AE Project Preliminaries

Introduction:

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the ideal representation of the warrior chivalry aspect of the chivalric code. Warrior chivalry contains virtues of mercy, courage, valor, fairness, protection of the weak and the poor, the servant-hood of the knight to his lord, and the willingness to give your life for a poor man or your lord. Sir Gawain can be seen as the embodiment of that aspect of the chivalric code. The games that the Green Knight challenges Gawain with, even if they are violent in nature, also adhere to that chivalric code. The temptation that Bertilak’s wife imposes on Sir Gawain plays on the courtly love aspect of the chivalric code and Sir Gawain responds accordingly to the seduction of Bertilak’s wife in accordance to the warrior chivalry aspect of the chivalric code. Because of all of these representations of warrior chivalry Sir Gawain and the Green Knight can be seen as the ultimate guidebook of warrior chivalry in its era.

Quote Analysis:
“Time after time, in tournaments of joust, / they had lunged at each other with leveled lances / then returned to the castle to carry on their caroling” (41-43).
Having tournaments of joust where it is fine to attack each other with lances is seen as a normal affair to these chivalric knights of King Arthur’s court and so the game that the Green Knight proposes can be seen as being just as chivalric.

“if a person here present, within these premises, / is big or bold or red-blooded enough, / to strike me one stroke and be struck in return, / I shall give him as a gift this gigantic cleaver / and the axe shall be his to handle how he likes” (285-289).
The Green Knight issues a challenge with clear and precise rules and he is willing to abide by these set of rules in accordance to the chivalric code.

“I stake my claim. / This melee must be mine” (342).
Sir Gawain tells his lord, King Arthur, that he must be the one to accept the challenge of the Green Knight instead of Arthur. Because Sir Gawain is willing to risk his life in place of his lord, it is an example of warrior chivalry.

“For Gawain was as good as the purest gold--- / devoid of vices but virtuous, loyal and kind” (634-635).
This is a testament to Sir Gawain’s virtuous nature, which is an important part of the chivalric code.

“He was careful to be courteous and avoid uncouthness, / and more so for the sake of his soul should he sin / and be counted a betrayer by the keeper of the castle” (1773-1775).
As Sir Gawain was being tempted by Bertilak’s wife he is able to uphold the chivalric code of honoring his lord, which in this case is the keeper of the castle that he is staying in. Sir Gawain was able to turn down the queen politely and uphold the chivalric code by accepting only a mere kiss from the queen.

Critical Analysis:

The Cipher of Chivalry: Violence as Courtly Play in the World of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Carl Grey Martin, defends the violent games in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by explaining them in a chivalric sense. Martin begins by saying, “The dominant act of the Middle English romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the grotesque physical breaking and disfigurement of one knight by another” (311). He goes on to explain how this act of violence goes against the Christmas festivities that are going on during the time of the Green Knight’s challenge. Martin says, “The Green Knight’s proposal to endure a decapitating stroke in return for the chance to deal one himself appears to subvert the tenets of courtly civility and of Christian fellowship” (311). Then he backs up the knight’s chivalry by saying, “Yet he pursues this contest with a true knight’s obligatory magnanimity and finesse” (311). I agree with Martin and his idea of violence as courtly play. It kind of goes against each other but they work together so well in this sense. The Green Knight issues the challenge of having someone take an axe to his neck and in a years time that person would have to seek out the Green Knight so that the Green Knight can return the blow back. The challenge contains honor and the risk of bodily harm to each person involved, much like any other “games” that knights would play, such as jousting and sword fighting. In fact, in the beginning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Arthur refuses to eat unless he would be entertained by a duel between two knights. So even the extreme act of violence of Sir Gawain lopping of the Green Knight’s head contains a certain chivalric aspect to it.

Martin also goes on to explain certain aspects of chivalry and honor in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Martin shows the humanity and also the courage of Sir Gawain: “He is prepared for death, but in the end declines to accelerate or ensure it. Like the Green Knight, Gawain has a trick up his sleeve. And just as the Green Knight arched his body to bare his neck to the ax, so Gawain, conquering his instinct to shrink or shun the blow” (320). He also compares and contrasts the Green Knight and Sir Gawain’s courage and honor to the game that they play. Martin viewed the Green Knight as not being honest to the rules of the game: “Beheaded yet alive, the Green Knight would instead evade restrictions, defy definition, and erode the difference that renders play meaningful—a privileged sphere of action” (325). Martin had a more favorable view of Sir Gawain, in terms of honoring the rules of the game: “Untouched by magic, he truly exhibits the warrior-noble’s vulnerability to courtly-chivalric mystification; he has rationalized his relation to physical suffering” (325).

Martin, Carl Grey. "The Cipher Of Chivalry: Violence As Courtly Play In The World Of "Sir Gawain And The Green Knight.." Chaucer Review 43.3 (2009): 311-329. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 Sept. 2012.