Several works of medieval romances portrayed love as an infectious disease which was typically frowned upon. It was common for a man and a woman to marry simply for wealth and political purposes; the woman would be wedded by her father to someone who he thinks would provide wealth to his daughter. Compared to relationships today, medieval romances appear as flipped relationships regarding gender roles where a man submits himself to his wife–known as courtly love. Medieval Romance stories typically contain happy endings in hopes of making the audience feel satisfied (Greenblatt 141). As exemplified in Lanval by Marie de France as well as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the traditional gender roles have changed drastically in the aspects of …show more content…
One of the three main aspects was religious code which obligated knights to know the church’s teachings and defend them: “Thou shalt believe all that the Church teaches and shalt obey all her commandments” (Gautier 10). The second aspect of chivalry regarded moral code which, unlike religious code, obligated knights to form chivalrous characteristics. Sir Gawain is a great example of a knight who had chivalrous characteristics; these characteristics were evident when he held his end of the deal with the Green Knight: “Sweet Sir… Your visit keeps your vow… God Guard you Gawain… You have timed your arrival like a traveler to begin this business which binds us together” (Trans. Armitage 2237-2242). The third and last aspect of the chivalric code is social code which “is the code of conduct that includes public behavior expected in upper-class society” (Leffert 9). A superb example of chivalry’s social code in practice is in the beginning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight where King Arthur “would not eat until all were served” (Trans. Armitage 85). One aspect of chivalry which has carried over today is “the “[ideal] image of a man for a woman in modern romantic comedy is one who is successful in his career while attentive to his partner” (Keating