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The grand finale The chivalric romantic, “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” written by an anonymous poet, often attempts to share Christian values to teach valuable life lessons. The story concludes with a scene of the round table at Arthur's court laughing at Sir Gawain; however, the knights honor Gawain by wearing green belts. The poet then gives praise and thanks to Jesus with a Latin conclusion. In the Latin the conclusion, the poet writes a line loosely translated as those who think evil act evil. When Gawain stayed at the host's house he thought evilly which lead to him acting evil as well.
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
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.
In 2003, the motion picture, Kill Bill Volume 1, debuted in theaters. Set to a backdrop of bloodshed and violence, the film offers 112 minutes of savagery, as the main character attempts to get back at every person who has wronged her in the past four years. Kill Bill is only one of the many films in which violence is the number one attraction. “Kill or be killed,” seems to be the overarching motto, as millions of moviegoers flock into theaters each weekend to watch as characters fight to the death. In contrast, violence portrayed on the silver screen is no longer acceptable outside of the theater.
Sir Gawain shows loyalty and humility when he makes the decision of honoring the promise he made with the Green Knight. This humility drives him to set off to pursue the Green Knight to honor the pact they agreed on. On his arrival at the Green chapel, he calls the Green Knight who emerges to greet him and to fulfill the terms of the contract (Cathell). Sir Gawain presents his neck voluntarily to the Green Knight who feigns two blows (Cooke 4). This is a commitment and a sign of piety that Gawain manifests.
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).
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.
Sir Gawain Pure, brave courteous, and chivalry those are the characteristics of Sir Gawain. He often functions on a human scale, with failing and succeeding, but learning while failing and succeeding. Sir Gawain’s brothers, Agravain, Gaheris, Gareth were also knights at the round table. There are legends about all the brothers but Sir Gawain stands out to be the most honourable. Even if Sir Gawain is not ranked the best of Arthur’s knight, but he is still one of the most important.
Being merciful is showing God’s dealings with mankind and is a quality of God. Bertilak refers Gawain to being a knight worthy and has no equal. Bertilak exclaims that he was sent on this task to find Gawain and see what he is about. The revelation after the Bertilak spares Gawain’s life and knowing about the girdle all along leads Gawain to truly embrace his flaws and humility for the first time and in so doing to find atonement and a more stable base for Christian behavior than the rule-based chivalry of Arthur’s court. “Sir Gawain And The Green Knight” shows Christian ideas and shows behavior towards everyone.
Sir Gawain and The Green Knight In Class Writing Chivalry is the code of conduct of the medieval Knight. According to that code, a Knight was to be a loyal servant to his lord or lady and a perfect example of virtues such as bravery, courage, courtesy, honesty, faith and gentleness. Sir Gawain does not uphold the ideals of Chivalry in his adventure with the Green Knight.
In the medieval romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain strives to live by the chivalric code, but instead of living like a “knight” he comes short of the knight modern readers think of. The reader may think Sir Gawain is being knightly, but in reality he is failing to meet the extraordinarily lofty standards of the chivalric code by his actions in the beheading and exchange games. The scene that best illuminates Gawain's flaws of following the chivalric code is when he takes the place of King Arthur to participate in the beheading game with the Green Knight. The game is where an opponent gets to strike the Green Knight, and then a year later the Green Knight gets to strike back.
As Sir Gawain sits at the table with his fellow knights, a knight who is completely green rides in on his green horse. The Green Knight immediately begins insulting the knights and King Arthur at the table. After the Green Knight’s tirade is over, Sir Gawain stands up and asks for Arthur’s permission to defend their honor. He takes an axe and “...with the weapon, walked towards the warrior, and they stood face-to-face, not one man afraid,”. Sir Gawain knows how important a knight’s honor is, so when he sees the knights being insulted, he feels insulted as well and volunteers himself as their representative and defends them.
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).
Chivalrous Ideals in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight It is common to see benevolent characters in early english literature such as Sir Gawain, who is yet another example of a knight who has been put into a problematic situation and must choose to stay true to his chivalrous nature or protect himself. Chivalry and the ethics of a knight are obvious running themes in The Pearl Poet’s, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The author, throughout the story, uses Gawain’s bravery, honor, and loyalty to show the ideal of knighthood. From the very beginning of the poem, young Sir Gawain puts others before himself.
In the beginning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the knight’s challenge is the first brush with punishment that Sir Gawain faces. In Sir Gawain’s response to the challenge,
