough for Gawain because he tries to keep his chastity and fidelity to king. When the lady provokes him, he does not correspond in the same way but tries to respond in a courtly manner that does not offend her. "For I know well, in truth, that you are Sir Gawain, whom everyone reveres wherever you go; Your good name and courtesy are honorably praised by lords and by ladies and by all folk alive. And since I have under my roof the man everyone loves, I shall spend my time well, while it lasts, with talk." The Lady compliments him on how great he is. “Because like Mary, you see good in everything and everyone,” Gawain compliments her after. During medieval times monks and priests had the Virgin Mary as the ideal love interest, both lover and mother. This is a way of showing her a knight’s chivalry rather than rejecting her affections completely. Like this, Knights in the medieval times, displayed a side of them that was gentle and respectful with all women. As a knight it is expected of you to use language to court women, respect them and refrain from offending them. So in the story, Gawain also embodies these aspects of a knight when he is with the lady. Chivalry often meant a Christian concept of morality which meant promotion of spiritual ideas and purity, hence, the reason for a knight to be chaste. Knights were supposed to, among other things, follow the vow of chastity. This meant that some even slept in their regular clothes. Even though, most knights were connected to church they often exhibited pagan symbols in their armor. Sir Gawain is given a battle shield with a pentangle on it. The pentangle represents the five virtues of knighthood and one of them is chastity. “If a daughter of a merchant adheres to her devotion to church and chastity, she was worthy of a nobleman’s love.” (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight) Bravery and honor are qualities that set a knight apart from the commoners.
The knight would defend his castle and king till the last breathe. The knights practiced their bravery by participating in tournaments, hunting and of course wars. "If you are as courageous as everyone says, you will graciously grant me the game that I ask for, by right." The Green Knight questions the King’s reputation for prestigious bravery and if he refuses that reputation will go in jeopardy. In the beginning of the story when the Green Knight first comes into King Arthur’s hall and presents the challenge, King Arthur accepts it because none of his knights would. The true knight should not fear pain or death, he should place his own body in danger for the sake of his Lord. During this scene the knights are lacking their bravery and loyalty to their king. And although in medieval times it was expected to follow these duties, in this story, these knights were cowards to their honor code. The only knight that was willing to risk his life for the King was Gawain. Even though he was the youngest and least experienced, Gawain new what his duty as a knight was. Part of being brave was to never refuse a challenge from an equal and Gawain showed his loyalty and bravery to the King by doing so. Bravery dealt mainly with how a knight behaved on the battlefield. At the end of Sir Gawain’s journey he faced the Green Knight finally in his chapel and just knelt down because he knew that this was his
fate. “See Gawain that you carry out your promise exactly, and search for me truly, sir, until I am found, as you have sworn in the hall in the hearing of these knights.” Gawain’s reputation would be damaged if he fails to carry out, and his knightly honor would be scarred. Then Green Knight saw in him a real Knight, and spared him. The moral of the story about chivalry is that there is no such things as the 'perfect knight.' Sir Gawain was truly the most perfect, but even he was not. He was perfect in all aspects but even if Sir Gawain was perfect in all ways and his soul was clean and he was a good man, he still had to choose one right thing or the other. He was pure in heart and thats what the Green Knight saw in him, rather than seeing his slip with the Lady and himself. So moral of the story is that there is no perfect knight nor perfect man, but life will put you through tests to see if they are actually at least a good person.
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
All throughout the poem titled Sir Gawain and the Green Knight it simply seems as if it is full of male power and masculinity. Sir Gawain, a knight from King Arthur’s court who steps up and agrees to take the blow from the Green Knight’s axe when he interrupts the holiday feast. The obvious male power of King Arthur, the power and masculinity of the Green Knight to come in and demand that one knight must receive a blow from his axe, and masculinity of Sir Gawain to step up and not only agree to take the blow but to cut off the Green Knight’s head first. The male power and masculinity shining through all three of these male characters mentioned is very prominent. We later meet Lord Bertilak who also shows male power and masculinity through his
The tales of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Lanval offer their readers insight into a common knightly quandary. Gawain and Lanval are both faced with challenges that threaten their ability to protect, uphold, and affirm their very knightliness. The two knights repeatedly see several knightly traits--- each invaluable to the essence of a knight--- brought into conflict. While the knights are glorified in their respective texts, they are faced with impossible dilemmas; in each story, both reader and knight are confronted with the reality that knightly perfection is unattainable: concessions must be made--- bits and pieces of their honor must be sacrificed.
