Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – The Believable Character of Sir Gawain

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – The Believable Character of Sir Gawain

One of the most important components of any literary work is the central character. To make literature truly great is to have a character whose personality is believable. When the character is believable, the reader is more likely to relate to the character and be drawn into the work. There are three basic ways a character's personality can be revealed to a reader: what the character thinks about him or herself, how others think and feel about the character, and the character's actions help define his or her personality. When these three methods are in sync, then the character becomes a real person. However it is very easy for a writer to make the character become too perfect and the illusion of reality is lost. The way an author can work around this is to allow certain aspects to become out of sync, such as a flaw in personality which can only be brought to light when the character is pushed to his limits. This is how the personality of Sir Gawain, the central character of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, is depicted.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a great medieval poem written by an unknown author who is believed to be a contemporary of Chaucer. The poem takes place in Arthurian England. Sir Gawain begins his rise to greatness when he takes a challenge given by an ominous figure known as the Green Knight. Throughout the poem, Gawain is tested and is found to be truthful until he is tested in the gift-giving game in which his flaw is revealed to the reader. The events in the poem make the character of Sir Gawain very believable and is part of the reason why Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is one of the greatest literary works of Middle English.

In the first segment of the poem, we are introduced to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It is Christmas time in King Arthur's court when the Green Knight enters the dining hall. He is very large and completely green. He challenges the court to a beheading game in which one of the knights must cut off the Green Knight's head and then in 12 months and a day find the Green Knight and allow the Green Knight to chop his head off.