Grace Versus Merit In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

400 Words2 Pages

Faith as part of the code of chivalry can be seen as a major idea throughout “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” and is explained in more detail in the writing “Grace Versus Merit in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” In “Grace Versus Merit in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” the author is explaining how faith is a huge part of the story of Sir Gawain. He states that the poem “is deeply imbued with Christian moral values…” (Champion 413). Champion goes on to give some examples of how the writer of the poem “‘was thoroughly familiar with the trends of religious concepts’” (Champion 413). Champion gives many examples of how faith is a major idea portrayed in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” and is a massively influential in the code of chivalry. There are many examples of faith being a part of the code of chivalry seen in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” This can be seen in the poem when Sir Gawain is trying to complete his quest throughout the story. Throughout the poem Sir Gawain is …show more content…

This quote shows that while Gawain is lonely he knows that he can always talk to God. His strong belief that God will help him continues later on when he runs into more problems. Later in the poem Sir Gawain receives a green girdle that he is supposed to give to a lord; however, he decides to keep the girdle. Gawain “quickly to the chapel he makes his way, / [a]pproached a priest… / to hear his confession…” (Winny 1876-1878). This demonstrates how Sir Gawain knows he has messed up and believes it necessary to immediately repent for his sin. Sir Gawain continues to rely on his faith to guide him through his journey. The idea that faith is a major part of the code of chivalry in the poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is explained more deeply in the writing “Grace Versus Merit in Sir Gawain and the Green