Esquivel & Quirós 1
Jose Mauricio Esquivel (B02011 )
Manuel Quirós (A94950)
M.Ed. Tamatha Rabb Andrews
IO-5510 British Literature
May 29, 2013
Sir Gawain and The Green Knight:
Sir Gawain and His Path to Preserve Respect and Reputation
“O! I have lost my reputation. I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what
remains is bestial” --- William Shakespeare. Reputation is the overall quality or character of a
person as seen or judged by the general populace, and as Shakespeare points out, these
opinions will remain even after one passes from this earth. Reputation is closely linked to
respect, in the sense that respect conveys ideas, opinions and feelings of admiration towards
the respected person. As such, throughout history values have marked the path of men in
different societies, including the time of King Arthur and the Round Table. Becoming an
Arthurian Knight and be given the title of "Sir" carried a lot of responsibility, attitudes and
values which embodied both individually and as a whole, the characteristics of "Courtly
Love";Three key characteristics of courtly love, which is one branch of the chivalric code, are
respect of women and a knight’s liege lord as well as the importance of not bringing any
dishonor upon them. A knight should also honor God as a faithful Christian and to protect the
poor and the weak. These fundamental aspects of an Arthurian Knight give import to how
respect and reputation will shape a man’s destiny through a quest of truth and honor illustrating
his charitable nature, pureness of mind, and compassion for others. The alliterative romance
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All quotations in this paper, unless otherwise cited, are taken from Sir Gawain and The Green Knight
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poem-- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight addresses the notion of respect and reputation which
marks the destiny of Sir Gawain that is best seen through the novel’s direct and indirect
characterization of Gawain at Arthur's court, with Lady Bertilak, and with the Green Knight.
Sir Gawain’s courtly love is first assayed in Arthur’s court one Christmas celebration
when the Green Knight arrives unannounced to solicit an unusual holiday game ---to be
beheaded. As the Knights of the Round Table are renowned far and wide for their respect and
reputation in upholding the chivalric code, Morgan le Fey ---Arthur’s half sister—wished to prove
that all men are fallible by sending the Green Knight to test her brother’s men-at-arms. When
King Arthur took up the Green Knight’s challenge to a beheading game, Gawain felt compelled
to protect his lord’s reputation and to cease any further dishonor to Arthur’s court: “...Let me
come / To counsel you, here in your noble court. It seems wrong (...) When a challenge like
this rings through your hall / To take it yourself, though your spirit longs / For battle...” (346351). And thus Gawain faced the challenge convinced he was honoring the most important
thing in his life, his king: "...My only worth is you, my royal / Uncle, all my virtue is through
you" (356-357). Sir Gawain was moved by the importance of honor, to preserve the reputation
of the Round Table and his king, and to give worth and respect to his own existence. By
accepting this challenge, Gawain not only preserves the reputation of the Round Table, but also
his own: ´´´...In truth / It is Gawain who offers this stroke, and agrees (...) to accept a stroke /
From you, in exactly a year, with whatever / Weapon you choose . . . ‘”(380-384). Gawain’s
direct characterization of himself portrays a respectable and fearless knight, who seems to be
unafraid to death. For a knight, it was quite important to keep his word and promises for not
keeping it, would bring shame and dishonor: “´...Find the green chapel, come / To take what
you´ve given, (...) Many men / Know the knight of the green chapel: / Seek me, (...) / Then
come! or be called a coward forever´” (451-456). Gawain accepts the challenge and seeks out
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All quotations in this paper, unless otherwise cited, are taken from Sir Gawain and The Green Knight
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the Green Knight in a year´s time, in order to keep his promise of receiving a stroke for a
stroke, even though he knew it meant his death, but as a knight, Gawain understand s that
when a man-at-arms brakes his word the consequences would bring lasting shame upon
himself, his family, as well as his liege lord whereas he would be besmirched as a coward. As
Gawain’s character unfolds within the dramatic action of the poem, being that his persona takes
up a knightly challenge and then comes out the victor after voluntarily confronting the Green
Knight and striking his blow properly, which illustrates his strength, honor and respectability
that gives him a form of purity and innocence as seen through the direct and indirect
characterization quoted thus far.
Sir Gawain's path to complete his quest, leads him to find different places and people,
being the castle one of the main settings of the romance poem, where he meets the Lord of the
castle, and Lady Bertilak, the Lord's wife, whose Gawain's temptations arise. Sir Gawain is well
served, he is offered with food and shelter for as long as he wants to in the castle by the Lord,
for which Gawain feels respect towards the Lord and his wife. Lady Bertilak's desire flourishes
when she sees the Knight, for which she decides to temp him, something would bring internal
moral battles upon him: ’...If Gawain were as good as his name, with every / Courtly virtue
lining his hearth, He´d never have stayed so long with a lady / And left her un-kissed: courtesy
cries out / Against him! (...). “Your pleasure is my command, / Lady: I kiss as you wish, as a
good knight / Must. Ask me only once...’” (1297-1304) His respect and reputation as a knight is
on stake if he does not kiss her, for which he does, to preserve his reputation with the lady and
to follow the principles of courtly love, for which he should not bring dishonor upon the lady
which would have been the case by rejecting her. Even though his actions may be morally
debated, Gawain´s kiss meant nothing but reputation for himself, he still intended to respect
the lord´s kindness towards him, he wanted to respect and honor him by respecting his wife:
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All quotations in this paper, unless otherwise cited, are taken from Sir Gawain and The Green Knight
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“...And so she tested him, pushed and probed, / Trying to tempt him, pretending love, / And
Gawain was so gracefully evasive that he seemed always polite, and nothing happened / But
happiness...” (1549-1553) He respected his Lord´s lady, even though he kissed her to maintain
his good reputation as a knight, one of the commandment of courtly love may be given here as
the reason for him to resist any physical contact with the lady, to honor God as a good and
faithful Christian, by accomplishing his commandment of not desiring other´s woman. Sir
Gawain was indeed attracted towards her, his body was failing to support the temptations, with
the twilight of life upon him falling maybe would have not been such a bad idea, but his
reputation and respect preceded him and he could not let the flesh rule him: "...Words came
flowing free, / Each was pleased / With the other; and only Mary / Could save him from this..."
