Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Is Gawain and Epitome?

E precise group has its idols, those people who serve as the icon of the groups values. Cowboys loo major power for up to path Frost, hoops players look up to Michael Jordan, and Arthurian knights look up to world power Arthur. In Sir Gawain and the dark-green sawbuck, one of the greatest Arthurian romances written in England, Gawain, King Arthurs nephew, takes on a challenge to exchange one strike for other with the honey oil sawbuck ( term 287).Despite all of the bad experiences and temptations he fights on the route, subsequently the battle with the commons nickname, Sir Gawain is definitely calm d gift birth estimable as the compendium of the Arthurian Knight as he break outs a green gird in remembrance of his mistakes(Sir Gawain). Gawain believes in a bold code, in which is very admirable. Gawain is a young knight who k at a times the chivalric code well, and knows that he is vatic to exhibit, as the Duke of Burgundy says faith, charity, on the buttonice, sagacity, prudence, temperance, resolution, truth, liberality, diligence, hope, and valor(Knights code of Chivalry).These stinker be summed up to the most admirable rules of the chivalric code notice, fealty and Christianity. Gawain is admirable for these qualities in which he possesses. He shows faithfulty to both(prenominal) his profane kings and heavenly king. The knights are renowned after the name of Christ and their king is most high in pride (Sir Gawain, 52). He must honor his uncle, King Arthur, his troops, and paragon, in everything he does. Gawain shows his commitment towards King Arthur by winning the challenge made by the Green Knight.Gawain tells Author that he volition take the battle because, he is the weakest and the least loss, if he lives not (Sir Gawain, lines 354-55). He is so loyal toward the king that he is departing to sacrifice his own life for his uncle, because his uncle would be a much bigger loss. Gawain honors his uncle by not bad up this would commit disappointed his uncle tremendously because as a part of the chivalric code, it is a knights duty to be truthful.He shows loyalty to both his uncle and the Green Knight when he honors the Green Knights wish for him to meet him at the Green Chapel on New Years cockcrow for a nimble knock in return (Sir Gawain,lines451-453). Gawains loyalty to King Arthur also extends to his behavior toward his host. both mean solar day Gawain is to exchange with the host whatever he received from that day. When Gawain tells the host, while I remain in your mansion, your subordination I will obey, he shows extreme honor towards the host (Sir Gawain, line 1093).Along with his loyalty to his host and earthly lord, he puts his faith in God as he prays to the Virgin bloody shame. When Gawain sets out on his journey to mark the Green Chapel, he finds himself lost, and only after praying to the Virgin Mary does he find his way (Sir Gawain). By praying during hard times much(prenominal) as when he needed lodging, and when he doffed his helm, and with honor he thanked Jesus for self-aggrandizing him lodging, he shows his honor and faithfulness to God (Sir Gawain, line 773). Every option Gawain makes exemplifies his effort in staying true to the code of chivalry.Gawain is admirable for never giving up. He succeeds at passing the trials that test his devotion and faith in Christianity. One critic of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight characterizes personality as overstrung and indifferent and states that, nature invades and disrupts order in the major events of the narrative (Sir Gawain). This nature includes both the nature such as wildlife and nature such as Mother reputation. Along the way to his appointment with the Green knight, Gawain encountered umpteen bitter occasions where he could have just lapsen up.He faces harsh conditions such as, wars with worms, wolves, wood- trolls, bulls, bears, boars, and ogres (Sir Gawain, lines 720-23). It later goes on to men tion that death had met often (Sir Gawain, line 725). Things will get a lot worse before they get better(p) for Gawain, in this situation. Gawain is in a constant battle, further he refuses to give in, knowing that even after all of these cruel catastrophes, he still has to meet with the Green Knight. This is extreme loyalty, for him to keep going without lodging, all by himself, and in the cold weather (Sir Gawain, lines 712-735). Nature (Sir Gawain).In this case Mother Nature causes the problems that Gawain must face. Even after all of the mishaps invented by nature along the way, Gawain still must take on more mishaps as he is overcome by Bertilaks wife and her seductiveness. It is only nature for a guy, especially a single guy, to lust for a seductive fair sex when she is constantly tempting him often, so as to allure him to love-making. (Sir Gawain, lines 1550-51). Each day when the hosts wife comes in his bed room and kisses him, Gawain remains loyal to the host by givin g him the kisses in return for what the host had killed that day (Sir Gawain).By pushing through the nature, bad weather, lonely shimmy, and temptations of the hosts wife, Gawain is admirable for never giving up as well as remaining loyal to his host. Gawains response to all of the mishaps along the way to meet the Green Knight and when he does meet with him is incredibly admirable. