The Nature of Sir Gawain

A detailed Summary of The Nature of Sir Gawain

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight starts out in at a New Year's feast in King Arthur's court in Camelot. A man known only as the Green Knight comes and challenges the court to a game. Any knight can chop off his head as long as he gets to do the same in one year's time. Arthur accepts the challenge when Sir Gawain steps in and takes his place. Gawain chops of the mans head as he turns and picks it up and tells Gawain that he will see him in a year's time. On his way to meet the Green Knight Gawain meets up with some obstacles, before going before the knight. Through his actions Sir Gawain is a martyr.

One aspect of being a martyr is to be modest. He first exhibits modesty when he takes the offer of the Green Knight as he states, "I am the slightest, the dullest of them all; My life the least, my death no loss - My only worth is you, my royal Uncle, all my virtue is through you." His modesty is shown again when dealing with the Lady of the castle as she tries to make advances to him. He countered her by saying, "How lucky I am, Lady, not to be the knight you speak of: To take that kind of honor for my own would be sinful; I know myself too well." The Lady also exploits this trait of Gawain's. She knows that he has a desir

Gawain does not care for gifts or personal possessions. When the lady offers him a ring he refused it saying, "My lady fair, in God's own name there's nothing I can take, not now, when I've nothing to give in return." With that she offered him her girdle, which was of green silk and precious stones and trimmed in gold. He refused the girdle by saying that he could not accept any gold or treasure until his adventure with the Green Knight was over. He soon changes his mind when she tells him that the wearer of the girdle cannot be harmed. In order to receive the girdle he had to promise not to tell her husband the king, which goes against the promise he had made to the king to reveal everything he was given while away hunting. He does not wear the girdle for sinful pursuits, rather for his own safety, "Yet he wore not for its wealth that wondrous girdle, nor pride in its pendants, though polished they were, ... But to keep himself safe."

e and obligation to be polite and courteous. So when she makes her advances he doesn't know what to do, "Urged him so near the limit, he needed either to take her love or boorishly turn her away. To offend like a boor was bad enough; to fall in sin would be wo

Some common words found in the essay are:
Green Knight, God I'll, Sir Gawain, Royal Court, Sake Gawain, Virgin Mary, God's Birth, green knight, Knight Gawain, sir gawain, King Arthur's, virgin mary, trust god, lady castle,

Approximate Word count = 813
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous

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The Nature of Sir Gawain

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