Chivalric Code In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

Even though Sir Gawain and the Green Knight contain many lessons throughout the story it mainly focuses on one specific topic which is the chivalric code a code of conduct that includes the values of all knight. Sir Gawain takes the Green Knight’s Challenge as this was part of the Chivalry Code that Sir Gawain is trying to live up to the one of loyalty,courage, and courtesy, a code that all Knight’s are supposed to live up to. Sir Gawain is a representation of a virtuous person who faces many challenges throughout his journey yet, he still manages to find a way to live up to the chivalric code that is expected of him. First, Gawain faces the test of loyalty part of the chivalrous code, a knight is to have loyalty to a lord, king, and a woman.

Sir Gawain demonstrates loyalty to all of them. The first however, is the one when he tries to keep the reputation of Camelot, that is why he takes the challenge that no one else dared to. He is loyal to Arthur because he humbled himself by saying he was not worth nothing compared to Arthur. He shows loyalty because he is showing that he is living to serve the king until he dies . It states he asked the King permission to take the challenge instead of him. He showed this loyalty up until dealing with the Lady because he fell into temptation. He had accepted two gifts from which included three kisses. Sir Gawain fails to give all three of the kisses to the Lord but he is still loyal. He made a mistake which everybody is capable of making.The Green knight’s first judgement, which is forgiveness because Sir Gawain did for the fear of his life and not of lust. However even it was a mistake he is still loyal because everybody is capable of human error.“Loyalty,or trustworthiness, actually underlines every action and thought of the hero; he is the particular man he is because his strong sense of duty compelled him to do what was most needed at the time”

In fact, Sir Gawain shows how brave is when Sir Gawain and the servant traveled to the place where The greeen knight lives. The servant stops and begs Gawain to reconsider his journey. He warns him that the Green Knight is a horrible,cruel person who likes to kill just for fun. The servant tells Gawain to run away and if he runs away he will not tell. However, he refuses to run, as this would show he is a coward When he continues on his journey, he shows he has true courage. When Sir Gawain arrives at the chapel of the Green knight he calls out to the knight who proceeds to two feign blows on the third one he barely nicks Gawain’s neck, barely drawing blood. Sir Gawain gets angry shouts that the challenge is over. Then the Green knight goes on to explain that since he did exchange all of his winnings he drew a little bit of blood. Nevertheless, Sir Gawain is still a Courageous, loyal knight overall. Gawain’s bravery is shown in facing the Knight as he had promised to do.” He points out to the Green Knight that he is not immortal as the Green Knight is. The wound in his neck shows this. Unlike the Green Knight, Sir Gawain cannot just put his head back on his head. This also shows that he is a hero. He is not a "superman" like the Green Knight appears to be. He can die, and he still risks his life in fighting the Green Knight.”(Abrams)
The lady serves as a temptation for Sir Gawain to break his chivalric