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Examples Of Deception In Sir Gawain

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Deception is common place within our society. Nobody is perfect and more often than not, someone will try cheating to gain an advantage. This is evident especially in the political system, but can even trickle all the way down to something as innocent as stealing a cookie from a cookie jar. The question may arise whether deception is just lying or rather it also includes withholding the truth. In reality, when we withhold the truth from a person, we are altering the view of what is true for that person. Hence we are deceiving them. A perfect example of this would be Gawain, in the text Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Gawain may not be as honorable and truthful as he seems; he selfishly deceives others because he values his life and …show more content…

There are multiple occasions when Gawain is supposed to uphold a promise or deal with someone else, but instead deceives to gain an advantage. One occurrence of this is when he hides a girdle from lord Bertilak of the castle. Gawain takes a girdle from lady Bertilak after she tells him of its magical powers to protect him from danger. They also agree to tell nobody of the gift (page 36). However, Gawain made a deal with lord Bertilak to give him everything he should acquire while living in the castle. Gawain keeps this promise for a few days until he is given this magical girdle, that can supposedly protect its wearer from harm. Gawain realizes that he can use it to protect his life from the Green Knight’s blow so he chooses to hide it from lord Bertilak out of fear for losing his life. By doing so, he reveals that he values his life above being truthful. If Gawain was truthful, he would have revealed to Bertilak that he was given a girdle and given it to him as part of their deal. Gawain deceives the Green Knight in a similar way. When Gawain is caught wearing the magical girdle during the encounter with the Green Knight, he confesses, “For fear of thy blow cowardice bade me make friends with covetousness and forsake the customs of largess and loyalty, which befits all knights” (page 44). Gawain admits to fearing the blow from the Green Knight and reveals how Gawain values his own life more than being open with …show more content…

Gawain receives a kiss from lady Bertilak one day while he’s staying in lord Bertilak’s castle. Keeping the deal that they made, Gawain gives a kiss to lord Bertilak when he returns from his hunt. Lord Bertilak—to Gawain’s surprise—asks him where he acquired the kiss, but Gawain refused to answer, saying, “That was not in the bond. Ask me no more: ye have taken what was yours by right, be content with that” (page 29). This would be fine and dandy should the lady he received the kiss from have not been lord Bertilak’s wife. This shows how Gawain feels almost ashamed for having received the kiss from who he did. The fact that Gawain hides this from lord Bertilak shows that he values his honor above being truthful. How honorable would it be to say to a man that he just received a lovely kiss from that man’s very own

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The poet of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, handles the theme of the story “courtesy”; in a very open manner. Courtesy is the showing of politeness in one’s attitude and behavior towards others. Throughout the story, courtesy is displayed many time, at different levels, and in different forms. The main character Sir Gawain, is the best representation of courtesy. Sir Gawain is were polite and friendly towards the other characters that he interacts with in the story.

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Age after age, humanity has continually struggled, fought, and attempted to attain perfection in almost every aspect of life yet we have seemingly failed every time. Throughout Marie Borroff’s translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain shows that although mankind strive to live by certain values, all men are in fact human at the core and therefore can never be perfect, and thus display forms of their true and natural weakness when exposed to adversity. The scenes depicting Lord Bertilak’s hunting trips are cleverly interwoven with the temptation of Sir Gawain in his bed chambers in order to demonstrate that even the most civilized character is never perfect. At Camelot, Gawain is well-known for his adherence to 5 virtues that

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Lady Bertilak tempts him further by saying, “Courtly virtue lining his heart, he’d never have stayed so long with a lady and left her unkissed” (98). To uphold chivalry is to uphold courtly love. Gawain does not want to kiss another man’s wife, but he wants to uphold chivalry which calls him

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Sir Gawain’s fateful deceit Deception has been used for centuries throughout history. It’s an action that people have used to gain power or to make someone else lose power. Deception can be used as a weapon and a defense.

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In Part II, there are multiple ways to characterize Sir Gawain and his actions, some of which are faithful, modest, and resourceful. First, Sir Gawain demonstrates himself as faithful by only accepting the kisses from Lady Bertilak, the wife of Lord Bertilak. Although Lady Bertilak was looking for a more intimate gesture than just kisses, Sir Gawain remains faithful to Lord Bertilak by exchanging the kisses he receives, by Lord Bertilak’s own wife, with him. This is portrays the agreement between Lord Bertilak and Sir Gawain, which was whatever they were to receive or obtain for three days, they were to exchange the objects with one another. Prior to Sir Gawain giving kisses to Lord Bertilak, when Sir Gawain received the game Lord Bertilak earned while hunting, “. . .

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Bertilak has one motive, that being to make Sir Gawain no longer look as if he is a Goddess, but as a failure. Lady Bertilak is very successful in deceiving Sir Gawain as part of Bertilak’s plan, leading to Bertilak's main motive being achieved, which is making Sir Gawain feel as if he is not as great as everyone thinks he is, and that really he is just a failure and sinner. At the end of the poem Sir Gawain and the Green knight meet to challenge each other when Bertilak reveals himself as the green knight “Because of our other agreement, in my castle; You kept it faithfully, performed like an honest Man, gave me everything you got. Except that you kissed my wife: I swung For that reason-but you gave me back her kisses” ( Page 128). Bertilak reviles himself, which conveys to Sir Gawain that he had been deceived the whole time, especially when Lady Bertilak acted as if no one would know and that they were completely alone the entire time she wanted to have relations with him.

