Comparing Women In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

The literature piece of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight revolves around medieval knights with their chivalric values as well as their romantic ideologies of courtly love. The era in which this story took place was in a male-dominated culture, where the men were supposed to be brave, honorable and loyal on an everyday basis. The women of this era were subordinate and therefore followed and served these same men. Although the women were to serve the superior man they would also use their womanly charm to dominate them back to do what they wanted. If the knights were courting a lady, they were supposed to treat her respectfully and follow her commands as she wished. Sir Gawain without his knowledge was being tested for his chivalry throughout …show more content…
The first test showed is at the beginning of the story when the Green knight comes riding in and challenges the court to a game, “The Green Knight says that he will allow whomever accepts the challenge to strike him with his own axe, on the condition that the challenger find him in exactly one year to receive a blow in return… when the Green Knight mocks Arthur’s silence, the king steps forward to take the challenge. As soon as Arthur grips the Green Knight’s axe, Sir Gawain leaps up and asks to take the challenge himself.” (Sir Gawain and The Green Knight: Plot Overview) By stepping up for his king when the Green Knight challenged everyone Gawain proved himself to be a loyal knight. Additionally, knowing that their king is far too valuable to lose he takes his place not only to defend the court 's reputation but to show his chivalry by protecting the crown. Furthermore, another test set for Sir Gawain were within the terms of the Green Knights game, as stated in The Chivalric Code in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Article, “the Green Knight uses the game playing to test Sir Gawain’s inner worth and honor as a knight… if he does not meet the green knight then he is perceived as a dishonorable man who does not keep his word”. Sir Gawain proves his chivalry again ultimately by following the terms of the game and keeping his word …show more content…
Triumphing through the first two tests proved Sir Gawain to be a very chivalric knight until courtly love was added to his set of values. While being a guest inside the castle, Sir Gawain is again faced with more tests of chivalry without knowing. His test being to court Lady Bertilak, without acknowledging he thought that she was in love with him but in reality, she was sent by the green knight to see if he would betray the loyalty of his host. Furthermore, the two sets of customs were believed to be a good thing when placed together, “The woman in a courtly love story is placed on a pedestal: she is totally perfect in every way, and the knight practically worships her. In fact, his love for her makes the knight stronger and more honorable,” (Shmoop Editorial Team). Except instead of making Sir Gawain more chivalrous it made him dishonorable because he was untruthful to his host who was his host. At the end of the story the reader realizes that Sir Gawain had lost his chivalry by accepting a token from his courted Lady and not telling his