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Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Courage Analysis

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Consider how the theme of courage is treated in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a story that celebrates courage in a positive light in the majority of situations but we see that courage can have a negative impact on some of the characters in the story and it questions knighthood. Courage is an honourable term defined “The ability to do something that frightens one; bravery:” (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/courage) and for Gawain to be called this term defines him as a knight. His actions throughout the story makes it difficult to analyse how courage is treated in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. A lot of Gawain’s experiences shape the theme of courage in this story and can make it …show more content…

Courage is a very important aspect of a knight’s life and is needed in the succession of knighthood. Gawain is a knight that possesses this and gives the reader an effective concrete picture to the theme of courage in the story. It answers my questions in the introduction, what is courage and what do you have to do to be courageous. It is simple really when you take into consideration Gawain’s experiences. Courage is not just about being brave in front of others or being fearful but standing up to them, it is about being courageous on the inside, using everything in your heart to achieve the unachievable and reaching goals you never thought you would ever reach. You do not need to have any sort of characteristic to be courageous, anyone can be it and some people don’t even realise it sometimes when they are. In Gawain’s experience, underneath it all, he wanted to prove to himself that he was worthy of being a knight and that he obtained chivalry and knighthood and carried it with him everywhere he went. It is true to say that he proved himself and the theme of courage is treated positively because of him as he was always true to

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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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Sir Gawain showed his integrity by being confident, courageous, ignoring seduction, and confessing to his guilt. In addition, Sir Gawain showed his integrity by being confident and courageous. When the Green Knight appeared with a request, Sir Gawain was quick to accept the challenge. The Green Knight challenged the entire kingdom to see who would be brave enough to strike him.

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In the story of sir Gawain and the Green knight we see a very structured development of the hero archetype thought the entire story as Sir Gawain embarks on his quest. Sir gawain embodies, like many other such stories and fables, the perfect development of the ideal hero from the beginning of his story at the round table to the end of the story with the climactic face off with his greatest adversary (both within himself and the physical world) and even past his heroic finale with the green knight to the aftermath of what he learned on his quest and the other knight’s inability to comprehend his personal change. The ordinary world. To begin this story we find sir Gawain, who up until this first confrontation with the green knight was nothing

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The chivalry code is present through part 1 and 2 of Sir Gawain and the Green knight, which is the code that Gawain strives to live up to as it is a sign of loyalty and faithfulness towards God, King Arthur, and his lady, Guinevere. This type of conduct was very widely seen and expected of the knights in the middle ages leading up to “traditional warrior values” as well as ideals which were expected of a noble [f]. Whether it was a king, a middle class individual or a peasant, the knights demonstrated courtesy to all. Since the beginning of the poem, Sir Gawain had shown faithfulness towards King Arthur when he accepted the beheading challenge from the Green Knight which was directed towards Arthur.

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This displays moral courage because Sir Gawain handles this conflict with ease without causing too much unrest. He honors his code of chivalry and respects the Lady of the castle while also being able to keep his word with the Lord of castle. Most people

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In response to the taunting of the Green Knight, Sir Gawain says, "I shied once: no more. You have my word," (272-273). Gawain, like all natural man, shied away once from the Knight's sword as a defensive reflex, but he quickly shakes off any cowardice and announces to the Green Knight that he was caught in a moment of doubt. From there he goes to say that he ultimately is no coward, but rather a noble and courageous knight of the roundtable who is devoted and loyal to King Arthur. He is more than willing and prepared to take what is coming and preserve the honor of his people, as well as his own.

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Fault and redemption. What do these two words really do in our lives? Do they give us another chance or are they just concepts that we want to follow? In the world we live in, one fault can often make or break something in our lives, but when granted with redemption, we don’t always take it as seriously as needed and soon our fault becomes someone else’s pride. Sir Gawain’s faults can be a constant reminder of the mistakes we all make as humans along with the quote, “It is clear then that there can be no redemption without fault, just as one is unable to return from exile without first being sent into one.

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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.

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Chivalry has many features that shape a knight, however the virtues that Sir Gawain presents the most are courage and honesty. One time when Gawain showed honesty and courage is when he went to fulfill his deal with the Green Knight. The guide leading Gawain to the Green Chapel told Gawain that he should run and that no one would know about his Failure to keep his promise. But Gawain said he must fulfill his deal: “But however heedfully thou hid it, if I here departed,/ faith in fear now to flee, in fashion thou speakest,/ I should a knight coward be, I Could not be excused./ Noy, I’ll fare to the chapel, whatever chance may befall” (85.13-16).

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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tell about a loyal servant (Sir Gawain) of King, Arthur who accepted a dangerous challenge from the Green Knight in place of the king. He felt that his life would be less missed if anyone were to lose their life. He was a man of great integrity for accepting and holding his end of the deal with the Green Knight. Sir Gawain had faced a few problems on his journey in this story which tested his morals and caused him to have an internal conflict. You will see the trials that he faced and may find that Sir Gawain’s decisions turned out for the better for him.

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Courage in her opinion is “A Virtue central to Knighthood” (ALLEN). In the 14th Century, there was a huge public recognition of courage, people wanted to be recognised as possessing it. The Character who possesses the most courage in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is most definitely Sir Gawain

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Topic The theme of the story “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is that staying true to your believes and/or promises may save your life. 1 [For example when he went on his journey he was stopped at a castle and made a deal with the lord of the castle, they would share what ever they got that day. The lord went hunting while Gawain stayed at the castle.

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In the thought provoking poem titled Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one unique knight at the Round Table is pit against himself in a handful of challenges that test his loyalty, his bravery,

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Sir Gawain was respected for his honorable actions, and how he followed the a strict code. The author, Pearl Poet, had set out to explain the Sir Gawain as honest “Look that you go, Sir Gawain, as good as your word” (line 179). Sir Gawain brought up with respect to those in a higher power than him, he proclaims “I might without bad manners move down from my place” (Poet line 127). A journey of Sir Gawain, starts with the acceptance letter from the King allowing Gawain to take the Green Knights challenge “Let the King step down And gave Sir Gawain the game!” (line146).

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869 Words | 4 Pages

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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