Review of "Sir Gawain and The Green Knight"

In “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, a knight’s loyalty is tested by a giant green man. The knight in this tale had many encounters that distracted him from maintaining the code of chivalry. The knight, Sir Gawain, the King’s nephew, could have handled some of his retaliations differently. One incident in the story that made it difficult for Sir Gawain to hold himself to the code of chivalry was his encounters with Bertilak’s wife. It started on Christmas Day, when Gawain prayed to find a place to hear Mass, and looked up to see a castle shimmering in the distance. The lord of the castle welcomed Gawain and invited him to stay with him and his lady for a few days. The lord proposed that he will go out to hunt each day while Gawain stayed at the castle. At the end of the day, they will exchange what they have won. “So lie in your room and laze at your leisure while I ride my estate, and, as our terms dictate we’ll trade our trophies when the hunt returns” (line 189).

Furthermore, over the course of Sir Gawain’s time spent in the castle, the wife kisses Gawain on three different occasions. Gawain resists her, however, and on the first two days accepts only kisses, which he gives to the lord at the end of each day in exchange for what the lord has gained in the hunt. On the third day Gawain continues to resist the lady, but she presses him to accept another gift. “For the man who goes to battle in this green lace, as long as he keeps it looped around him, no man under Heaven can hurt him, whoever may try, for nothing on earth, however uncanny, can kill him” (line 223-226). And she pressed the sash upon him and begged him to take it, and Gawain did, and she gave him the gift with great pleasure and begged him, for her sake, to say not a word, and to keep it hidden from her lord. And he said he would” (line 232-235).

In addition, when the lord returns at the end of the third day, Gawain gives him a kiss but does not reveal the gift of the sash. On New Year’s Day Gawain meets the Green Knight wearing the green sash. When the Green Knight swung his ax the third time, although he did not cut Sir Gawain’s head off, he cut Sir Gawain’s neck so it bled. Also after the third swung he revealed himself as Bertilak de Hautdesert, the Lord of Sir Gawain. “That sash you wear by your scabbard belongs to me; My own wife gave it to you, as I ought to know. I know, too, of your kisses and all your words and my wife’s advances, for I myself arranged them. It was I who sent her to test you” (line 336-340). “But you lacked a little, sir; you were less than loyal; but since it was not for the sash itself or for lust but because you loved your life, I blame you less” (line 344-346). Thus, this is one incident that made it difficult for Sir Gawain to hold himself to the code of chivalry although he stood strong, and survived.