Thursday, February 28, 2013

What is the morality of Sir Gawain when he us on his journey?

I think we should examine what Sir Gawain represents
first. Gawain is the perfect medieval knight. He is Arthur’s loyal servant and we see
this in the poem. It was against the knight code of chivalry for Arthur to accept a
challenge from anyone while his men sat back chowing down on chicken or pheasant.
Actually it took Gawain awhile to step up to the plate. It was only after the Green
Knight mocked Arthur for a while, basically calling him girly pants, that Gawain took
the Green Knight's challenge. Still, as this was part of the morality/ honor code of
Round Table Knights, Gawain does his moral duty.


Chivalry,
and the morality involved, is tested further when Gawain gets to the Green Knight's
castle. The deal is, of course, to exchange anything each man obtains while the master
(Green Knight) goes hunting. Mrs. Green Knight (sorry I forget her name) attempts to
seduce Gawain. Now it's not that Sir Gawain didn't consider jumping into the sheets with
the Knight's wife, apparently she was not bad looking. Gawain was constrained by his
damn moral code of chivalry, so he settled for some kisses instead (good thing he was
not Tiger Woods!) The Green Knight is really a Pagan fertility/ vegetation God who comes
to test the Christian morals of these super knights .These morals are what save Gawain's
life in the end. Apparently The Green Knight doesn't mind Gawain borrowing his wife's
clothing (the invincible garter belt) and is impressed with Gawain’s honesty. So, if
you’re a knight, remember this little morality tale in case this happens to
you!

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