Chivalry In Faerie Queene, Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

Chivalry is defined as the code of conduct followed by knights, exemplifying virtues such as honor, chastity, loyalty, and bravery. Chivalry has been written about in numerous literary pieces, such as The Faerie Queene, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and even Don Quixote, the most influential piece of writing in English literature. Despite its numerous idealized literary depictions, chivalry is not without its complexities, fearless knights often having their chivalry challenged or tested throughout their journey. These challenges are often represented as obstacles, some of which are subtle and not always apparent to our chivalric protagonist. Supernatural elements have been known to be implemented into chivalric stories, adding a layer of

The fake Una tearfully declares her love for him, yet despite this, Redcrosse resists her temptations and falls back asleep. As a knight, Redcrosse is expected to practice chastity, not falling into the hands of lust and animalistic instinct. Archimago’s attempt to sabotage his righteousness proved unsuccessful, his magic having almost threatened the violation of Redcrosse’s knightly duty, but thankfully the knight prevailed. However, despite this victory, Archimago’s sorcery led him to abandon his lady, as the cruel sorcerer transforms the other sprite into a young squire and has it lie next to the sprite disguised as Una. Archimago, transforming into the old squire once more, wakes Redcrosse and alerts him to what is happening. Upon seeing the two disguised sprites lying together in bed, Redcrosse becomes enraged, nearly slaying them but is ultimately stopped by Archimago: “Which when he saw, he burnt with gealous fire,/The eye of reason was with rage yblent,/And would haue slaine them in his furious ire,/But hardly was restreined of that aged sire” (Spenser 56). To the reader, the knight’s righteousness and holiness may come into question considering he has been tempted to kill Una twice