The Importance Of Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

One's reputation often plays a major role in one's decision making. A person's natural desire to sustain a great reputation affects his actions and choices. The anonymously written Chivalric romance, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, proves the theory of the importance and influence of one's reputation on one's actions. Over the course of the poem, Sir Gawain, the protagonist, evolves as a character and develops his true personality as a man of the Arthurian code; however, he often finds himself in situations in which he must decide to either retain his reputation with appropriate actions or ignore the code and act on his unlawful instincts. Throughout the story, Sir Gawain often faces situations that nearly ruin his reputation, such as the …show more content…
A couple moments later, a massive Green Knight with a long green beard, grey eyes, a green horse, and green clothes barged into the court to taunt King Arthur and his knights. The Green Knight described Author as young and boyish while laughing at the legitimacy of his court. Despite the Green Knights rude attitude he only wanted to play a game to test the loyalty of the court. The Green Knight got everyone's attention and challenged the court to cut his head off. Full of rage, King Arthur accepted the challenge of the Green knight shocking all of his knights. King Arthur's acceptance of the challenge gave Sir Gawain a realization his reputation is at risk and he now must act appropriately to grow his reputation. Sir Gawain respectfully asked King Arthur to let him decapitate the Green Knight instead of the king doing all the …show more content…
She offered Gawain a ring, but he politely declined. Then she offered him a green girdle, but he declined that as well. The lady persuaded Gawain to take the girdle because of its’ unbelievable power of invincibility. Gawain realized the potential life saving ability of the girdle and accepted the gift; however, Gawain ignored his deal with the lord and refused to exchange the girdle. Gawain’s devious actions add very negative attributes to his great personality. Gawain graciously thanks the lord, the lady, and all of their men, and continues his journey to the green chapel. Upon Gawain's arrival at the green chapel, an insane plot twist occurs. Just as the Green Knight promised, he met Sir Gawain at the green chapel a year after the first part of his challenge; however, the Green Knight still did not intent on killing Sir Gawain, in fact, he only wanted to teach Gawain a lesson. The Green Knight reveals himself to Sir Gawain as the lord. The Lord conveyed his disappointment at Gawain's lack of respect, trust, and loyalty in the lord. The Green Knight reiterates Sir Gawain's failure in the lord's game, and his choice to choose selfishness over loyalty. Sir Gawain apologized to the lord and gave an interesting