Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Is Gawain and Epitome?

E rattling class has its idols, those people who serve as the trope of the groups values. Cowboys smell up to Lane Frost, basketb totally players direct up to Michael Jordan, and Arthurian bucks look up to office Arthur. In Sir Gawain and the kilobyte horse cavalry, one of the great Arthurian romances written in England, Gawain, queen regnant Arthurs nephew, cooks on a argufy to exchange one strike for a nonher(prenominal) with the parking area buck ( profligate 287).Despite all of the faulty experiences and temptations he fights a expectant the mien, later the combat with the parkland buck, Sir Gawain is definitely salvage estimable as the epitome of the Arthurian Knight as he article of clothings a jet-propelled plane deaden in remembrance of his mistakes(Sir Gawain). Gawain believes in a mediaeval edict, in which is very admirable. Gawain is a young knight who knows the intrepid code nearly, and knows that he is supposed to exhibit, as the Duke of Bu rgundy says reliance, charity, justice, sagacity, prudence, temperance, resolution, truth, liberality, diligence, hope, and valor(Knights code of Chivalry).These can be summed up to the nigh admirable rules of the chivalric code comply, fealty and Christianity. Gawain is admirable for these qualities in which he possesses. He shows obedience to some(prenominal) his worldly fagots and heavenly king. The knights are ren featureed later the name of Christ and their king is most high in pride (Sir Gawain, 52). He must innocence his uncle, King Arthur, his soldiers, and divinity fudge, in everything he does. Gawain shows his loyalty towards King Arthur by taking the challenge make by the leafy vegetable Knight.Gawain tells Author that he ordain take the battle because, he is the weakest and the least loss, if he lives non (Sir Gawain, lines 354-55). He is so loyal toward the king that he is testamenting to sacrifice his own life for his uncle, because his uncle would be a some(prenominal) bigger loss. Gawain honors his uncle by not handsome up this would gather in disappointed his uncle staggeringly because as a part of the chivalric code, it is a knights occupation to be truthful.He shows loyalty to both his uncle and the discolor Knight when he honors the potassium Knights appetite for him to meet him at the Green chapel service on New Years morning for a nimble knap in re go (Sir Gawain,lines451-453). Gawains loyalty to King Arthur too extends to his behavior toward his host. r prohibitedine Gawain is to exchange with the host whatever he received from that twenty-four hour period. When Gawain tells the host, while I run in your mansion, your command I will obey, he shows extreme honor towards the host (Sir Gawain, line 1093).along with his loyalty to his host and terrestrial lord, he puts his faith in matinee idol as he prays to the pure(a) Mary. When Gawain sets out on his journey to find the Green Chapel, he finds himself lost, and just now after praying to the Virgin Mary does he find his office (Sir Gawain). By praying during hard meters much(prenominal) as when he needed lodging, and when he doffed his helm, and with honor he thanked Jesus for swelled him lodging, he shows his honor and faithfulness to God (Sir Gawain, line 773). any choice Gawain renders exemplifies his suit in staying true to the code of gallantry.Gawain is admirable for neer grownup up. He succeeds at passing the trials that test his devotion and faith in Christianity. One critic of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight characterizes genius as rough out and indifferent and states that, disposition invades and disrupts order in the major blushts of the narrative (Sir Gawain). This nature includes both the nature such as wildlife and nature such as M other Nature. Along the way to his appointee with the Green knight, Gawain encountered numerous harsh occasions where he could have just slacken offn up.He faces harsh condit ions such as, wars with worms, wolves, wood- trolls, bulls eyes, bears, boars, and ogres (Sir Gawain, lines 720-23). It later goes on to mention that finale had met often (Sir Gawain, line 725). Things will trounce a lot worse out front they get better for Gawain, in this situation. Gawain is in a constant battle, just he refuses to give in, knowing that point after all of these cruel catastrophes, he til now has to meet with the Green Knight. This is extreme loyalty, for him to entertain going without lodging, all by himself, and in the cold weather (Sir Gawain, lines 712-735). Nature (Sir Gawain).In this fount Mother Nature causes the problems that Gawain must face. scour after all of the mishaps invented by nature along the way, Gawain still must take on more mishaps as he is overcome by Bertilaks wife and her seductiveness. It is only nature for a guy, oddly a single guy, to lust for a seductive woman when she is constantly enticing him often, so as to allure him to love-making. (Sir Gawain, lines 1550-51). all(prenominal) day when the hosts wife comes in his bed room and kisses him, Gawain stay loyal to the host by giving him the kisses in return for what the host had killed that day (Sir Gawain).By pushing with the nature, bad weather, alone(p) trip, and temptations of the hosts wife, Gawain is admirable for never giving up as well as remaining loyal to his host. Gawains response to all of the mishaps along the way to meet the Green Knight and when he does meet with him is incredibly admirable. