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The Chivalric Code Of Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight- Journal 2 In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, his chivalric code was tested on numerous occasions. The code of chivalry that a knight was to live by consisted of the knight being loyal, virtuous, kind, friendly, pure, polite, Godly, courageous, compassionate, and generous. All of these attributes Sir Gawain possessed and displayed throughout this work. In the beginning of the poem, Sir Gawain’s chivalric code was immediately put to the test, but he remained true to it when he took King Arthur’s place in the challenge with the Green Knight. This act showed that he was not only brave but loyal to his King. A year after accepting the challenge, Sir Gawain set off to fulfill his end of the deal, and in doing so, this proved that was honorable and courageous. On the journey to the Green Chapel, he displayed an act of Godliness by stopping to pray for Mother Mary’s guidance in locating a place to hear Mass on Christmas Eve. This prayer led him to Bertalik’s castle which is where his chivalric code was further tested. …show more content…

During these days, Sir Gawain was tempted and seduced by Bertalik’s wife, but he did not succumb to her advances. By not allowing himself to give in to her advances, it showed true honor and Godliness. Sir Gawain remained true to his word and gave Bertalik his earnings from day one and two which were kisses from Bertalik’s wife, and in return Bertalik did the same. However, on day three the wife gave him three kisses and a silk green girdle that possessed the power to protect whomever was wearing it, but when it came time to exchange, Sir Gawain only gave Bertalik the kisses and not the girdle. This was the first time that he failed to live up to his chivalric code by being unloyal to his promise with

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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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Lady Bertilak tempts him further by saying, “Courtly virtue lining his heart, he’d never have stayed so long with a lady and left her unkissed” (98). To uphold chivalry is to uphold courtly love. Gawain does not want to kiss another man’s wife, but he wants to uphold chivalry which calls him

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On Christmas Eve Gawain prays to Virgin Mary that he has a place to attend mass. When he looks up he is in front of a huge, beautiful castle. Gawain salute's the guardians and they allow him to enter. When Gawain see's the Green Knight, the Green Knight praises him on keeping his commitment.

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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.

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The ideals of Christian morality and knightly qualities are represented by Gawain’s gold, star-shaped pentangle. The five knightly virtues that Sir Gawain expresses are: generosity, chastity, friendship, piety, and courtesy. From the beginning of the poem, Sir Gawain portrays his generosity by agreeing to cut the Green Knight’s head with an axe. He makes this decision after King Arthur fails to do so (Cathell, 2014).

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Sir Gawain disrespected the lord whom was housing him when he decided to keep the sash a secret. This decision also contradicted his oath to speak truth at all times because he did not disclose his gift the lord, and therefore indirectly lied to the lord. Sir Gawain fails to uphold the chivalrous code through his prioritization for self-preservation over honoring his commitment to fellow

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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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He respectfully refuses the advances of the Lord's wife showing loyalty and respect for ladies. He owns up to his mistake, confesses, and apologizes. Why is Gawain

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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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Modern scholarship suggests that the anonymous poet who wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight likely had the patronage of King Richard II, as did his contemporaries Geoffrey Chaucer and John Gower. In the latter years of his reign, Richard placed great value on arts and culture at court, with particular emphasis on literature. It is likely that those writers who found favor at his court would have endeavored to please and perhaps flatter the king through their work. If, as research suggests, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was first read before an audience that included Richard II, then the poet gauged the tastes of his audience well.

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Sir Gawain And The Green Knight The focus of the poem is showing what it takes to be a knight. During King Arthurs reign the Knights were respected, and it was such an honor to be a knight. First, the knight had to go through a test to prove his worth in keeping up to their word and to prove their moral virtue. The poem talks about Sir Gawain the youngest knight in King Arthur’s army and the tests that he went through to prove his worth. Surviving a test entails that one is witty enough to go through it all While getting out of it alive is the main agenda maintain honor is the core purpose of the test.

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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

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Violence, danger, and treasure are three things that immediately come to mind when the word quest is mentioned. Very rarely is psychology brought into the conversation, however, in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the quest that takes place happens mostly internally in the mind of Sir Gawain. However, despite the mental nature of the quest, the poem did follow some of the more traditional patterns of quest literature including the patterns of spiritual and physical questing, while also deferring from the plan by emphasizing psychological growth and struggle as well. Spirituality is very much a part of medieval romance literature as well as all quests, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is certainly not exempt from this trend. To begin the adventure, the Green Knight challenges a member of King Arthur’s court to partake in a bet with him.

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Once again, Gawain, follows a code of conduct that may benefit his own reputation, such as leaving behind a disloyal wife, while persecuting her for exhibiting similar behaviors which once saved his own

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