Sir Gawain Essay

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Alan Myers

The Green Knight

In the didactic that is ,”Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, Sir Gawain’s morals, knighthood, and character are all put to the test. He goes through the entire spectrum of emotion on his endeavor. He shows, then realizes, his true colors while trying to prove his worth. In a time where your honor and how much you can be trusted is your livelihood, Sir Gawain is tested and struggles immensely. Gawain initially appears very noble and brave by stepping up and offering to protect his king. When the Green Knight presents the game, nobody would man up, nobody wanted to hit him, and nobody would protect the honor of the king, nobody except Sir Gawain. This may be the first test Sir Gawain is faced with, and he passes.
In accepting this “game” Sir Gawain gets to hit the Green Knight wherever he wishes with an axe, and in a year and a day the Green Knight will repay the favor. So Sir Gawain hacks and severs the Knight’s head. As the head rolls into the crowd Sir Gawain feels confident he has won until the ominous Green Knight walks, headless, and grasps his head by the hair and wields it. This mystical act ends the big-headedness that Sir Gawain had, and then he realizes the true meaning of the game he is participating in. In his “year and a day” Sir Gawain is left to his own devices and he has to meddle in his own thoughts on what he wants to do. In Sir Gawain’s “year and a day” he makes very poor decisions. He decides to seek magic, in order to save his own life. Sir Gawain decides to go to a lord’s wife and obtains a magic girdle, promised to keep him from any harm. While he is getting this devious girdle he makes yet another bad choice, and steals a kiss from the lord’s wife, neither very knightly. He just proves to the ones administering the test that he has a covetous heart, and is human. No man wants to fight an unfair fight, all he was doing was evening the playing field and preserving his own life. While seeking the Green Chapel Sir Gawain receives aid from a guide. While with this guide they make a pact to share everything they receive as well as everything they know. Once again like a child Gawain breaks his pact and tarnishes his word. He fails to inform the guide of his magical undergarments. As of right now Gawain is not very knightly. Lying, cheating, and keeping secrets is not worth much. When your livelihood is only as good as your word, a selfish knight is as useful as a wet blanket. You need the blanket for warmth, but you know it will not suffice and it only make it worse. When he and his guide separate Gawain discovers the grassy knoll that is the Green Chapel. He is
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