Experiences And Challenges In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

In this focus on a short excerpt of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight which is a tale about Gawain encountering challenges he must face and overcome. A challenge is placed before the round table where Gawain is granted one free swing to kill the Green Knight and if unsuccessful, must seek out to receive the exact same a year from the current day. Following this encounter, as Gawain is in search of the Knight he owes, he stumbles upon a castle with a most generous lord and lady where a deal is made between lord and Sir Gawain where they each must gift their earnings that day to the other. The lord sends his wife to tempt Gawain each night and Gawain maintains his knightly vows for two nights, only granting a kiss to the lady each night, until the third night appears and an offer by the lady to save his life with a gift of a girdle is made. We are introduced to the real element of the story here where the focus is on Gawain’s stainlessness and how as a knight he constantly comes into contact with difficulties which can prevent him from staying true to his duty. This tale, the trials of Gawain by the lord and lady and his inability to stray from falling into temptation, is an example of the inhuman social demands placed on knights …show more content…
He is compared to a “pearl” among his fellow knights, “peas”, due to his actions in response to the wooing of the lords wife and his acts leading to this confrontation. He is being elevated above all knights, whose goals are to follow an almost divine path of honour. Gawain here is shown not merely a simple knight, but one who truly deems it necessary to follow every detail that is placed upon his shoulders for carrying the title of Sir. What is expected of him by his surroundings is what he believes he needs to