Sir Gawain

A detailed Summary of Sir Gawain

The theme of courtesy is used all throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In Part 1, the poet tells us that King Author is the most courteous of all British Kings. In this case the author may be using the word courteous as a synonym for chivalrous. In this case the word courteous may be defined as brave, noble, and respected.

When the Green Knight enters he is not being courteous, or polite, he barges in and without introducing himself first, asks to speak with whoever is the head of the court. This is considered impolite both in the time which the story takes place and during the present time. He also refuses to dismount his horse and eat, which was considered rude. The Green Knight begins to mock and laugh at the knights and King Author becomes enraged. The Green Knight is not being courteous to King Author and his knights. He enters their territory and insults them in many ways.

The courteous, brave, Author steps up to the Green Knight's challenge, so that no honor will be lost. Sir Gawain takes his place in the challeng

In part 4, Gawain is very willing to take his punishment. He finds his way to meet the Green Knight and is ready to hold up his end of the deal. He does however flinch, as almost anyone, brave or not, would do. When the plan about the testing of Author's knights is revealed, the true plot of the story can be seen. The test could be interpreted as one of courtesy, in which Gawain may or may not have passed. He knows that he did wrong when he did not share the scarf with the Lord, but he was honest with the Lord when it came to the kisses of his wife. Gawain accepts his mistakes and makes them public. This is very different from the heroic ideal in the Iliad. The hero in the Iliad must act proud and not admit to mistakes or wrong-doings. When Gawain owns up to his mistakes he is showing courtesy that heroes in one of Homer's works would never have revealed.

In Part 2, Author holds a feast to honor Gawain before his departure, his is courteous of King Author because he is letting the other knights pay their respects to Gawain.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Green Knight, Green Chapel, King Author, Sir Gawain, British Kings, green knight, Green Knight's, king author, , Gawain Gawain, lord's wife, word courteous, 3 gawain, courteous king, sir gawain, courteous king author,

Approximate Word count = 706
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Sir Gawain

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