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Sir Gawain believed he was being clever in that the Knight wouldn’t be able to attack if he’s dead and decapitated him, only for the Green Knight to reattach his head. He tells Gawain that he expects to see him in a year, and the knight rides off. As stated previously, the Green Knight speaks to Arthur and his men in a calm demeanor, even if he’s doubting their skills as knights, which further cements how there’s more to the character than just the lone rogue man who kills everyone. Sir Gawain likely decapitated him as a result of his arrogance, and believed the Green Knight was a fool for making such an offer without considering the possibility that he had something up his

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Evidently, Gawain is so desperate to volunteer even for a quest he does not know anything about since the King did not explain it yet, showing that Gawain does not think through his decisions which means he is a little over confident in himself. To add, Gawain is always trying to volunteer for quests first. In other words, Gawain is King Arthur’s favourite knight: “Arthur loved this knight [Gawain], always the first to come forward, ever ready to put his courage to the test” (Hastings 179). In this situation, Arthur is feeding Gawain’s ego all while being blinded by his courageous efforts when he is actually just cocky from his previous successes. To sum up, Gawain easily disguises his cocky attributes with his seemingly brave and loyal doings.

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Sir Gawain shows loyalty and humility when he makes the decision of honoring the promise he made with the Green Knight. This humility drives him to set off to pursue the Green Knight to honor the pact they agreed on. On his arrival at the Green chapel, he calls the Green Knight who emerges to greet him and to fulfill the terms of the contract (Cathell). Sir Gawain presents his neck voluntarily to the Green Knight who feigns two blows (Cooke 4). This is a commitment and a sign of piety that Gawain manifests.

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Gawain, who had struck a deal with the lord to surrender all things he received during his stay in the lord’s dwelling, fails to do so in the name of self-preservation. The lord’s wife gifts Sir Gawain a green sash rumored to protect its possessor from physical harm. Gawain, recalling his inevitable meeting with the Green Knight, decides to contradict his agreement with the lord and “hid[es] it away from all hands and eyes” (Line 1875). His decision blatantly violated the chivalrous code, “failing a moral test in agreeing to hide the girdle from the husband, with whom he has the prior arrangement to exchange winnings” (West 9).

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Which led to the Green Knight explaining to Gawain that he is actually the same lord of the castle where Gawain spent his holidays. The first two blows, he claims, were in return for the way Gawain returned the kisses of his wife, following the rules of their game as an honest man should. The third blow, he says, was for Gawain’s failure to return the green girdle to him on the last day. But because Gawain’s failing was only because he wanted to save his life, and not because he's just dishonorable, the Green Knight forgives him. He leaves Gawain with only a scar and a girdle as a reminder of his very human sin.

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1110 Words | 5 Pages

The lady tries to convince Gawain to take the girdle by hinting at its magical powers , stating that he “could not be slain through any strategy on earth” (1854) if he wears it . Gawain takes the girdle not out of lust , but because he fears death and that makes him start to believe in its magical powers “It [the girdle] certainly would be splendid to forestall being slain” (1858) . It is a way in which he tries to overcome fear and prepare himself for the appointment with the Green Knight. If we look at it from this perspective , the girdle can also symbolize that Gawain wants to be assured that he lives. The moment he takes the girdle is of great importance : whether he hides or declares the girdle and gives it to the Lord , he violates someone’s trust .

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As a part of his acceptance, Gawain says “I’ll keep it, gladly, not for its gold, nor its lovely silk, nor its polished stones. But as a sign of my sin.” (2430-2431) This a major point in this story because Gawain acquired the belt from Morgan, and in the agreement from the Green Knight, Gawain accepted to return everything he had received to the Green Knight and he returned the kisses from Morgan, who was the Green Knight’s wife but did not return the belt. Gawain returns to King Arthur’s court sheepish and ashamed that has failed a test of honor by withholding the green belt from the Green Knight out of a want to save his own life.

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Gawain is courteous to no end, even asking for permission to “abandon [his] bench and stand by [Arthur]” (Pearl Poet l. 344) so he may risk his own life instead of his kings to abide by the Green Knights game. He even humbly states that he “[is] the weakest” (l. 354) and that it would be the least lost of he was to parish which is untrue. Gawain is also extremely courteous when he is denying the wife’s attempts to seduce him saying he is “a knight unworthy” (l.1245). He plays a game of wits as he must not offend her advances but at the same time must not let the wife win the “game” because then he would have to lay with her and that would be uncourteous to his host, Lord Bertilak. The only time Gawain faults in his courteousness is when he refuses to acknowledge the agreement he made with Lord Bertilak which was “whatever [Lord Bertilak] win[s] in the wood shall at once be [Gawain’s] and whatever gain [Gawain] may get [he] shall give in exchange” (ll. 1107-08).

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He grants her one kiss to keep from going further. Gawain comes to show his high level of purity when he denies her because not only is she married but her husband is also trusting Gawain in his home and has been a good host to

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