(166-169) The temptation of Lady Bertilak's seduction was so strong on him that a religious
symbol is given as needed to be able to get away from that, showing how strong his honor was
to keep his respect and reputation flawless. Gawain´s character is moved by honor once again,
where the temptation of women is thrown at him and he manages to keep his reputation on the
eyes of lady Bertilak as well as to respect the lord, he manages to leave the castle in search of
his final quest as noble and honorable as he got there, he does what a true Knight has to do,
courtly love moved him and gave him the strength to win the battle for his reputation and self
respect.
The final scenario Sir Gawain faces during his journey to meet the Green Night is at the
green chapel. Gawain attempting to preserve reputation and respect finally finds his executor,
the green knight, to keep his promise of receiving a stroke, although he could have escaped as
the guide who took him to the green chapel advised him: “And so, good sir, leave him in peace,
/ In the name of God pick come different / Path! Ride wherever Christ takes you, / And I´ll
hurry home, and I promise you, knight, / I swear by God and all His saints, I´ll swear by any
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All quotations in this paper, unless otherwise cited, are taken from Sir Gawain and The Green Knight
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oath you ask, / That I´ll keep your secret, conceal this story / Forever, keep it from everyone
on earth” (2118, 2124). He ignores the guide´s words; the only thing he probably had in mind
was to keep his word. Gawain being fearless enters the chapel to meet the green knight, whose
reaction to the knight presence is described in these lines: "and the green man said: 'you came;
/ I can trust you now.(2237, 2238) (...) you've made / A difficult journey and you came on time,
/ You've kept your faith'" (2240-2242) Up to this point, Gawain gained the Green Knight´s
respect by honoring his word of attending the appointment at that place. Going forward,
Gawain gets ready to be killed, but in the first attempt he flinches seconds before the stroke.
The green knight tries to make Gawain be ashamed for flinching, and remembers him that a
year ago when he received the stroke he did not show fear. Gawain felt he was losing his
reputation, so he finally decides to face death for preserving reputation in respect to his word :
"But get it done, let it be over. / Bring me my fate and bring it quickly. / I'll stand like a stone;
on my word of honor. / My neck will be still till your stroke comes to it” (2284-2287) Flinching is
an obvious representation of Gawain´s human nature fear to death. Gawain knew he had to act
courageously and to overcome his fear to death; he also knew that if he was killed, he would be
remembered by everyone as a brave and respectable knight who died in order to preserve
reputation and respect not only of his own, but also the one of the Round Table and his
lord´s. This final scenario is the one that represent most difficulties in Gawain intentions to
preserve reputation and respect, since he was supposed to face death: he flinched, but he
never withdrew.
Throughout this paper, it has been described the Knight Gawain´s path to preserve his
reputation and respect. He did this in mainly three stages of the story. The first one at the
Round Table, where he decided to take the Green Knight challenge of giving him a stroke with
an axe since no other knight dared to do it for being afraid of receiving another stroke a year
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All quotations in this paper, unless otherwise cited, are taken from Sir Gawain and The Green Knight
Esquivel & Quirós 6
later. At this stage he defended his lord´s and the Round Table´s reputation and respect. This
is part of the courtly behavior of knights that states to respect the king and to do nothing to
bring him dishonor. Accepting this challenge took Gawain to a journey in order to find the
Green knight a year. During this journey he faced the second stage. Gawain found a castle
where he was giving food and shelter during the time he needed until he finally went to meet
the Green Knight. But during the time he stayed there, he was tempted by his new lord´s wife;
these temptations created an inner debate in Gawain as to kiss her or not, since he had to
follow the line of courtly behavior of not doing anything to bring dishonor on any woman, but
he also had to obey the lady and to kiss her like himself said “as a good knight must.” Gawain
kissed her but never went beyond in his attempt to preserve reputation and to respect his
lord´s woman. He finally leaves the castle and drives to the green chapel to conclude his
journey. There, in a brave manner he faces the green knight to receive his stroke, always
intending to keep his reputation. He flinched, but then he was prepared to receive the stroke,
though he never received it. In these three stages, Gawain acted in the way a righteous knight
should, stuck to the courtly behavior.
Works Cited
Pearl Poet. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
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All quotations in this paper, unless otherwise cited, are taken from Sir Gawain and The Green Knight