Preview

The Virtue In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
560 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Virtue In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight The virtues that Sir Gawain exemplifies are symbolic, like a shield for himself. The virtues that are exemplified the utmost are chivalry and honor. To commence, one of the virtues that is most exemplified is that of Chivalry. Towards the beginning, when Gawain travels from Camelot, he realizes that he must seek physical comfort in order to survive out in the wilderness. Gawain comes across a castle who 's host gladly takes him in, within the time that he spends there the residents teach Gawain about a chivalry that 's based more on truth and reality, unlike that of King Arthur 's court. For example, as he enters the castle the servants kneel …show more content…
Sir Gawain 's honor is greatly tested during multiple situations. At the beginning, when he accepts the Green Knights challenge, Gawain is seen as an honorable man because of his refusal to back down from his agreement, even if it did seem as if the Green Knight had the upper hand. The real test of Gawain 's honor were all at the castle of Lord Bertilak, who is also known as the Green Knight, which Gawain was unaware of. Lord Bertilak and Sir Gawain come to an agreement called an exchange of winnings: Bertilak was to give all of the game that he caught during his hunt to Gawain, in return Gawain was to give his host all the gifts he received during his stay. One of the better test is the one that was carried out by Lady Bertilak. Gawain 's hosts ' wife continuously attempts to seduce him, but because of Gawain 's nobility and honor, he resist each and every time. The one and only time that Gawain 's honor seems to fail is when the hosts ' wife offers him a green girdle, Gawain feels that it could protect him from any harm so he takes it and in not giving Lord Bertilak everything he received in the castle he failed in keeping

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Written in the fourteenth century “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is about testing the…

    • 439 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first and probably most important characteristic that Gawain possesses of being an ultimate role model is his knightly conduct. First, he honors and obeys his liege Lord, in the case King Arthur. When the huge, astonishing, jaw dropping…

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He displays both courage and humility. But one question arises, and that question has to do with Sir Gawain’s faults. J.R.R. Tolkien states that Sir Gawain’s faults are a means of enhancing his character, and ultimately in the end “he became a real man, and we can thus really admire his actual virtue” (7). Sir Gawain’s virtues make him an ideal knight, but his faults add realism to the idealism. Most often when a standard of excellence is set up, perfections are put in the spotlight while sins are often hidden. Sir Gawain, on the other hand, portrays goodly virtues, and when he does sin, he keeps a token of the sin on himself as a remembrance of his…

    • 1163 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Do you think in the romance, “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, Gawain had integrity?Did the Green Knight show integrity? Do you show integrity ? Well, do you know what it means to have or show integrity? The Green Knight tested Gawain’s integrity, by giving him three major test. The three major test that determined Gawain’s integrity were seducing, listening, and persuading.…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight written by the Pearl Poet, Sir Gawain is proven to be a true knight. The Pearl Poet proves Sir Gawain’s true knightmenship in many different ways. Sir Gawain succeeds in earning the title “true knight” by passing the Green Knight’s test and proving the valor of King Arthur’s knights, but he makes mistakes in the process because he is human, like everyone else.…

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Life in the Middle Ages is depicted in the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in ways such as loyalty, uprightness, and honorary. Sir Gawain in the Green Knight demonstrates loyalty in order to show how loyalty was greatly valued in the Middle ages. Through direct characterization, it is revealed how the Green Knight is showing gratitude for Sir Gawain being true to his word. For the honor he gives him, Sir Gawain feels repent for what he did.…

    • 207 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the story of Gawain and the Green Knight, games play an important role in propelling the story forward. The Christmas game, the exchange game, and the Knights last ax game is used as tests for Gawain and leads to determining his place as the greatest Knight of Arthur's Round Table. The trials Gawain is put through tests his strength, commitment, and honor.…

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout history, different cultures have held different virtues in the highest regard. The Anglo-Saxons, like the anonymous scop of the poem Beowulf, valued strength and courage over any other quality. On the other hand, the earliest English people, like the poet of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, respected honor and the basic codes of chivalry over all else. Both Beowulf and Sir Gawain, therefore, display the most favored qualities of their people: Beowulf by defeating monsters, performing great feats of courage, and telling of his deeds; Gawain by being loyal, brave, and honest. Both sets of qualities are displayed throughout each tale.…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sir Gawain

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The feeling of guilt occurred once during Sir Gawain’s life; this one time happened to be the day a faultless knight receives his first sin. Sir Gawain holds the situation seriously, and it affects the rest of his life. For example, the green belt Gawain wears, “symbolizes both [his] shame and his self-knowledge” (Manning 158). Manning explains the color green as a symbol of rebirth, therefore the green belt Sir Gawain carries around resembles the revival of on his short comings. Gawain discovers he is not perfect and learns from his mistakes, thus he becomes a finer, more superior knight which he wishes to become. For instance, Gawain illustrates himself as evil thus informs his peers, “for evil to exist, it must exist in the good” (159). Manning describes Gawain as a perfect person, one without sin, as if he were a god. Gawain’s peers strive to become like him, so his sin exhibits the impurity and imperfection of human kind. Gawain reveals to his peers that everyone makes mistakes, and should not dread or guilt over them. Guilt demonstrates the psychological feelings of Sir Gawain in the poem.…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Beowulf Medieval Hero

