Mauricio Carvajal (A91377)
Yuliana Esquivel (B02264)
M.Ed. Tamatha Rabb Andrews
IO-5510 British Literature
6 June 2014
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight:
Principles
Have you ever been in a paradox in which your moral, principles were tested? Were you able to
betray your beliefs and principles? “Principles are something different: a set of values that have to be
adapted to circumstances but not compromised away ---George Packer.1 There are many circumstances
or situations that people have to overcome in order to know the quality and reliability of their principles.
Such principles came to be during the Norman Conquest of 1066 and the arrival of the romantic genre in
which the principles of chivalry were established. During this time, knights followed a code of conduct –
chivalric principles or chevalerie, the French term for horse soldier --- in which the knight endeavors to
keep his promises, honors and obeys his liege lord, and engages in feats of arms to demonstrate his
bravery and skill. These knightly virtues later incorporated religious virtues as knights honored God as a
faithful Christian. Over time, the chivalric code also included more virtuous ideals such as honor,
courtesy and courtly love— having perfect manners, giving delight to all through conversation and to
treat ladies with almost worshipful respect. Within this genre, the romantic hero is characterized as
having a sense of religious duty and seeks to conquer what is deemed evil through a quest. The hero
searches for meaning throughout his adventure and is often ignorant of his enemy. Furthermore, his
quest has a supernatural element in which the knight must show his strength and worthiness or return
1
“George Packer: Quotes.” Good Reads. n.d. Web. 6 June 2014.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/49986.George_Packer
to his community in shame and loneliness. This form of quest based upon three codes: knightly conduct,
courtly love and Christian virtue test all qualities of an Arthurian Knight including honor, duty,
reputation, wit and pride. The unknown poet of the 14th century literary romance poem Sir Gawain and
the Green Knight illustrates these codes of conduct in which Sir Gawain is repeatedly tested to see how
honorable a knight he is as he represents his liege lord, King Arthur, and the court of Camelot. The
alliterative poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight addresses the notion of principles which is best seen
through the poem’s unfolding dramatic action between Sir Gawain, the lady, and the Green Knight as
noted in the three hunts juxtaposed with the three temptations.
The Pearl Poet, as he is known, who wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight used two different
settings with two separate plots: the hunts and the bedroom scenes which have a clear and obvious
juxtaposition one with other. The first being the hunt of the deer with the first seduction scene. During
the hunting of the deer, the hunters knew exactly how to chase their prey by intimidating the deer and
denying any opportunity. In this scene, the deer was taken by surprise, and its innocence and life were
taken away by the desires of the hunters who were looking to fulfill their needs as owners of the land, as
it is present in the following quotation” and the lord revealed in his own pleasure, hunting deer in
meadows and woods: before the sun sank down he´d killed” “and the deer that escaped where caught
by keepers, cut down and killed, hunted back from the safety of high ground”.2 In the same manner the
lady hunted Sir Gawain. As she entered his room and shut the door, leaving him pent and surprised. She
was looking for a way to tempt Sir Gawain by using her charms and by playing a game of giving kisses.
This situation tested Sir Gawain’s principles due to his loyalty to the Knight, Bertilak, who had become
his friends and also being the lady’s husband whom he should obey as his own queen or himself if was a
guest in their castle: 'But I’m proud to be priced so high in your eyes, For you are my queen and I your
2
All quotes within this work, unless otherwise cited, are from the Pearl Poet’s Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
servant ad your knight: may Christ repay you, lady ----'This quotation indicates hw sir Gawain was weak
to the lady’s game and how he falls in the temptation as well as the deer falls in the game of the hunter,
because in both cases the prey was involved in a game of intimidation carrying as a result the deer’s
death and the kiss among the lady and the knight. . As seen paradox and juxtapositions lead a wide
variety of new elements to be analyzed as are proposed in the second paragraph where temptation
given by the lord and the lady to Sir Gawain and the hunting of the boar are explicitly seen.
The following paragraph presents an analysis about the hunting of the boar and the temptations
given by the lord and the lady to Sir Gawain. First, during the haunting of the boar, the lord and the rest
of the hunters were chasing the boar looking for the gloried moment to kill him. But the boar was trying
to safe its life running around and defeats itself, but it was not enough. The hugest boar lost its life killed
by the lord who has not mercy with him. These hunting, the deer and the boar, were the starting points
for a sensual game consisted on the hunt of s eating animal by the lord and because of that Sir Gawain
gave to him his love and appreciation. In this relationship Sir Gawain was unable to escape because of
his loyalty and obedience toward his lord. As it is reflected in the following quotation-“There are the
best games I have seen on seven winters.” It’s yours, Gawain”, said the lord:” Our agreement lets claim
it as your own. .”. On the other hand, Sir Gawain was being tested by the lady and due to his own words,
once he alleged “I want to obey you; this is my duty, now and forever, to serve you, lady, so help me
God!.” In the previous Gawain speech to the lady, this gave her the weapons to test him, as she did it
when, she pushed and proved him trying to tempt him and see his purity which was her duty, the one
given by Lord Bertilak, she pretended love from Gawain. Nevertheless, Gawain gracefully evaded her
and her seduction intentions with only a courtly kiss right after she went away. Gawain once again was
tested to see how honorable he is as knight. This part of the poem unfold the drama action one again
while lady Bertilak tented Sir Gawain to felt to his moral and principles, and the lord hunted the boar,
achieving the hunting of the boar and not having success enough with the Gawain temptation.