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
Would you be able to hold steadfast to your core values and knighthood when faced against a sorcerous Green Knight with an itching to kill? Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written by the Pearl Poet, is a Medieval Romance tale about a noble knight who puts his life on the line in order to defend his king. Sir Gawain is a prestigious knight who demonstrates passionate integrity and honor as he remains faithful to King Arthur and holds true to the knight's code of chivalry. Although Sir Gawain knew that his life would be thrown into grave danger, he chose integrity and proved his loyalty to the king by upholding the virtues of knighthood.
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.
Allen Shoaf directs a chapter from his book, “The Poem as Green Girdle: Commercium in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” to Gawain’s sin in pride, covetousness, and idolatry:“The man who is proud of his life -- its price, beauty, glory, what have you – necessarily fears for the loss of that life”(Shoaf 1). Knowing that Gawain fears the loss of his life, Shoaf notices Gawain’s sin and how it envelops him. Gawain magnifies the importance of the green girdle to equal the importance of his own life: “A piece of cloth, has become identical with his life, so much so that he has paid for it with the meaning of his life”(Shoaf 1). Gawain is now the servant to the idle he makes his master: the girdle. He puts his trust and his life into this object, and Gawain is engulfed in idolatry.
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
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.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late fourteenth century Arthurian Romance Poem. During the time of Sir Gawain, society was dominated by males with women receiving little power. Women were treated with chivalry, but not respected as beings of their own rights. Knights were prided in having the code of chivalry yet were under the assumption woman could not attain much for themselves.
Relations Between Sir Gawain And The Green Knight And Christianity “Sir Gawain and The Green Knight” have a plethora of connections and relations to Christianity all around its story. Some examples could be Arthurian chivalry with the pentangle of Sir Gawain's shield and Mary's face in the middle, the battle between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight which took place inside the chapel of a church, and The Green Knight's decision toward Gawain in showing him mercy. These examples show only few reasons why “Sir Gawain And The Green Knight” have connections and relations towards Christianity. The ideals of Christianity and chivalry are brought together in Gawain’s symbolic shield.
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.
Essay: Consider how the Theme of courage is treated in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It has to be said that Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is arguably one of the greatest middle English poems of the 14th Century. The author of the text, whom, amazingly is still unknown tells the reader, through the medium of poem the courage of the Great Sir Gawain as he bravely challenges the Green Knight. The poem also shows the courage of others. In Medieval times and especially medieval writings, there was a great engrossment with courage.
Sir Gawain and the Green depicts this importance of faith by testing Gawain’s moral and knightly code. Gawain is the epitome of what a knight ought to be, with a strong moral code and an unquestioning faith, which he proudly displays on his shield with the Virgin Mary painted on the inside and the Pentangle on the outside. This faith is soon meet with a test the castle of the lord and his once strong faith in God falters. While Gawain is able to remain innocent when it comes to the seductive ways of the lord’s wife, he is unable to stop himself from accepting her magical girdle that would protect him against any harm, even though it is in opposition to both his faith and his loyalties. Gawain comprises his morals due to fear about his impending encounter with the Green Knight and he give into his fear and takes the magical protection the girdle offers.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, composed by an unknown artist, is a medieval story that follows the tale of a knight who embarks on a journey after being issued a challenge from a mysterious green stranger. During his quest, Sir Gawain, the knight, stays at a castle in the wilderness and is housed by Lord and Lady Bertilak, both of whom test his chivalric code and his Christian ideals. Lady Bertilak is a seductress and tempts Sir Gawain, though he refuses all her advances, with the exception of her kisses. Lord Bertilak is the mysterious green stranger, known as the Green Knight. Once Sir Gawain completed his task, he discovers that Morgan le Faye, a witch scorned by King Arthur, orchestrated the entire challenge in the hopes of causing King
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, whose author is unknown, is an Arthurian Romance/Epic that holds a degree of Christian symbolism. These Christian symbols are intermixed with Britannic Pagan traditions and themes in order to appeal more to the common British people at the time of the early Christianization of Britain. This can be supported by the stories of kings being created in the earlier centuries throughout history. In this particular story, this symbolism is important since all the knights of King Arthur’s Court were supposed to follow a certain chivalrous code of conduct, whether present in the courts or away on some other venture. The chivalric code being the embodiment of Christian virtue and valor, which was expected to be personified
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
Paganism in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight The idea of Christianity versus Paganism dramatizes the controversy over the conversion from Paganism to Christianity. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the author uses religion to create conflicting dynamics within characters and plot. Above all, in the poem, the Green Knight represents the Green Man and highlights the flaws in Camelot and the Christian Knights within its court. At the time Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written, pagan beliefs and myths were still highly prevalent.