    • 945 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Sir Gawain was far from the most fearsome fighter King Arthur’s court held. “I know that I am the weakest of them and the feeblest of understanding…there is little to praise in me” (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight n.d.). However, it was these same characteristics - his weaknesses - which make him heroic. None of the brilliant soldiers accepted the challenge, nor stepped in when King Arthur agreed to fight the Green Knight (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight n.d.). Sir Gawain, rather like David in the story of David and Goliath, was the underdog who became the hero. He was not necessarily strong or overly courageous, but he understood what needed to be done, and his loyalty towards his king overcame his fear and his failings. This demonstrated an obvious change in values from the Anglo-Saxon period regarding what makes a man a hero. Beowulf was a strong, courageous - almost larger than life - warrior. And, while Sir Gawain must have held some courage, as he willingly volunteered to fight the Green Knight, he was far from the fiercest soldier in the court. This proved that, during the medieval period, one did not necessarily have to be an incredibly superior soldier to be considered a hero. It would appear that the most important heroic characteristics were nobility, morality, and courage, rather than bravery and…

    • 945 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a passionate tale about a knight struggling with trying to do what's right versus doing what is needed to do in order to stay alive. This poem is about the chivalrous romance of Sir Gawain and the Bertilaks. It goes through Sir Gawain's personal struggles as he goes through temptations and trials set up by both Lord and Lady Bertilak. The poem describes how Sir Gawain accepts the challenge of the Green Knight and losses. Sir Gawain struggles to keep his bargain with both Lord Bertilak and the Green Knight while keeping his reputation and life intact.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Green Knight

    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In this poem the typical chivalric features of Anglo Saxon heroes are seen in the shield Gawain is dressed in and in Gawain’s characteristics as a hero. First, the two-sided shield shows a mixture and clash of two cultures and religions, the Christian and the Pagan. On the inside, there is an image of the Virgin Mary, a Christian element. On the outside, there is a pentangle or endless knot, a pagan element. This pentangle reflects Gawain’s moral, physical and spiritual perfection. Each one of the five points represents a set of Gawain’s virtues: friendship, fraternity, purity, politeness and pity. The first two sets deal with his physical perfection: his five senses and his five fingers. The following two, deal with his spiritual perfections, his fidelity set up in the five wounds of Christ. The fifth represents the five joys of the Virgin Mary: annunciation, nativity, resurrection, ascension and assumption. At the end of the poem we see that one of the lessons that Gawain learns is to come to terms with imperfection, meaning that nobody is perfect, we are mere humans.…

    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Periods shape the view of a gallant from day one till now. From the tales of Beowulf, Le Morte d’ Arthur, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, an epic hero’s persona becomes the ideal image of an admirable character. Regardless of all the faults encountered, with certain characteristics such as honor, courage, loyalty, and honesty, an epic hero can mean so much to an individual. Just as the old ages, not every individual can have the full combination of a hero. As years past and time changes, these virtues still remain the same. Till this day, anyone with courage, loyalty, and honesty, deserves to be honored. Those individuals are the ones that young children look up to the most; those are the true heroes of our lives.…

    • 1190 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, Gawain had certain characteristics that showed that he was the “hero” in the story, for instance, it doesn’t ever that where he comes from or who his family is, he wanted to be loyal to his king so he offered to play the game with the Green Knight and risked his own life just so he would be remembered. He had a goal and it was to kill the Green Knight and then in a year go and find him and let the Green Knight do to Gawain what Gawain did to the Green Knight so he did just because he was a “hero” and he didn’t want to be remembered as a chicken and his name was to be remembered as “Sir Gawain the Chicken.” Also he doesn’t even know where the Green Chapel is but he knows that he is a knight and he said he would play the game and meet his death there and he finds the chapel…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hjh.Kjk

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages

    To begin In “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” Sir Gawain is presented as a noble knight, who is the perfect example of chivalry; He is loyal, honest above all, and respectful. He is the perfect knight. When Arthur 's court was challenged by the Green Knight, Gawain all alone offered to take the cup from Arthur 's hands. He showed pride and courage greater than everyone else, for coming forward. Another thing Sir Gawain does is fighting the Green Knight, he didn’t want to behead the Green Knight but he did. By doing that and standing up by himself shows chivalry. Here is a quote of his chivalric actions; “There knights fought in tournament again and again, Jousting most gallantly, these valiant men, Then rode to the court for dancing and song. For there the festival lasted the whole fifteen days with all the feasting and merry-making that could be devised” (Sir 41) this shows chivalry because Sir Gawain was never a coward and…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays