Essay Comparing Sir Gawain And The Green Night

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Love Is All We Need So many forms of love are mentioned in Sir Gawain and the Green Night that it is difficult to determine their purposes or contexts. The ideals of courtly love and the code of chivalry are two incredibly vital parts of the puzzle that is Sir Gawain and the Green Night. These two rules-of-thumb are firmly contrasted in the text to serve the purpose of questioning societal expectations of the time, but it is up to the reader to truly delve into the meanings of these practices and their presented functions. Gawain’s internal conflict begins with his need to stay alive and grows as the oppressive burdens of these codes of conduct engulf his decision making processes. We see him battle with decisions between love and lust, life or death, honesty or safety, respect or redress. But, we fail to see that many things are at play--the expectations around him, the need to suit others--that affect overall…show more content…
When Gawain claims “there’s nothing remarkable in their making a man foolish, in women winning men to sin, for Adam our father was deceived just so…” (2414) we hear something humbling and somewhat shameful come from his mouth. He’s embarrassed and ashamed, but those are emotions we, too, as humans, feel constantly. The purpose, then, of Gawain’s pity party isn’t to show that he failed to grow as a character, but to show the relativity we can share with him. No hero is ever flawless. That would be like saying Beyonce is completely flawless--not possible. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight just so happens to be a text from long ago that ACTUALLY acknowledged the fact that there is some fault in every being no matter how courageous they may

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