The Green Knight And Sir Gawain Character Analysis

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tells the story of Sir Gawain’s dealings with the Green knight. The Green Knight is an extraordinary man who challenges arthur, and Gawain steps up to play the Green Knights game. One year later, he travels to find the Green Knight and stops in a castle along the way where he and the lord trade all gifts that they receive each day. After three days, Sir Gawain leaves and meets the Green Knight where only nicks sir Gawain’s neck with the axe and reveals that he is the lord of the castle where Gawain stayed and the cut was for not giving up all of his gifts. This Arthurian romance has no known author but the popularity of the story has kept it alive. In this story, Gawain sacrificed his own life to defend the honor of his King Arthur. He shows that he is an honorable knight person by defending the honor of his king, keeping the agreement he made with the Green Knight and acknowledging his own sin. Gawain also comes the realization that he cannot be completely without sin and has to live with that knowledge. Honor is an important theme throughout the book and is what drives Gawain to go on this journey. The story of Sir Gawain stresses the importance of honor and chivalry in all parts of life by showing what being good did for him.

​Sir Gawain, nephew to the well-known King Arthur of the Round Table, is regarded as the most elite and noble of all the knights in the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Yet, like anyone else in the world, Sir Gawain is far from perfect. Gawain, a courteous knight living a life dedicated to honor, courage, and self-preservation, is tested on his chivalrous code throughout his journey; a search for the Green Knight. Throughout the tests, Gawain’s actions reveal that even the best of men can be selfish and are subject to guilt and sin.

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is the classic tale of a knight of the round table who takes up the challenge of the mysterious Green Knight. The poem begins with the Green Knight’s sudden arrival and his declaration of his proposition: a knight may strike him, and then a year and one day from then he will return the blow. This tale is most well-known for dealing with the themes of a knight’s code of chivalry, loyalty, resisting temptation, and keeping one’s word. While the whole poem is full of great lines that beautifully deliver the message, one of the best passages come at the end of the poem after Sir Gawain has managed to survive his second encounter with the Green Knight. This passage perfectly encompasses the various themes of the poem, as it deals with all of the trials Gawain has faced up until that point and also explains how he deals with the shame he feels for surviving the game in the way he did.

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is a poem written by an unknown poet during mid to late fourteenth century. The poem tells a story about one of King Arthur's knights. Sir Gawain steps up to a challenge to swap blows with the Green Knight so that his king does not have to. A year later, Sir Gawain goes on a quest to find the Green Knight so that he can receive his blow and lands himself in a castle for a few days. He makes a deal to give the host what he receives at the castle and in return he will get what the host gets during the hunt. Sir Gawain is only honest about what he receives two days and not the third. When he meets the Green Knight, he receives one easy blow for only being dishonest once. Although Sir Gawain is a knight of great

This story explains the importance of honesty and having integrity all the time. Sir Gawain is faced with the challenge of fighting the very strong Green Knight. The Green Knight and Sir Gawain decided that they would play a game where they both get a chance to swing at each other. He overcomes many obstacles through the journey of their agreement. The Green Knight disguises himself as a Lord to test Sir Gawain’s loyalty and honesty. He has his wife seduce him and try to make him fall for her. After three times, Sir Gawain finally gives in to her. At this point, it is proven that Sir Gawain’s integrity and honesty is not as strong as everyone thought. He knew that the lady was married but she was so beautiful he could not contain his feelings for her. He is young and immature and allows lust to take over what he knew was wrong. This situation proves that he is not as angelic and pure as most people believed.

    Gawain’s loyalty to King Arthur is unquestionable. To begin this story, there is a Green knight who proposes a game to a room full of Arthur’s knights. When no man volunteers to play with the Green Knight, Gawain steps in to save his king’s life and reputation. Before accepting the Green Knight's challenge, Gawain asks Arthur to “...command me to step from the dias and stand with you there, / That I might without bad manners make down from my place…” (From Sir Gawain…, ln. 121-122). By doing so, not only does Gawain step up to the green knight for his king, but he also goes about it in a very chivalrous, respectful way to his king above all of us. By respecting his king and being the only man to step up to the challenge and risk his life for his king, Gawain shows loyalty, which in turn follows chivalry, putting his honor above his life.

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is about Arthur and his knights having a New Years Eve party. Suddenly, a stranger walks in on his horse with his green skin and a challenge. He challenged king arthur to play a game but his nephew stepped in his place. Gawain was to hit the Green Knight as hard as he could with the axe and he would return the favor. He struck a blow, the knight’s head rolled to the floor, the Green Knight got off his horse and picked it up and rode off so fast they thought sparks had flew off the horses hooves. The challenge of the green knight challenged Gawain's honesty and bravery. Later on in the story, Gawain finds out that the Green Knight was really Lord Berkilac and he was testing him. The tests of Lord Berkilac will question both his and Sir Gawain’s character, nobility, and bravery.

