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Knighthood as reflected in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

  By constructing Gawain as the fictional representative of the aristocratic class in the fourteenth century, the Gawain-poet dramatizes the limitations and contradictions of chivalric values and vision, which the audience realized in the real world. Gawain falls in his own estimation from the remote, fictional world of Arthur to the real world which includes knights who are not only fallible, but disloyal, avaricious and evil. Though the poet presents the cluster of chivalric traits signified in Gawain"s pentangle as an ideal example for knighthood, on the other hand, he realizes that these values are too perfect for a human being to live up to in all respects. Moreover, the poet portrays Gawain as a product of the military and religious chivalry that cannot be easily compromised. This is hinted at in the various perspectives on Gawain"s failing which Gawain himself, Arthur"s knights and Bertilak show. Gawain blames himself for his failure with the categorical, almost puritanical terms. Arthur"s knights glorify Gawain"s survival as the success of military chivalry. Bertilak, however, takes a middle position: finding Gawain guilty but at the same time demonstrating the natural weakness of human nature. The poet neither praises nor discredits any judgement among them, leaving the final judgement to the audience and asking them to perceive the complexities and the tensions in chivalry. Thus, readers are provoked into evaluating each view and thereby gaining a broad understanding of chivalry in the fourteenth century.