In the Pearl Poet’s romantic poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is a knight who abides by a set of knightly virtues in the land of Camelot. Sir Gawain follows these knightly virtues with great efficiency. Sir Gawain always upholds his knightly virtues because of the people he meets, like the lady and the hosts, and because of his actions, like attending Christmas Mass. Sir Gawain is the ideal knight because he lives according to his knightly virtues, especially piety, chastity, and friendliness.
Sir Gawain is an ideal pious knight because lives up to the knightly virtue of piety by praying to God, participating in the Sacraments, and attending Mass. Sir Gawain wants to “hear [Christmas] Mass before morning” (Raffel 72), and eventually, …show more content…
After Sir Gawain arrives at the castle, the lady of the castle wants to make love with Sir Gawain, but he thwarts the lady’s intentions by telling the lady that if Sir Gawain would make love to her it would “take that honor for [himself] would be sinful” (Raffel 88). Sir Gawain denies the lady because Sir Gawain “[knows himself] too well” (Raffel 88) and he knows about his virtue of chastity. Not only does the lady want to make love with Sir Gawain, but she wants to “kiss as he wish” (Raffel 89). So the lady “taught [Sir Gawain about] kissing” (Raffel 95). Sir Gawain halts her by telling her that “[she is] wrong [and he] cannot dare where [he] might deny. What Sir Gawain does to the lady is significant because he keeps her from ruining Sir Gawain’s chastity. The lady asks if Sir Gawain has “a lover [that makes his heart’s] like better” (Raffel 102). Sir Gawain lies to the lady by telling her that he has “none, and none [he] will have for now” (Raffel 103). Sir Gawain lies to the lady because he does not want to talk about Guinevere. Sir Gawain lying to the lady makes him remain chaste because he appears to be chaste about the lady. Throughout the games that Sir Gawain and the lady play, Sir Gawain remains the chaste knights because he resists the lady’s kisses, her intentions, and he tries to appear like an actual chaste person to the
Sir Gawain is an ideal pious knight because lives up to the knightly virtue of piety by praying to God, participating in the Sacraments, and attending Mass. Sir Gawain wants to “hear [Christmas] Mass before morning” (Raffel 72), and eventually, …show more content…
After Sir Gawain arrives at the castle, the lady of the castle wants to make love with Sir Gawain, but he thwarts the lady’s intentions by telling the lady that if Sir Gawain would make love to her it would “take that honor for [himself] would be sinful” (Raffel 88). Sir Gawain denies the lady because Sir Gawain “[knows himself] too well” (Raffel 88) and he knows about his virtue of chastity. Not only does the lady want to make love with Sir Gawain, but she wants to “kiss as he wish” (Raffel 89). So the lady “taught [Sir Gawain about] kissing” (Raffel 95). Sir Gawain halts her by telling her that “[she is] wrong [and he] cannot dare where [he] might deny. What Sir Gawain does to the lady is significant because he keeps her from ruining Sir Gawain’s chastity. The lady asks if Sir Gawain has “a lover [that makes his heart’s] like better” (Raffel 102). Sir Gawain lies to the lady by telling her that he has “none, and none [he] will have for now” (Raffel 103). Sir Gawain lies to the lady because he does not want to talk about Guinevere. Sir Gawain lying to the lady makes him remain chaste because he appears to be chaste about the lady. Throughout the games that Sir Gawain and the lady play, Sir Gawain remains the chaste knights because he resists the lady’s kisses, her intentions, and he tries to appear like an actual chaste person to the