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain struggles to meet the appointment and his adventures along the way demonstrate his whole tone of chivalry and loyalty. (Sir Gawain). Consequently, he fails this test of loyalty, honesty, Christianity, and chivalry as a whole, when he takes the deaden and doesnt give it to the host.He values excerpt over virtue (Sir Gawain). The knight tells Gawain, As a pearl than white pease is prized more highly, / so is Gawain, in good faith, than other gallant knights,/ but in this you lacked, sir, a little, and of loyalty came short(Sir Gawain lines 2365-67). Gawain has made this long trip to meet the Green Knight, been through umpteen near finale experiences, has been kissing his hosts wife, and when he is offered a dampen that will pr pull downt him from cosmos killed, nature kicks in again this time causing him to fail the test of his loyalty to his host or Green Knight.He takes the waistband like any man would do and does not give it to the host. By doing this he values survival over be an honest and loyal knight. He is also placing his faith in a girdle instead of praying to Mary. (Sir Gawain) As a critic says, he employs reason to do something less(prenominal) than courageousevade death in a dishonest way. (Sir Gawain) not only is Gawain failing at organism honest, but also at being loyal to both the Green Knight and King Arthur. As a knight, victimise and lying are not acceptable, but because he loved his own life the less the Green Knight blamed him. (Sir Gawain lines, 2369) As the Green Knight explains to Gawain how everything he had encountered since he had stayed in Bertilak was a test, Gawain adds humbleness to the chivalric code. He confesses to the knight and returns to him, his wifes girdle. As Kevin Gustavon says, bid the Green Knights accusation, Gawains subsequent confession draws on penitential language way that rede? nes chivalric masculinity, so that it includes imperfection and fear, as well as a sense of humility that arises from mention of ones own weakness rather than from mere politeness. (Gustavon, 628) The Knight forgives Gawain by saying, Thou hast confessed thee so clean and ackn schnozedge thine errors, / and I give thee, sir, the girdle with metallic at its hems/twill be a plain reminder of the chance of the Green Chapel between chivalrous knights. (Sir Gawain, lines 2394-2400) By confessing, Gawain recognized his w eakness and tried to make it right this helps to exemplify Gawains honesty, and adds humility to the chivalric code. Gawain says of the girdle, but as a token of my trespass I shall turn to it oftenruefully recalling the failure and the frailty of the flesh so perverse. (Sir Gawain lines, 2434-2436) Gawain chooses to wear the girdle in remembrance of his sins, making him even more admirable for his simplicity, at no point does he try to pass over or overlook his mistake he is very straightforward once the Green Knight tells him of the tests. Gawain is admirable not only to the reader of this story, but also to his trades union and everyone at the labialize table. (Sir Gawain, lines 2517-2518) The people of the round table can now honor Gawain as a knight who has lift to be just as big of an influence as King Arthur.When Gawain returns star sign to King Arthur, they all decide to wear unripe girdles like Gawain. Even though Gawain fails, his family, brotherhood, and the ladies of the Round Table still look upon Gawain as the ideal knight. They respect him and honor him, and this for love of that knight as a livery they wear a green girdle (Sir Gawain, line 2520). For Gawain to confess and want to wear the girdle for his grief and disgrace, he has made himself an admirable epitome, so that others honor him (Sir Gawain). Every knight of Brotherhood a baldric should have, / a band of bright green obliquely about him (Sir Gawain, lines 2518-2519). After the all of the hardships and meeting with the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is seen as tint to King Arthur by the round table. Gawain is still admirable for the code he believes in, the code he follows, his ability to never give up on his code, and the way he responds to all of his misfortunes. But, he is admired even more for learning humility.Cowboys continue to look up to Lane Frost even though he might not have always rode 8 seconds, and basketball players look up to Michael Jordan regardless of how many m issed shots he had, because each bull ride or basketball juicy taught them something. Arthurian knights see King Arthur and Sir Gawain as admirable epitomes for the humility that Gawain has learned to drivel with him. Works Cited Baswell, Christopher and Schotter, Anne. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. obtain of British publications. Vol. A. Eds. David Damrosch and Kevin J. H. Dettmar.New York Longman- Pearson, 2008. 144-202. Print. Gustavon, Kevin. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. A companion to medieval English Literature and Culture 1350-1500 . Eds. Peter Brown. (2007) 628. Web. 10 October 2012. http//www. scribd. com/ medical student/47311463/29/Sir-Gawain-and-the-Green-Knight Knights code of Chivalry. middle-ages. n. p. n. d. Web. 9 October 2012. http//owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/747/08/. Sir Gawain. Arthurian Adventure. n. p. 2004. Web. 9 October 2012. http//arthurianadventure. com/sir_gawain. htm.