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain continuously proves his knightly virtues and code of honor. Chivalry includes bravery, honor, and courtesy. He proves that he is in fact a "real" Knight. He shows his bravery by shying away from nothing and no one. He proves his honor and courtesy to everyone he meets by showing respect to all whether he receives it back or not.

As seen, Gawain agrees to the “fateful region of both treasure and danger…” (Campbell, 53) known as the call to adventure meaning that Gawain accepts the dangers that await him. The Green Knight would be known as the herald in this part of the poem, he sent the message himself to have a knight accept his challenge. Sir Gawain becomes afraid of death, knowing the Green Knight “neither faltered nor fell; he started forward with outstretched hand and caught the head…” (Weston, 9) which means that Sir Gawain knows that the Green Knight ha the capability of slaying him. Seen as the trickster, the Green Knight commonly mislead Sir Gawain into his possible future death. Sir Gawain goes on his journey in search of the Green Knight and prayed to his God that he will be safe and have a place to rest along the way. Eventually, his God answers his prayer as he finds shelter symbolizing that he finds inner peace being taken in by an owner of a castle. The host warns Gawain that he often goes hunting and continues “whatsoever I win in the wood shall be yours, and whatever may fall to your share, that shall ye exchange for it” (Weston, 20). The Green Knight disguises himself as the host, yet the host, known as a mentor teaches Sir Gawain to acknowledge loyalty and honor. While the host acted kind and generous, Sir Gawain never became aware that the host was also the trickster. The host sends out his wife each day to seduce Sir Gawain. During the first two days, Gawain returns the kisses to the host in the evening in exchange for their trade. He was loyal to the host

With any story, characters have always been an essential part of understanding the growth and development of a hero while also allowing the reader to better understand the overall message of a piece of literature. That being said, the poem entitled Sir Gawain and the Green Knight acts no different as the knight, Sir Gawain, serves as its hero while other characters help fulfill the various archetypes within “the idea of the monomyth that Campbell defines” (Campbell lviii). Throughout the poem, Gawain finds himself interacting with the aforementioned archetypal characters and becoming a more honorable knight in the process. Two characters in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight play key archetypal roles in the perfecting of the hero’s moral development.

Proving his loyalty to the king, and living up to the honor code of a knight, young Sir Gawain accepts the challenge. After beheading the Green Knight, who astonishes everyone by remaining alive, Sir Gawain is led on a journey assumed to end in his certain death. During his adventure, his honor and pride are unsuspectingly put to the test, and his human vulnerabilities are pushed to their limits. After three days of feasting, fighting off the sexual advances of a beautiful married woman, and battling with his own weaknesses, Sir Gawain meets the Green Knight, as he has promised, and is ready to die like a true knight. Only then is Gawain told that this game has not been a test of his bravery as a knight, but rather a test of his moral character as a man. With his almost impeccably honorable actions of the past three days, he has already won his life.

After reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain’s identity is left undecided. At the conclusion of the narrative, the Green Knight restores Gawain’s knightly virtues of the pentangle and continues to praise Gawain for his virtue. But Gawain returns home unsatisfied with his restoration only to find his court full of admiration for his return home and victory, even though he now wears the green lace (4.2489-505). The physical journey Gawain to the Green Knight demonstrates his outward courage and devotion, but what is truly going on in his heart? Gawain’s moral character is at stake because he must decide between his valued pentangle or his gifted green lace as his true identity. During his encounter with the Green Knight, Sir

He finally makes it to the Green Knight's lair and awaits his faith. The Green Knight tests Gawain's chivalry by testing him when he swings at him with his axe. After three swings Gawain tells him to stop, because he has given a single stroke and stood still for it as part of the challenge.The Green Knight then tells him, “For I planned it all, to test you…..” (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 201-204). Sir Gawain is ashamed and disappointed in himself for his failure to follow by the rules and keep his complete word as a knight. Sir Gawain’s believes, he is a failure and a knight who has sinned. Also Gawain failed to tell the Green Knight about the green belt given to him by the Green Knight’s wife. The Green Knight forgives him by saying,

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a poem that tells the story of one of King Arthur’s knights, Sir Gawain. He is one of the noblest and brave of all of Arthur's knights. The poet who is unknown depicts this magical tale of heroism and adventure. During the story, the main character, Sir Gawain undergoes a serious transformation of his character. Bertilak enters King Arthur’s court as the green knight, a mysterious and mythical character. Sir Gawain’s story of that change is put in motion. Change, and specifically transformation happens throughout the poem. Bertilak is almost Godlike, and Bertilak is who helps to create Sir Gawain’s transformation, through which he becomes more like Christ.