Character Analysis: Character Analysis Of Sir Gawain

Character Analysis of Sir Gawain Sir Gawain transformed as he realizes his own human imperfection. In the beginning of the story, Sir Gawain is a knightly man that was born with royal blood being related to King Arthur. Sir Gawain is also known to have the reputation of being very honorable and dauntless, making sure the chivalric code is his number one priority. This reputation of Sir Gawain sets the standards of how he should act extremely high, making himself consistently under pressure. While although Sir Gawain has all of these qualities and virtues, he is put to a test where it brings out his human imperfection. This test he will embark on, will truly show just how chivalrous and honorable Sir Gawain is. The test begins in Camelot where

This was a time of enjoyment for the noble lords, but the mood of the room quickly changed once a mysterious green figure appeared. This mysterious knight was green all over and challenged a person in the room to take part in a beheading game. The game was played by a person in the room giving an initial blow to the green knight, who will then give a returning blow a year and a day later from the time of the initial blow. At first nobody accepts the knight 's challenge, but King Arthur had to do something to maintain his status and prestige. King Arthur ultimately accepts the request, but his nephew Sir Gawain, a great and chivalrous knight who is known to hold these qualities, willingly takes his uncle 's place. Sir Gawain stated “I have a request for you, my lord, let this adventure be mine” (4). This quote shows Sir Gawain maintaining those high expectations of being the perfect knight, risking his life in place of his lord. Once Sir Gawain delivers the blow decapitating the Green Knight 's head, the Green Knight 's body picks up his head and speaks to Sir Gawain telling him where to go to receive the returning blow a year and a day later. This also indicates that the Green Knight is supernatural able to still be alive after receiving such a brutal blow. Sir Gawain has now unofficially

Sir Gawain initially was a man who had a strong reputation of being the most chivalrous and gallant knight in all of the British Kingdom. With this reputation, Sir Gawain could never relax and had to always elevate himself to hold that reputation, even if it seemed impossible. During the Green Knight 's test, Sir Gawain maintained his chivalry and his reputation for the most part, but with everything getting thrown at him and Sir Gawain reaching a peak pressure point, he breaks the code of chivalry that brings out he is in fact human and will not be perfect. Sir Gawain from the Green Knight 's test essentially showed that he is in fact a chivalrous and gallant knight, but he is still flesh and blood prone to mistakes just like any other human