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain struggles to meet the appointment and his adventures along the way demonstrate his spirit of chivalry and loyalty. (Sir Gawain). Consequently, he plumps this test of loyalty, honesty, Christianity, and chivalry as a whole, when he takes the gird and doesnt give it to the host.He values selection over virtue (Sir Gawain). The knight tells Gawain, As a pearl than clean-living pease is prized more highly, / so is Gawain, in good faith, than other gallant knights,/ moreover in this you lacked, sir, a little, and of loyalty came short(Sir Gawain lines 2365-67) . Gawain has made this long trip to meet the Green Knight, been through many near death experiences, has been petting his hosts wife, and when he is offered a girdle that will save him from being killed, nature kicks in again this time causing him to fail the test of his loyalty to his host or Green Knight.He takes the girdle deal any man would do and does not give it to the host. By doing this he values survival over being an honest and loyal knight. He is also placing his faith in a girdle instead of praying to Mary. (Sir Gawain) As a critic says, he employs reason to do something less(prenominal) than courageousevade death in a dishonest way. (Sir Gawain) non only is Gawain failing at being honest, but also at being loyal to both the Green Knight and King Arthur. As a knight, cheating and lying are not acceptable, but because he love his own life the less the Green Knight blamed him. (Sir Gawain lines, 2369) As the Green Knight explains to Gawain how everything he had encoun tered since he had stayed in Bertilak was a test, Gawain adds unimportance to the chivalric code. He confesses to the knight and returns to him, his wifes girdle. As Kevin Gustavon says, Like the Green Knights accusation, Gawains subsequent confession draws on penitential diction way that rede? nes chivalric masculinity, so that it includes imperfection and fear, as well as a sense of humility that arises from recognition of ones own weakness rather than from mere politeness. (Gustavon, 628) The Knight forgives Gawain by saying, Thou hast confessed thee so clean and acknowledged thine errors, / and I give thee, sir, the girdle with gold at its hems/twill be a plain reminder of the chance of the Green Chapel between chivalrous knights. (Sir Gawain, lines 2394-2400) By confessing, Gawain recognized his weakness and act to make it right this helps to exemplify Gawains honesty, and adds humility to the chivalric code. Gawain says of the girdle, but as a token of my trespass I shall t urn to it oftenruefully recalling the failure and the frailty of the flesh so perverse. (Sir Gawain lines, 2434-2436) Gawain chooses to wear the girdle in remembrance of his sins, making him even more admirable for his simplicity, at no point does he try to deny or exclude his mistake he is very straightforward once the Green Knight tells him of the tests. Gawain is admirable not only to the reader of this story, but also to his conglutination and everyone at the round table. (Sir Gawain, lines 2517-2518) The people of the round table can now honor Gawain as a knight who has risen to be just as big of an influence as King Arthur.When Gawain returns home to King Arthur, they all decide to wear green girdles like Gawain. Even though Gawain fails, his family, brotherhood, and the ladies of the Round Table still look upon Gawain as the ideal knight. They honor him and honor him, and this for love of that knight as a livery they wear a green girdle (Sir Gawain, line 2520). For Gawain to confess and want to wear the girdle for his rue and disgrace, he has made himself an admirable epitome, so that others honor him (Sir Gawain). Every knight of Brotherhood a baldric should have, / a band of silky green obliquely about him (Sir Gawain, lines 2518-2519). After the all of the hardships and meeting with the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is seen as equal to King Arthur by the round table. Gawain is still admirable for the code he believes in, the code he follows, his ability to never give up on his code, and the way he responds to all of his misfortunes. But, he is respect even more for learning humility.Cowboys continue to look up to Lane Frost even though he might not have always rode 8 seconds, and basketball players look up to Michael Jordan regardless of how many missed shots he had, because each bull ride or basketball game taught them something. Arthurian knights see King Arthur and Sir Gawain as admirable epitomes for the humility that Gawain has learned to carr y with him. Works Cited Baswell, Christopher and Schotter, Anne. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Master of British books. Vol. A. Eds. David Damrosch and Kevin J. H. Dettmar.New York Longman- Pearson, 2008. 144-202. Print. Gustavon, Kevin. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. A companion to medieval English Literature and Culture 1350-1500 . Eds. Peter Brown. (2007) 628. Web. 10 October 2012. < http//www. scribd. com/doc/47311463/29/Sir-Gawain-and-the-Green-Knight> Knights code of Chivalry. middle-ages. n. p. n. d. Web. 9 October 2012. < http//owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/747/08/>. Sir Gawain. Arthurian Adventure. n. p. 2004. Web. 9 October 2012. < http//arthurianadventure. com/sir_gawain. htm>.