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Sir Gawain And The Green Knight By Burton Raffel

1205 Words5 Pages

There are times in life when one must tell a little white lie, but there are other times that one may take their lie too far. In Burton Raffel’s translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain selfishly deceives the Round Table so that he may achieve his own ambitions. Gawain tries to show the Round Table that he is more courageous, capable, and chivalrous than he really is.
One of the motives behind Gawain’s deception is that he wants to be accepted by the other knights in the Round Table. This is is exemplified through when he takes the Green Knight’s challenge from King Arthur. While King Arthur is about to give the blow to the Green Knight, Sir Gawain sees this as an opportunity to show that he belongs in the Round Table …show more content…

For one reason, he is the king’s nephew. Gawain is seated to the left of King Arthur because he is one of “Arthur’s nephews” and may not have been on the court otherwise (111). The fact that Gawain is Arthur’s nephew is one of the main reasons that Gawain deceives the court. The rest of the court feels as if Gawain receives special treatment even though he is not the best knight in the court. Although Gawain is treated as a superior, he feels inferior due to his special treatment. Gawain desires to have an opportunity to show his worth to the Round Table. Gawain struggles with this, because he considers himself inferior to the other knights. Although Gawain was sitting at the “central table” (114) and was above all of the “lesser knights” (115), Gawain felt as if he was the “lesser knight”. This is not his fault, but favoritism is always present and this poem is no exception. Gawain is given special privileges and treated higher than the rest of the knights because of his relation to the king. This makes Gawain feel as if the only reason he is on the court is because he is Arthur’s nephew - which is somewhat true. Gawain’s feelings of inferiority help to initiate his deception of the Round

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In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the code of chivalry affects Gawain's actions throughout the story. The code of chivalry that Gawain tries to follow is one of loyalty, courtesy, and courage. He shows his loyalty to Arthur at the beginning of the story, when the Green Knight challenges “any in [the] house”(286) to accept his game, everyone remains silent. He goes on to insult and laugh at Arthur and everyone else, which results in Arthur having to accept the challenge and “lay hold of [the Green Knight’s]

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The main theme of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the journey to maturity of Gawain, the hero. During the passage, Gawain goes through three tests on his development. First, Gawain shows courage and resourcefulness when he volunteers to take the Green Knight’s challenge instead of Arthur doing so. Second, Gawain shows authority, self-restraint, and integrity when he denies the sexual endeavours of the lady of the house. Lastly, Gawain shows bravery when he faces death by keeping his meeting with the Green

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During the 3 swings from the axe of the Green Knight, we are able to view several parts of Gawain’s true character. During the first stroke, Gawain flinches and shrinks his shoulders back slightly; clearly fearing the pain his natural instincts tell him accompanies the blade. The Green Knight scoffs at this display of cowardice, exclaiming, “You are not Gawain the glorious, the green man said…and now you flee for fear and have felt no harm” (58. 2270-2272) mocking the brave Gawain’s momentary lack of courage and pointing out the cracks in his character that illustrate his true lack of perfection. During the second stroke, Gawain remains resolute and shows no weakness through the Green Knight’s second feint and Gawain survives the final stroke without so much as a slight nick from the great blade. Gawain proves that although many men strive to live by virtues that allow them to be unfaltering in the face of impending adversity such as the act that Gawain attempts to fulfill unwaveringly.

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Sir Gawain takes knighthood to a deeper level and continues to see his knightly duties and responsibilities as they blatantly are verses getting hot-headed, dramatizing a situation, and uprooting his

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The ideals of Christian morality and knightly qualities are represented by Gawain’s gold, star-shaped pentangle. The five knightly virtues that Sir Gawain expresses are: generosity, chastity, friendship, piety, and courtesy. From the beginning of the poem, Sir Gawain portrays his generosity by agreeing to cut the Green Knight’s head with an axe. He makes this decision after King Arthur fails to do so (Cathell, 2014).

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His few mistakes should not define his character because in the end he still did the honorable deed. Gawain’s clear sense of integrity gleams while he faces many challenges such as sacrifice and many tests of his honor throughout the story. Initially Gawain sacrifices himself, taking the place of King Arthur. He does this because he feels that he is the weakest of the king’s knights, and that he would be less valuable than the other knights would.

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Gawain’s values as a knight are in conflict, because he needs to be polite to the Lady, but he is also loyal to the Lord. Gawain ultimately fails

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In this time period a knight’s honor was everything, without it the noblemen would become a huge disgrace. Sir Gawain’s honor is immediately tested at the beginning of the poem. He gives his word in the beheading game and intends to keep it even though it’s obvious that the Green Knight had tricked him. “Blood gutters brightly against his green gown, yet the man doesn’t shudder or stagger or sink, but trudges towards them […] gripping his head by a handful of hair. Then he settles himself in his seat with the ease of a man unmarked” (429-439).

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Many other knights would run but Gawain understands that he has to have courage and must be honest about going to meet the green knight and fulfill his deal. One other virtue of chivalry that Gawain presents is courtesy. Gawain shows courtesy to the ladies of the castle. The pearl poet creates this scene: “His acquaintance they requested, and

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Early on in the tale, Sir Gawain shows courage when he steps up and accepts the Green Man's challenge well knowing of the chance of Death. By doing so Sir Gawain surpassed his fear of death by stepping up to do a mission none of the other knights at the round table wished to do. His reasoning for this was to take the place of his uncle, King Arthur who was originally the chosen participant after none of the other present knights volunteered. After chopping off the head of the Green Man, Sir Gawain is told that he must go to the green chapel in one year and one day to meet the Green Man. Sir Gawain fearful of death debates whether or not he will set journey to the green chapel at that time yet his courageous characteristics force him to go.

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All in all, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight gave many fine examples of classic literature and the beauty of it. However, Gawain tried to redeem himself, but failed miserably. Redemption is achieved by falling and getting back up. Gawain tripped over his own feet, then blamed the girl who didn’t do anything. Gawain cannot teach anyone anything about redemption.

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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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Despite the human flaws that each knight bears, all three knights represent knighthood and the chivalric code because of its importance in medieval society.                                                                          The author of  “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” describes Sir Gawain as the “most courteous knight” (215) in Arthur’s court  because he models chivalry ideally. Gawain’s chivalric traits

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.This makes Sir Gawain as a relatable hero, opposed to the heroes that are portrayed as godly and infallible. Sir Gawain was not a military warrior with badges, he did not swing a weapon but one at the Christmas games in the beginning. Sir Gawain is considered a literary hero because he was brave for stepping forward to protect King Arthur, his king and uncle. He had faith that led him through his journey into the enchanted forest and into the castle and he did not abandon it. He was noble in being a guest at Lord Bertilak’s, or the Green Knights, castle by offering his services to Lord Bertilak and, resisting temptations, and not sleeping with Lady Bertilak, Lord Bertilak’s

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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.

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