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Sir Gawain Integrity Analysis

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Do you have the quality of being honest and strong moral principles? If so, you can say that you have integrity. Integrity is a good quality to have. It shows that you are able to be trusted with anything by your peers. Responsibility comes along with having integrity, you would be put on a higher pedestal than those who do not show this quality. As well as respect, it comes into play as well when you show others that you have integrity. Gawain displays some acts of integrity in this story, but he also lacks integrity. The first test that Gawain encountered was chivalry, to show how he could withstand from temptation and remain a loyal and honorable Knight. Seduction, logic, flattery and his desire to survive came with this first test. Gawain’s honesty and promises were tested, all of this basically came together to test the knight’s honor. He thought that the Green Knight’s wife was very attractive, so they thought it would be easy for Gawain to fail. The Green Knight’s wife tried multiple times to seduce Gawain, but …show more content…

As Gawain was on the way to the Green Chapel, where the meeting was taking place, he passed this final test with the ease. He is successful with this test because he does not listen to the guide and still attends the meeting. Gawain pays the guide no mind and responds to the guide saying that if he were a coward, he could not be excused. He said that he must go to the chapel to test his luck (basically the girdle), for “The Lord is strong to save: his servants trust in him”. Only if Gawain knew what he was about to walk into. Once he entered the meeting to face the Green Knight for the return blow, the Green Knight explains that he is Bercilak, and he has been testing him this whole time. Even though Bercilak forgives him and elaborates on his understanding as to why Gawain did what he did, Gawain still feels as if he has

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Loyalty In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

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How Does Gawain Show Courage

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Dishonest In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

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Chivalry In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

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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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The Chivalric Code In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

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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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What is chivalry, exactly, and how does Gawain demonstrate the chivalric ethos in the first two sections of the poem? [ ethos= ethical philosophy] Chivalry is the sum of the ideal qualifications of a knight including courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms. The way Gawain demonstrates chivalric ethos is that he honors the King and shows bravery and humility by accepting the Christmas challenge and not allowing the king to do so. He keeps his word by going to the Green Chapel on the day agreed. He keeps his word by giving the Lord the kisses he gets from his wife.

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Redemption In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

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Gawain cannot redeem himself by blaming others, but does it anyways. He was supposed to be the epitome of chivalry and purity, but blames a single woman, the lady of the manor, on everything that he started. Gawain was the one to agree to the Green Knight’s challenge, not a woman who told him to. He took on the lord’s bets, without the ladies saying anything to him. Gawain’s pride and misogyny showed that he could not complete, or even start a path to redemption.

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Past Mistakes In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

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As an Expert states, “Critics consider the puzzle of the theme a major asset of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and they continue to debate whether the real test was what happened at Castle Hautdesert rather than the exchange of blows, as well as whether, finally, Gawain passed or failed the tests” (Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism). The reason the critics say this is because they see that the real or possibly the real test was when Sir Gawain was in the castle getting tested by the king which turns out to be the king rather than getting swung at with an axe. Although Sir Gawain was not aware that the king was testing him under these circumstances he did want he had to do even if it meant he was a bit disloyal when taking the green sash. As Sir Gawain states, ‘“There, there’s my fault! The foul fiend vex it” (line 389)!

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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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Not all heroes are perfect, but some are nobler than others. In the story of Sir Gawain, we find out that even legends, such as Sir Gawain made mistakes. In today’s time, most heroes are thought of as militaristic accomplishments, such as badges, wars won, and saving lives. Sir Gawain was a hero, not because of great accomplishments but because he was driven by his bravery, nobility, and virtue.

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