Sir Gawain.docx

Sir Gawain, the main character in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, is presented as the embodiment of ideal masculinity during the Middle Ages.  He is chivalrous, religious, valiant, and strong. During a time like this, with King Arthur’s Round Table and his knights, traits such as these are well-admired by much of the population.  To be a courageous and courtly man during a time of knightly battles and polite romances is to possess some of the attributes of ideal masculinity.  Much of the story is spent showing that Sir Gawain is a man with many of the characteristics of an ideal man, and that he was very much admired for having such traits. 

One of the first qualities the audience learns Sir Gawain possesses is humility.  At the beginning of the story, a man called the Green Knight enters King Arthur’s castle and asks for someone to play a “Christmas game” that involves an agreement.  Whoever takes on the challenge will swing an axe at the Green Knight’s neck, and in one year and one day, the Green Knight will be allowed to do the same to the man who swung at him.  This agreement seems like a ridiculous contract because whoever volunteers for the game is agreeing to face certain death.  All the men in the hall realize this fact and do not volunteer.  When nobody takes the challenge, the Green Knight ridicules the knights of King Arthur’s court for not displaying the bravery he had heard so much about.  This forces Arthur to eventually agree to the game.  However, at the last minute, Sir Gawain stops the king and says he will play in place of Arthur, telling him, “I am the weakest, I wot, and the feeblest of wit, and it will be the less loss of my life if ye seek sooth” (Weston).  Here, he is telling the king that he is a weak knight, and that his life lost would be of lesser value than the king’s.  However, the audience knows that the knight is not weak, because he sits right next to the queen among the noblest of the knights, which means he is one of the best knights in King Arthur’s court.  Therefore, Sir Gawain calling himself weak shows readers that he is not an arrogant man, and knows how to stay grounded.  Instead of boasting about how strong and powerful he is, Sir Gawain is humbling himself by saying he is disposable to the King’s court.  He may not necessarily believe that he is the weakest, but the fact that he is willing to convince the king of that shows that he does not mind making himself out to be a poor knight. Any person that has no problem with looking feeble when in reality he is more powerful than most of his peers, is a truly humble person.  Additionally, because Sir Gawain is able to sacrifice his life in order to save another, the audience is able to see that the knight is incredibly brave.  Although he fears for his own life, which can be seen by the fact that he did not volunteer for the “game” until the last minute, he still takes on the challenge so that no other person has to do it.  Because he surrenders himself to the Green Knight, Sir Gawain shows he is the bravest knight King Arthur has at his table.  Showing no fear at a time when a person is actually quite scared shows bravery, and this is a quality to admire fervently during this time period.  At a time of knights and kings, where stories of dragon slaying and dueling to the death are prevalent throughout the land, it is courage that is displayed as the best quality a knight can possess; courage is what helps a knight win his battles and survive the demons he must face.  However, a knight must also have humility to make himself look strong.  If a knight is not humble, people will not see him for the great qualities he has, but instead will focus on all the parts they do not like about him.  His arrogance will overshadow his daring personality and no person will care that he is a great knight, only that he is a conceited egotist.  Because Sir Gawain is able to humble himself, people are more aware of how bold and powerful he is.

When Sir Gawain leaves in search of the green chapel, the Green Knight, and most likely his death, the scene is described as this:
All that saw him were grieved at heart, and said one to the other, ‘By Christ, 'tis great pity that one of such noble life should be lost! I'faith, 'twere not easy to find his equal upon earth… Yonder knight should have been made a duke; a gallant leader of men is he, and such a fate had beseemed him better than to be hewn in pieces at the will of an elfish man, for mere pride…’ Many were the tears that flowed from their eyes when that goodly knight rode from the hall. (Weston)
People who came to see him off are crying because they are so sad to see him go, and they are talking about what a great loss the court has endured in losing one of their best knights. With this quote, the author is showing his audience that many people admire Sir Gawain and do not want him to leave because they realize that it leads to almost certain death.   This means he is an amiable person, and his impressive qualities are well known in King Arthur’s court. The tears of many show that people truly like Sir Gawain, for his strength as a knight and his integrity as a person.  The fact that many people admire Sir Gawain for the traits that he possesses means that this is what people believe to be a truly masculine individual.  People think highly of the knight because he has the qualities of an ideal knight, and they recognize that fact about him.  If Sir Gawain were a man with no courage, faith, or strength, nobody would respect him as a knight.  He would be seen as a weak man, and losing him to the Green Knight would be seen to everyone as no great loss—maybe it would even be seen as a good loss to the court.  Nobody in this time period would look up to a man who seems weak and afraid.  It is the masculine qualities found in Sir Gawain that define him as someone to be admired during this time period.
The author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight shows Sir Gawain’s great strength and religious conviction when he is describing the knight’s search for the green chapel.  After months had passed since the incident with the Green Knight, Sir Gawain did as he promised and went searching for the Green Knight to fulfill their agreement.  While searching for the green chapel, where the Green Knight lives, the author portrays the journey with these words:
Many a cliff did he climb in that unknown land, where afar from his friends he rode as a stranger. Never did he come to a stream or a ford but he found a foe before him, and that one so marvellous, so foul and fell, that it behoved him to fight…Sometimes he fought with dragons and wolves; sometimes with wild men that dwelt in the rocks; another while with bulls, and bears, and wild boars, or with giants of the high moorland that drew near to him. Had he not been a doughty knight, enduring, and of well-proved valour, and a servant of God, doubtless he had been slain, for he was oft in danger of death. (Weston) 

This quote shows how strong and faithful toward God Sir Gawain really is.  The author says that only the best knights in the world would be able to overcome those obstacles that Sir Gawain faces on his journey to the Green Knight.  Because he is able to triumph over all the enemies he encountered and survive the dangerous terrain of the land, readers see that he is one of the best knights of his time. It also shows that people of this era strongly in the power of religion when the author says that praying to God helps Sir Gawain defeat his foes.  Furthermore, it shows what that period of time saw as the ideal masculine man.  Only because Sir Gawain was so strong and full of faith was he able to survive the obstacles he faced on his quest. Glorifying these characteristics in Sir Gawain shows that these traits are what people of the era believed to be the most honorable and desired.  A knight in the time of King Arthur is the exact depiction of what it means to be the exemplary man.  He must be strong, courageous, chivalrous, and faithful to God.  This is what people during this time believed to be a true man.  Sir Gawain owns all of those qualities, making him the ideal man of his era.  Through this quote, the audience is able to see that this is how masculinity was presented during the Middle Ages.