The three ideas of chivalry are respect, integrity, and honor. First of all, the knights are always respectful of the people around them. They have the kindest words towards, people. The knights are also protective of the citizens in Camelot, as shown in the movie. The respect that the knights have for their country is like the men at war,
Knights have always fascinated people with their daring deeds and good manners. In the Pearl Poet’s “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” the Green Knight arrives at King Arthur’s castle to Challenge his Knights, but no one accepts the challenge until finally, Arthur stands up. Eventually, Sir Gawain accepts the challenge and has his reputation challenged along the way. When Sir Gawain became a knight, he promised to live by the Code of Chivalry just like I live my life by a set of rules. My code of honor shares similarities with the Code of Chivalry.
Chivalric romances are often centered upon the efforts of gallant knights seeking to achieve a concept known as “true knighthood” which involves embarking on quests or adventures to obtain honor, love, and Christian virtue. The brave knights of these stories are met with many obstacles to overcome, commonly in regards to rescuing or protecting a lady. In other words, the typical role of women in this period is that of the damsel in distress or a helpless, dependent lady in need of a hero. However, the stories of Chrétien de Troyes’ Yvain, the Knight of the Lion and Friedrich Heinrich Karl La Motte-Fouqué’s The Magic Ring strays from the typical role of women as the damsel in distress.
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the theme is based on integrity, all of which is categorized in a romance. Knights are judged by their behavior and also by the code of chivalry. In this poem, King Arthur and his knights are challenged. The chivalry of King Arthur’s court is challenged by the Green Knight” however, in embarrassment of his fellow men King Arthur takes on the challenge himself only for Sir Gawain, his nephew, to take him on instead as he claims he has nothing to lose. To put it differently, Gawain’s integrity was challenged.
“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” was chosen for this research paper because this anonymous poem has a very powerful effect to the modern world of today. Even though it was written so many years ago, the themes, motifs, and historical context that are used throughout are seen in many of the works that are currently being written. This seems to be the first poem that used universal themes and motifs that can be translated and used in modern day poetries and stories. An amazing part of this anonymous poem is that it went on to inspire other stories and historically motivated many other tales in Early British writing. This paper will go on to explore all of the themes, motifs, and historical influences that were created.
During the Medieval times chivalry was one of the most important characteristics a knight could display. Chivalry was viewed as a moral obligation that involved bravery, honor, respect, and gallantry. Knights were expected to uphold this code or face social consequences for any infractions, with punishments ranging from humiliation to termination of their knighthood. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” presents the struggles knights faced with honoring the chivalrous code at all times. Sir Gawain, while imperfect, exhibits qualities expected of knights and embodies the internal struggle between honoring the chivalrous code and giving into selfish desires.
Sir Gawain succeeded in upholding his virtues and the Chivalric Code countless times throughout the story. One of the earliest signs of chivalry Sir Gawain shows can be seen at King Arthur’s court, where the Green Knight first appeared before the Knights and challenged them to a game. Sir Gawain shows courage by bravely accepting the challenge, but he also shows humility by praising the other knights and degrading himself by saying, “I am the weakest, I know, and the feeblest of wit, and to tell the truth, there would be the least loss in my life.” (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl Poet, pg. 8)
The lines 1550-1553 from the Pearl poets epic Sir Gawain and the Green Knight epitomizes two of the most important virtues of a noble knight, and Sir Gawain, the man the story follows, defines what is a true knight. He holds a place next to King Arthur and the queen as well as exemplifying two of a knights most important virtues. The first being chastity and the second being courteousness, both however, are very much entwined in this tale. Throughout this epic and many other Arthurian legends praised these traits in the knight and as we shall see, Sir Gawain although still very much human, is a master of both. The virtue of chastity is extremely important in Arthurian legend and we can see this from examining Gawain’s shield.
Cornelius’ “The Hero’s Journey”, many events throughout Gawain’s quest show that it is simply not realistic for a knight to meet the standards set by chivalry. Cornelius suggests that a large problem of chivalric code is that it gives a knight a very self-judging mindset. Gawain feels a lack of internal fulfillment after not telling the knight about the green girdle. This shows that the expectations of the code of chivalry is so high, that knights expect too much of themselves.
Sir Gawain and The Green Knight and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales are two pieces of British literature that are incredibly interesting and thorough. Women play important roles in both of the texts. Throughout Sir Gawain and The Green Knight there are several important females present. The women being Guinevere for a short period of time, Lady Bertilak, and Morgan Le Fay. Guinevere is presented at the beginning of the text before The Green Knight barges into the castle, and is presented as the standard of beauty.
The knight is angry and disgusted with his new wife whom he only sees as " ugly, elderly, and poor” (Chaucer. 1063). The knight has practically barred himself from being happy with her because of his close-minded, unchanged generalization and the wife is upset because of her judgmental, single-minded
(Chaucer 45-60). Chaucer gives the knight genuine praise to show the virtuous qualities he possesses. Similarly, Chaucer uses the knight in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” to show the importance of honor. The knight shows honor when he promises the queen that he will find what women most desire, “In the end he chose to go away / And to return after a year and a day / Armed with such answer / As there might be sent to him by god” (Chaucer, 91-94).
In Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, the characteristics of the ideal knight is represented by King Arthur’s court. However, it will be challenged by The Green Knight as well as Bertilak’s court. Sir Gawain would reach a new understanding that ideals would eventually remain as ideals and that he is human, therefore it is perfectly fine to feel weak. The clashes between religion and chivalry that defines the ideal knight in King Arthur’s court.
A valiant knight who rides his noble steed while a damsel dreams for the one who will rescue her. This plot which continually inspired modern works started during the medieval era and was known as the courtly love. Many historians have analyzed how the courtly love ideal was formed. From the several factors that could have influenced the creation of this ideal, this essay presents how courtly love was a product of the sociological aspects but not the religious aspects of medieval culture. The different sociological factors surrounding medieval society helped form the idea of courtly love.
The ideas of Chivalry was expressed through out all sorts of different literary works, such as songs, poems, and more. The Two stories of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Morte D’Arthur express some of the ideas of Chivalry. The first Chivalry idea that is seen in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the loyalty of Sir Gawain. Gawain on his way to fight the green knight, stays the night with a lord and his lady.
