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Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Character Analysis

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Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Character Analysis
Medieval literature is filled with tales of perilous adventures and valorous heroes. Many pieces of medieval literature are satirical and usually contain a message. Characters in medieval literature are often knights, kings, or queens, such as in Chaucer's, The Canterbury Tales, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Many supporting characters in these stories are one-dimensional and defined by there role in society. Main characters in medieval literature, however, exhibit signs of individuality and are not solely defined by society's expectations.
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is also a knight. He belongs to King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table, a very prestigious position at the time. Knights were expected to be honest,
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In The Wife of Bath's Tale, the main character, a knight, raped a woman. This action violates the moral code a knight should have. This knight blatantly violated that code willingly. Sir Gawain was just tryingto protect his life. The immoral knight graciously receives a temporary pardon from the queen. In order to keep his life, he must figure out exactly what women want, within a year and a day. He travels everywhere trying to find the answer. He then meets an old woman who agrees to tell him if he does whatever she requests. He agrees and informs the queen of his answer that women want to be equal to men. She finds no fault with it and grants him his life. The old woman tells the knight he must marry her. While he is absolutely appalled by the thought, he agrees. When they are together, he berates her in every imaginable way. He calls her ugly and evil. Such words and actions should not be spoken by knights. This knight's actions show much disregard to his title as a knight. Sir Gawain and this man were both knights, but extremely different to say the least. Each knight is unique in their response to challenges as well as how they perceive their roles in society. Sir Gawain holds his stature highly, as he should. Even though he makes mistakes, he fights to regain is name. The other knight does not appreciate his stature and blemishes the reputations of all other

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