The Imperfection In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

The theme is revealed through Gawain experiencing his own chivalric imperfections. What ultimately shatters his sense of perfection is fear. The Green Knight’s challenge proves Gawain to fail in the values of battle. By accepting the girdle from Lady Bertilak Gawain failed to uphold the second point of the pentangle: “his five fingers were never at fault” (Armitage 1931). Gawain accepted the girdle form Lady Bertilak after its magical properties were revealed, “the body which is bound within this green belt, as long as it is buckled robustly about him, will be safe against anyone who seeks to strike him” (Armitage 1956), did Gawain accept the token. Gawain accepted this for fear of his own life. He hoped the girdle would serve as his chance of survival against the Green Knight. A knight is to …show more content…
Dante began the story as arrogant. By the end of his journey, Dante is accepting of the punishments he sees in hell and no longer feels pity for the sinners. He demonstrated cowardice and empathy in the beginning of his journey but the end his journey in the ninth circle of hell does he demonstrates straight moral standards as he recognizes the sins of others and not find pity on their punishments. This can be seen when Dante is violent against Bocca, “I had my fingers twisted in his hair and already I’d pulled out more than one fistful, while he yelped like a cur with his eyes shut tight” (Musa 1711). Here a violent Dante is seen when his past feeling of empathy have been snuffed out by the horrors he has seen on his journey. While being violent against neighbors is considered a sin in itself the point that is most important is that Dante clearly recognizes the sin of the condemned and so feels no moral reproach causing more pain to them because their justice from God is already being