Women were always viewed as weak, dependent, and powerless in the Middle Ages. Not only is it a common view during that time period, but this also is often stereotyped labeled to women today as well. In the romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the hatred of women is portrayed throughout. However, while women are certainly looked down upon, they also are influential to the knights. This romance also portrays how a woman having different characteristics, could change the way she was viewed as well. Although women in the Middle Ages appeared to lack power, the women in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight have a hidden influence over the men and actually drive the action of the medieval romance.
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.
The Green Knight begins to mock the court; and then boldly, King Arthur accepts his challenge. Sir Gawain realizes that this should not be the king’s responsibility for there are others present worthy of the challenge including him. Symbolically, this scene can be seen as a Christian standing up for what he believes in. Gawain says, “I am the weakest, well I know, and of wit feeblest;/ And the loss of my life would be least of any; (354-355). Here, Gawain humbles himself before his lord, just as a Christian should in prayer to God.
“Culture does not make people. People make culture” said Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian writer and educator, in a presentation on feminism in a TedTalk. The culture in which Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written was misogynistic and it shows in the writing of the poem. Medieval cultural misogyny manifests itself in multiple ways in SGGK. This paper will examine the negative relationships between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and gender by discussing: the representation of female characters, gendered violence, and Christianity in the Middle Ages.
Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is an example of medieval misogyny. Throughout Medieval literature, specifically Arthurian legends like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the female characters, Guinevere, the Lady, and Morgan leFay are not portrayed as individuals but social constructs of what a woman should be. Guinevere plays a passive woman, a mere token of Arthur. The Lady is also a tool, but has an added role of temptress and adulteress. Morgan leFay is the ultimate conniving, manipulating, woman. While the three women in this legend have a much more active role than in earlier texts, this role is not a positive one; they are not individuals but are symbols of how men of this time perceive women as passive tokens, adulteresses, and manipulators.
The middle ages were a time period consisting of a prominent code known as chivalry consisting of honor, nobility and demeanor. The most honorable of all were perceived to be the holy knights of the roundtable whose virtue was believed to surmount that of any other peasant. Knights were romanticized figures incapable of doing wrong. However the satire, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight completely shatters that preconceived notion. This story implements elements of fantasy and romance in order to deride the popular ideal of chivalry. One of the most prominent literary elements implemented in this novel is the use of juxtaposition and contrasts. Through the use of contrast and juxtaposition,
The story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight revolves around the knights and their chivalry as well as their romance through courtly love. The era in which this story takes place is male-dominated, where the men are supposed to be brave and honorable. On the other hand, the knight is also to court a lady and to follow her commands. Sir Gawain comes to conflict when he finds himself needing to balance the two by being honorable to chivalry as well as respectful to courtly love.
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.
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 look 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.
Sir Gawain and The Green Knight has prompted scholars to examine and diversely interpret the medieval narrative. One of the underlying questions that has been proposed embodies the analysis of the relationship between Christian and Pagan ideals and how knightly chivalry is influenced by religion during the Arthurian Romance period. It is no mistake that the two varied religious ideals are intertwined throughout the poem due to the nature of classical antiquity. Amidst the overlap between superstitious rituals and Orthodox- Christian beliefs it is clear that Sir Gawain has a sense of personal integrity guided by a moral compass.
The poet describes the Green Knight as “Lightning-like he seemed/And swift to strike and stun. His dreadful blows, men deemed,/Once dealt,meant death was done.”(28) This language suggests the Knight has immense power and can kill someone from one blow. The fact that Gawain out of all the knights in the court stepped up and challenged this beast of a man, speaks to his courage. Another instance in which the Gawain displays bravery is in travelling to the Green Chapel to follow through with the Green Knight’s bet. As he traversed he was “Scaling many cliffs in country unknown.”(48) “,he slept in his armour Night after night among naked rocks,”(48) Armor is very uncomfortable and for Gawain to sleep outside in the cold just to fulfill the bet and potentially seal his fate is an act of heroism. A porter from a nearby castle escorts Gawain to the Green Chapel and makes statements about his grave chances to survive. The porter