Christian Symbolism In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

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 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the theme is based on integrity, all of which is categorized in a romance. Knights are judged by their behavior and also by the code of chivalry. In this poem, King Arthur and his knights are challenged. The chivalry of King Arthur’s court is challenged by the Green Knight” however, in embarrassment of his fellow men King Arthur takes on the challenge himself only for Sir Gawain, his nephew, to take him on instead as he claims he has nothing to lose. To put it differently, Gawain’s integrity was challenged. Sir Gawain proved himself by passing the three major tests: the challenge itself, the testing of his virtues, and the penance he accepted as he confessed clean of his sins, at the Green Knights reveal behind the challenge.

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the code of chivalry affects Gawain's actions throughout the story. The code of chivalry that Gawain tries to follow is one of loyalty, courtesy, and courage.

The lines 1550-1553 from the Pearl poets epic Sir Gawain and the Green Knight epitomizes two of the most important virtues of a noble knight, and Sir Gawain, the man the story follows, defines what is a true knight. He holds a place next to King Arthur and the queen as well as exemplifying two of a knights most important virtues. The first being chastity and the second being courteousness, both however, are very much entwined in this tale. Throughout this epic and many other Arthurian legends praised these traits in the knight and as we shall see, Sir Gawain although still very much human, is a master of both.

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.

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is the most known 14th century poem that depicts the Arthurian legend. It has been translated from a Middle English dialect by Simon Armitage; unfortunately, very little is known about the original author. Sir Gawain is the protagonist as he is the major source of conflict when he struggles to decide whether his “knightly virtues” are more important than his own life. 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.

There was once a time where knights were meant to be the epitome of chivalry; they symbolized honor, courage, justice and much more. However, not every knight matched the narrative of what a true knight should be. One way to teach people a certain value is through exemplary texts such as, “The wedding of King Arthur”. This story uses the knights and their actions to instruct the reader to be honorable by punishing the, shameful, dishonorable knights while rewarding the true and honorable one hence, guiding the reader towards a more honorable path. Sir Gawain does not show mercy to a defeated foe and is punished for it. Sir Torre follows the code of honor and is rewarded. Finally, Sir Pellinore does not help the damsel in distress and is punished with his life for it.

Medieval times were a time when honor was valued above all other qualities. All knights, the highest models of medieval manhood, adhered to a code of chivalry. When properly followed, this code allowed men to be truly honorable. Among the qualities most highly esteemed were integrity, loyalty, and courage. The clearest examples of chivalry were King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The Pearl Poet vividly illustrates the concepts of chivalry in his epic poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, where Sir Gawain is characterized as a very honorable, chivalrous knight. Throughout the poem, Gawain’s unceasing commitment to his code of chivalry provides a protection against, thus proving the value and necessity of chivalry.

In the Pearl Poet’s Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, an epic story emerges to reveal a man’s journey of honor, honesty, valor, and loyalty. Throughout Gawain’s adventures in the poem, he discovers and demonstrates his own chivalric qualities. Although he makes a few mistakes along the way he strives to be an honorable man.

“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.

Sir Gawain succeeded in upholding his virtues and the Chivalric Code countless times throughout the story. One of the earliest signs of chivalry Sir Gawain shows can be seen at King Arthur’s court, where the Green Knight first appeared before the Knights and challenged them to a game. Sir Gawain shows courage by bravely accepting the challenge, but he also shows humility by praising the other knights and degrading himself by saying, “I am the weakest, I know, and the feeblest of wit, and to tell the truth, there would be the least loss in my life.” (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl Poet, pg. 8) Gawain calls himself the weakest and most unmemorable out of all of the Round Table Knights, this helps the other Knights to save face and ‘allow’

Sir Gawain faces numerous challenges in the story Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written by the Pearl Poet. The challenges that Gawain faced are due to a Christmas game that is to trying to challenge King Arthur and his knights, the Green Knight. Throughout the troubles Gawain faces in the game and his stay in the Green Knight’s home, he proves himself to be a very honorable knight.

While the code of chivalry is intended to reflect concepts created by Christian morality, the real world applications of this code often end up setting the chivalrous at odds with the ideals they seek to uphold. Few stories exemplify this concept more than Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In the beginning of the poem, Sir Gawain is able to act both chivalrously and in accordance with his Christian code of morals. However, as the poem progresses, he is forced to make choices between the code of chivalry, and Christian ideals. Although in the beginning of the poem Gawain is able to satisfy both his chivalric duty and Christian ideals, he is later forced to compromise his Christian values for the sake of chivalry.

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.

Gawain and The Green Knight suggest that honesty, chivalry, non-lust driven motives, and courage are all great traits that should be expressed to be successful in life. Furthermore, Gardner writes, “Sir Gawain the Good is come to the Green Chapel! If any man would meet me, make it now”(Gardner, 231), Gawain showed honor by showing up a year later even though he knew his fate. This shows true bravery and is the knightly thing to do in this time period. This trait could be known as chivalry which the hero of any romance must maintain. For example, Gawain writes “He accepts kisses and true to his bargain returns them to his host” (Gardner, 229), this shows that Gawain is honest and reliable. This is another aspect of Chivalry which furthermore proves that Gawain is a romantic hero in the story; his receiving of the kisses and not pursuing the wife shows his good intentions and non lust driven mind. Lastly, Gardner writes “ lady gives Gawain not only kisses but also a