Gawain’s abandonment of moral and Christian principles begins with his acceptance to the Green Knight’s challenge. He is met with a request that the Green Knight “shall bide the first blow” of a weapon that he himself provides (“Gawain” 168). However, the Knight does not indicate that the blow be lethal; this is the decision of Gawain. He intentionally ignores the peaceful options available to him, those of negotiation and dismissal of the Green Knight (Sharma). Christian values indicate that the taking of a life is morally wrong and is a Cardinal Sin. Considering that the Knight made no threats or direct advances to injure any man or woman present, it seems illogical that Gawain would take this course of action instead of using diplomacy to solve the problem at hand. If the situation escalated into something more violent, then Gawain’s actions could be considered appropriate, however, this is not the case.
Furthermore, Gawain’s shield is adorned on the exterior with the “pentangle”: a five pointed star that “is linked and locked with the next / For ever and ever” (“Gawain” 175). These five points of the star have the opportunity to represent the knight’s five virtues: generosity, courtesy, chastity, chivalry, and piety, five natural senses, the five wounds of Christ, or the “five joys” of the Virgin (Whiteford). Furthermore, the interior is decorated with an image of the Virgin Mary. The pentagram, however, is an ancient symbol primarily pagan in nature (Muszkiewicz). It therefore presents Gawain as a Christian who is living with pagans and attempting to keep his knightly duties aligned by remaining courteous to his hosts. The superficial image of the pentangle and the inward facing image of the Virgin become the manifestation of Gawain and his difficulty in maintaining balance between outward generosity towards his friends and private dedication to his religion (McClain).
Gawain’s pride first arises when he offers to accept the Green Knight’s challenge in Arthur’s stead. He comes before the court and proclaims that “this folly befits not a king, / And ‘tis I that have asked it, it ought to be mine” (“Gawain” 169). He proclaims that this foolish request is waste of time, and should therefore be left for Arthur’s subordinate to deal with (Sharma). With Gawain’s acceptance of the Green Knight’s request, he is doomed to endure each trial of character that is subsequently forced upon him, including donning his two-sided shield and, later, facing Lady de Hautdesert’s advances.
Secondly, while dining with Bertilak de Hautdesert’s men, they ask him from where he originates. He confesses that he “comes from the court, / and owns him to the brotherhood of high-famed Arthur, / the right royal ruler of the Round Table” (“Gawain” 181). Through this statement, he establishes a parallel between himself and an esteemed group of people, namely, the most influential fellowship in Europe. Moreover, instead of answering their queries directly, he places emphasis on Arthur’s “high-fame”, therefore alluding that his reputation should be directly linked with that of Arthur’s. This is not, by any means, a humble assertion, and results in the host and his men praising him further, a welcome outcome, for he does not object to such adoration.
Additionally, Gawain’s attitude towards women is ineffably appalling. Following Hautdesert’s discovery of Gawain’s lack of loyalty and the host’s subsequent pardon, Gawain fails to accept responsibility for his actions and searches frantically for a scapegoat – the female sex (McClain). He then begins on a tirade condemning women and comparing himself to these “proud princes” who were “wooed into sorrow” by the “wiles of a woman” (“Gawain” 211). He blames Eve, Solomon’s wives, Delilah, Bathsheba, Lady de Hautdesert, and Morgan le Faye for the downfalls of their proud companions, while forgetting, or perhaps failing to mention, that the flaw of each unfortunate man was his own hubris or lust (Sharma). At last ending his tantrum, Gawain claims that if he has been deceived, that he should “be excused,” a pathetic argument for one who has knowingly and willingly chosen the path he has taken (“Gawain” 211).
Finally, Sir Gawain loses all credibility when his selfish desire for life over loyalty overtakes him in the presence of Lady de Hautdesert. He is caught in the dangerous web of the chivalric code, having to choose between showing respect for his host’s wife and saving his own life, or remaining faithful to his generous host. In attempting to show friendly affection towards Lady de Hautdesert, he inadvertently invites her to continue her advances. During the Lady’s first visit to his bedchamber, he replies to her flirtations with a promise to “kiss” at her command “as becomes a knight” (“Gawain” 189). Whether or not kissing “as becomes a knight” is platonic in nature, it opens up the possibility for the lady to take advantage of Gawain’s poor self restraint. What’s more, in her second visit to his chamber, Gawain fails to include his role as a knight when speaking of kissing, and instead states that he is hers “to command”, and that she may kiss him whenever she desires (“Gawain” 193). On her third visit, Gawain is tested beyond his limits and offered the Lady’s girdle. Fearing for his own life and simultaneously gripped with the fear of betrayal, he accepts the girdle, thus abandoning his loyalties and surrendering to his desire for a future. The Lady and Gawain agree “That not a soul save themselves shall see it thenceforth with sight” (“Gawain” 200). She then kisses him three times and departs. Ironically, the acceptance of the girdle is a breaking point in which Gawain loses his identity as a knight and gains the mark of an adulterer, for with the donning of the girdle comes the stripping of his internal virtues (Myeer).
Gawain’s disloyalty can later be proven as the Green Knight strikes his blows upon Gawain’s neck. Each blow of the Green Knight’s axe stands parallel to each visit of Lady de Hautdesert. Through correspondence with his wife, the Green Knight, later revealed as Bertilak de Hautdesert, gains the knowledge of her nightly visits to Gawain’s chamber, and therefore is aware of the number of kisses bestowed upon Gawain and the knight’s “conduct too” (“Gawain” 210). The first and second kisses, though given by the Lady, allowed for Gawain to keep his honorable standing with the Green Knight. He states that “For both of these there behooved two feigned blows by right” (“Gawain” 209). With the third blow, however, Gawain is faced with his actions of adultery and falseness through kissing the Lady and finally taking her garter. Failing “at the third throw”, he must endure the small wound provided by the “barb at the blade’s end” (“Gawain” 209). Following Hautdesert’s pardon, Gawain wears the “braided girdle” as a symbol of his errors, admitting that he is “faulty and false” (“Gawain” 210).
It is no small wonder that Gawain finds himself a broken knight and a broken man. He has knowingly, from the first word he offers to the Green Knight, placed himself in a precarious position. His Christian values escape him as his pride devours his senses, and his selfish actions to preserve his own life instead of remaining loyal nearly damn him when he is tested by his foe. If an ideal knight fails to maintain his six loyalties, it is impossible for him to possess all five Knightly Virtues, and therefore it is impossible for the ideal knight to be called such. Morality requires the knowledge of virtue and vice and the ability to choose between them. It is presented through Gawain that to strive for absolute perfection and balance will ultimately result in utter catastrophe and the loss of one’s self-worth.
Works Cited:
McClain, Lee Tobin. "Gender anxiety in Arthurian romance." Extrapolation 38.3 (1997): 193+. Academic OneFile. Web. 2 Apr. 2011.
Muszkiewicz, Jo. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: Slaying Student Resistance." The Once and Future Classroom 5.2 (2007). TEAMS: The Consortium for Teaching the Middle Ages. Web. 15 Oct. 2009.
Myeer, Thomas. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, line 1771." The Explicator 53.4 (1995): 188+. Academic OneFile. Web. 2 Apr. 2011.
Sharma, Manish. "Hiding the harm: revisionism and marvel in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." Papers on Language & Literature 44.2 (2008): 168+. Academic OneFile. Web. 2 Apr. 2011.
"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. 8th ed. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 162-213. Print.
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