Themes in Sir Gareth

The knight shows his true chivric colors by saying “My lady and my love, my dearest wife, I leave the matter to your wise decision.” (406-407) By allowing his wife to chose for him he displays true chivalry. He is also allowing to choose what she wants for her husband; this is a recall to the answer she gave him to save his life.

Elements of the medieval romance are evident in the movie First Knight. As such Chivalry is clearly evident through the action of Lancelot in the First Knight. This is shown when he goes out to rescue Lady Guinevere from the ambush in the forest and from Malagant castle where she is being held captive after being kidnaped in Camelot, Therefore, this is a clear depiction of chivalry in where the knight goes out to save the damsel in distress from danger. Another act of chivalry is when Lancelot embarks into the gauntlet which is a contraption that test one’s courage, bravery, and skill to be able to pass. Therefore, Lancelot goes through the gauntlet without any protection to display his skill and bravery to impress Guinevere. Consequently,

Whats a good medieval romance without chivalry? The combination of qualities expected of an ideal knight, especially courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help the weak. “The world of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is governed by well-defined codes of behavior. ... The ideals of Christian morality and knightly chivalry are brought together in Gawain's symbolic shield. The pentangle represents the five virtues of knights: friendship, generosity, chastity, courtesy, and piety.”

In two stories there is a code that knights follow. Chivalry is the code that they follow. The code says that a knight should be a brave warrior, a good christian, and selflessly fighting for justice. The knights are supposed to fight for their king and queen. In the stories Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and from Morte d’Arthur they show the idea about chivalry.

In the Medieval Period, knights dedicated their lives to following the code of chivalry. In Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, a number of characters performed chivalrous acts to achieve the status of an ideal knight. Their characteristics of respect for women and courtesy for all, helpfulness to the weak, honor, and skill in battle made the characters King Arthur, King Pellinore, and Sir Gryfflette examples of a what knights strove to be like in Medieval society. Because of the examples ofchivalry, Le Morte d’Arthur showed what a knight desired to be, so he could improve theworld in which he lived.

     An act of chivalry is described as the qualifications or character of the ideal knight. Knights were expected to uphold this code of conduct. In the English literature Le Morte d?Arthur, French for ?The Death of Arthur?, by Sir Thomas Malory, the characters display acts of chivalry from beginning to end. Though the code of chivalry contains many qualities or acts, nevertheless bravery, loyalty, and courtly love are demonstrated more throughout this literature.

ENGL 2322 – British Literature to 1800 (English IV) ENGL 2323 – British Literature since 1800 (English IV) ENGL 2327 – American Literature to 1865

In Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem, The Knight’s Tale, the author encapsulates chivalrous characteristics in his telling of a battle for love. In its fundamental form, chivalry idealizes a knight’s conduct, both on and off the battlefield (Gregory-Abbott). Chaucer employs this “heroic code [of] bravery, loyalty, and service to one's lord” to illustrate the idillic knight throughout the narrative (Rossignol). Chaucer’s poem, The Knight’s Tale, exhibits the ideals of chivalry in the form of two knights, desperately in love with the same woman, and a wise Duke who embodies the voice of reason. Each knight upholds honor through compassion, troths, and heroism on the battlefield, despite their afflictions with each other.

How and to what extent did war and violence contribute to the definition of chivalry as both an historical and social phenomenon?

The chivalric code involved the training and passing of skills to the knights for them to acquire a particular behavior in their service for the kings and queens who they worked under especially in the medieval era.1 The skills that knights were to acquire involved bravery, honesty, generosity and unquestioning service to their Lords. Keen affirms that the code was strict and involved activities aimed at ensuring

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight along with The Canterbury Tales features impressive knights that all boast a chivalric code. As Sir Gawain and the Green Knight unfolds, we readers are led to look beneath the attractive surface of chivalry and question exactly what chivalry is through examples such as: Sir Arthur , Sir Gawain, the Green Knight, Palamon, and Arcite.

The aristocracy had many of the same views and opinions as the middle class. They lived in fear of the revolt of the lower class. They however needed the courage to fight for politically they too wanted unification with dependency on the princes and soldiers (doc. 8). Economically, aristocracy had money in a time where most did not. They survived in better comfort than most but still managed to struggle when it came to providing for family members. In a women’s perspective, the labor of

First, the knight is a very humble and hardworking man. We see this when Chaucer says, “Speaking of his equipment, he possessed/ Fine horses, but he was not gaily dressed” (75-76). Chaucer mentions the Knight’s fine horses to show that he has enough money to buy anything he wants. Then, he mentions that the Knight is not dressed fancy. Why would he not by the best clothes that money can buy in he was able to do so? The Knight does not want to show off that he has lots of money because he is a humble man. Also, Chaucer shows us that the Knight is a hardworking

Chivalry is a concept that has baffled countless medieval historians throughout the years. Chivalry was supposedly a code that knights and nobles lived their lives by, however, like other social structures of the past historians have debated over the extent to which people lived according to chivalric principles. Sir Walter Scott believed that chivalry was meant as a code which knights could aspire, but not one that was carried out in reality. His description seems accurate. Chivalric principles could not be borne out in real life. Froissart painted a romantic image of The Hundred Years War and of the aristocracy at the time. Froissart is constantly full of praise for the chivalric lifestyle many of them are

However, the description of chivalry is not only portrayed through the imagery in the novel but moreover through the behavior of Philip Marlowe. For hundreds of years, the knight is one of the most fascinating figures or motives of the history which has not lost his symbolic brightness and power. If one is looking for a definition of a knight it always includes certain terms like strong, noble, chivalrous, morally straight or protector of the weak as well as the existence of a certain code. According to this code it is the duty of a knight to protect women, children and to have faithfulness. This is exactly the behavior that Marlowe displays throughout the novel. Within the novel there are several passages and examples