Do you have the quality of being honest and strong moral principles? If so, you can say that you have integrity. Integrity is a good quality to have. It shows that you are able to be trusted with anything by your peers. Responsibility comes along with having integrity, you would be put on a higher pedestal than those who do not show this quality. As well as respect, it comes into play as well when you show others that you have integrity. Gawain displays some acts of integrity in this story, but he also lacks integrity. The first test that Gawain encountered was chivalry, to show how he could withstand from temptation and remain a loyal and honorable Knight. Seduction, logic, flattery and his desire to survive came with this first test. Gawain’s honesty and promises were tested, all of this basically came together to test the knight’s honor. He thought that the Green Knight’s wife was very attractive, so they thought it would be easy for Gawain to fail. The Green Knight’s wife tried multiple times to seduce Gawain, but …show more content…
As Gawain was on the way to the Green Chapel, where the meeting was taking place, he passed this final test with the ease. He is successful with this test because he does not listen to the guide and still attends the meeting. Gawain pays the guide no mind and responds to the guide saying that if he were a coward, he could not be excused. He said that he must go to the chapel to test his luck (basically the girdle), for “The Lord is strong to save: his servants trust in him”. Only if Gawain knew what he was about to walk into. Once he entered the meeting to face the Green Knight for the return blow, the Green Knight explains that he is Bercilak, and he has been testing him this whole time. Even though Bercilak forgives him and elaborates on his understanding as to why Gawain did what he did, Gawain still feels as if he has
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).
Evidently, Gawain is so desperate to volunteer even for a quest he does not know anything about since the King did not explain it yet, showing that Gawain does not think through his decisions which means he is a little over confident in himself. To add, Gawain is always trying to volunteer for quests first. In other words, Gawain is King Arthur’s favourite knight: “Arthur loved this knight [Gawain], always the first to come forward, ever ready to put his courage to the test” (Hastings 179). In this situation, Arthur is feeding Gawain’s ego all while being blinded by his courageous efforts when he is actually just cocky from his previous successes. To sum up, Gawain easily disguises his cocky attributes with his seemingly brave and loyal doings.
The Green Knight raises his ax three times over Gawain's neck to almost scare him to test him, like a sign of strength to intimidate. 4. Gawain does very well with the Green Knight's challenege except when Gawain finally succumbed to the lord's wife's pleas for taking the green sash. He is just as guy who tries his best, so he can make a mistake.
She constantly attempts to seduce Gawain and “never ceased to remind him of his reputation” making her seem like she cares about preserving his upstanding reputation (Engelhardt 221). When she later tells Gawain about her green belt that could save his life, he believes her lie, accepting and keeping the belt even though it would not actually make him invincible. At the end of the story, the Green Knight, the lord, reveals that he “sent her to test [Gawain]” to see if he was truly noble (Winny 2362). Gawain thought that the “gift of her body which the lady pressed upon Gawain” initially was her honest affection towards him, but her affection towards him was not real (Engelhardt 221). Her dishonesty in her affection caused Gawain to commit a sin which was against his reputation.
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
Which led to the Green Knight explaining to Gawain that he is actually the same lord of the castle where Gawain spent his holidays. The first two blows, he claims, were in return for the way Gawain returned the kisses of his wife, following the rules of their game as an honest man should. The third blow, he says, was for Gawain’s failure to return the green girdle to him on the last day. But because Gawain’s failing was only because he wanted to save his life, and not because he's just dishonorable, the Green Knight forgives him. He leaves Gawain with only a scar and a girdle as a reminder of his very human sin.
In this time period a knight’s honor was everything, without it the noblemen would become a huge disgrace. Sir Gawain’s honor is immediately tested at the beginning of the poem. He gives his word in the beheading game and intends to keep it even though it’s obvious that the Green Knight had tricked him. “Blood gutters brightly against his green gown, yet the man doesn’t shudder or stagger or sink, but trudges towards them […] gripping his head by a handful of hair. Then he settles himself in his seat with the ease of a man unmarked” (429-439).
As an Expert states, “Critics consider the puzzle of the theme a major asset of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and they continue to debate whether the real test was what happened at Castle Hautdesert rather than the exchange of blows, as well as whether, finally, Gawain passed or failed the tests” (Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism). The reason the critics say this is because they see that the real or possibly the real test was when Sir Gawain was in the castle getting tested by the king which turns out to be the king rather than getting swung at with an axe. Although Sir Gawain was not aware that the king was testing him under these circumstances he did want he had to do even if it meant he was a bit disloyal when taking the green sash. As Sir Gawain states, ‘“There, there’s my fault! The foul fiend vex it” (line 389)!
Sir Gawain shows loyalty and humility when he makes the decision of honoring the promise he made with the Green Knight. This humility drives him to set off to pursue the Green Knight to honor the pact they agreed on. On his arrival at the Green chapel, he calls the Green Knight who emerges to greet him and to fulfill the terms of the contract (Cathell). Sir Gawain presents his neck voluntarily to the Green Knight who feigns two blows (Cooke 4). This is a commitment and a sign of piety that Gawain manifests.
Not all heroes are perfect, but some are nobler than others. In the story of Sir Gawain, we find out that even legends, such as Sir Gawain made mistakes. In today’s time, most heroes are thought of as militaristic accomplishments, such as badges, wars won, and saving lives. Sir Gawain was a hero, not because of great accomplishments but because he was driven by his bravery, nobility, and virtue.
Gawain, who had struck a deal with the lord to surrender all things he received during his stay in the lord’s dwelling, fails to do so in the name of self-preservation. The lord’s wife gifts Sir Gawain a green sash rumored to protect its possessor from physical harm. Gawain, recalling his inevitable meeting with the Green Knight, decides to contradict his agreement with the lord and “hid[es] it away from all hands and eyes” (Line 1875). His decision blatantly violated the chivalrous code, “failing a moral test in agreeing to hide the girdle from the husband, with whom he has the prior arrangement to exchange winnings” (West 9).
Gawain cannot redeem himself by blaming others, but does it anyways. He was supposed to be the epitome of chivalry and purity, but blames a single woman, the lady of the manor, on everything that he started. Gawain was the one to agree to the Green Knight’s challenge, not a woman who told him to. He took on the lord’s bets, without the ladies saying anything to him. Gawain’s pride and misogyny showed that he could not complete, or even start a path to redemption.
After Gawain comes clean and acknowledges his sin, the Green Knight praises him for being an honorable and chivalrous knight. He then invites Gawain to a great feast, but Gawain humbly states that he must return to his duties and continue to defend and protect King Arthur and his subjects. Sir Gawain even thanks the Green Knight and wishes him well after this frightening test of honor. He says, "I've reveled too well already; but fortune be with you; May He who gives all honors honor you well," (401-402).
Fault and redemption. What do these two words really do in our lives? Do they give us another chance or are they just concepts that we want to follow? In the world we live in, one fault can often make or break something in our lives, but when granted with redemption, we don’t always take it as seriously as needed and soon our fault becomes someone else’s pride. Sir Gawain’s faults can be a constant reminder of the mistakes we all make as humans along with the quote, “It is clear then that there can be no redemption without fault, just as one is unable to return from exile without first being sent into one.
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).