Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Analysis

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an amazing poem that combined a lot of medieval history along with a deep storyline in order to convey an enjoyable piece of literature. Right from the start, the readers will learn about a beheading game that will instantly draw their attention to the poem. Even though it may seen like a fun game at first, the readers are introduced to Sir Gawain and learned how the game affected him after it was completed. Throughout the poem, Gawain faced a lot of adversities, but those adversities helped Gawain changed for the better. Sir Gawain was being test many ways, and the true purpose of those test was to observe if he is willing to abide to the code of chivalry. It is also meant to enlighten the young knight on …show more content…
“I am the weakest of your warriors and feeblest of wit.”(Line 354) At first he had no shame in saying this because he knew that it was true. Gawain wanted to prove himself and decided to replace King Arthur in the game. “Such a foolish affair is unfitting for a king, so; being first to come forward, it should fall to me.” (Line 357) However, when Gawain is warmly welcomed to Bertilak’s castle, everything he once thought about himself completely disappear. He is suddenly faced with a reputation of a courageous and chivalrous fighter who dared to stand up against the infamous Green Knight. Naturally, the knight of Camelot insists on living up to that reputation while Bertilak sends his wife and servant to test his real character. Three tests was given to Gawain and he was able to pass most of them. His ability to pass the tests revealed that he truly is a knight at heart and focused a lot on the code of chivalry. Though when Bertilak finds out that Gawain took the girdle, he recognized that the young knight prefers his own life rather than the set of values and beliefs he set for himself. Bertilak naturally punishes Gawain for his lie with a strike to the neck but also helps him realize that he isn’t the ideal champion that he fantasized. The whole tests showed how Gawain is just human and is not immune from making …show more content…
Gawain may be a knight at heart, but he is far from being a person because he still have the delusion of himself being a perfect knight that doesn’t sin. The events Gawain goes through are set up for him to learn about the results of sin, forgiveness and expectations. Gawain was punished for his dishonesty only to be forgiven by the lord since his only desire was to save his own life. In conclusion, Gawain did learn from his mistakes and became a wiser person when he decided to keep the girdle on him forever. He recognized that failures shouldn’t stop a person in their tracks and also realized that he doesn’t need any ridiculous expectation on