In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, there are many vital virtues that relate to the personality of Sir Gawain. Temperance, courage, loyalty, and pride all play an important role through this poem for Sir Gawain, as he journeys to the green chapel, to meet the challenge of the Green Knight. Many obstacles, some not physical but intellectual, are in the path of Gawain. Each virtue relates to one or more specific events. The Gawain poet puts to the test on how far a knight can go, without making a mistake that would be abusing his role as a knight. Without these four significant virtues, it is positive that Sir Gawain would have gone astray, and failed the challenge of the green knight.
In this epic narrative, a ghastly green stranger that goes by the name, Green Knight, intrudes upon the merry feasting and play of Christmas, in King Arthur’s court. There, he issues a challenge, which includes himself and the other challenger cutting a part of the other’s human feature, like the head or a limb. The Green Knight puts King Arthur in the spotlight to take the challenge, but, fearful of his Majesty’s life, a young and courageous individual takes King Arthur’s place, and accepts the challenge instead. Sir Gawain goes first, and he decapitates the Green Knight, but the knight still lives on. Now, with fear and pride playing battles within his mind, Sri Gawain must embark on a quest that will eventually lead him to the dwelling of the gruesome, Green Knight, and also a journey that will lead him to the Green Knight’s heavy and razor-sharp axe, which will soon be upon Sir Gawain’s head.
There are many virtues to discuss that are a part of Sir Gawain and help him on the quest, but the most important virtue, courage has to be first. Courage can be a bad or good virtue, but it depends on how one uses it. Sir Gawain uses his courage as a foothold for his meeting with the Green Knight. Without the courage Gawain obtains, he would have “fallen” into the depths of his fear, and Gawain would have refused to embark on this quest, which would have hurt his reputation and pride. This is an immense virtue to have because Sir Gawain now has to travel on an expedition that will eventually lead to Sir Gawain’s neck being endangered. One might think how would you have the courage to face a whistling blade, which would eventually get Gawain killed? Well, Sir Gawain was a knight who valued his honesty and his pride. There are many scenes in which Gawain shows his courage and his “guts”. The first incident is at the beginning where he puts his life at risk and accepts the challenge instead of King Arthur. This act shows that he is a knight who feels that he is responsible for the well-being of his King, and a person who knows the true value of a ruler’s life. If King Arthur had gone on the journey instead and faced the challenge instead, he would have surely been decapitated and he would have died. Then, England would have been in total chaos. Another incident is when Gawain had to cut the Green Knight’s head off. I believe that if it was any other knight doing this feat, no matter how hard stomached he was, that knight would have surely thrown up. Gawain takes the blade and makes a clean cut. He does not faint, he does not become sick, and instead, Sir Gawain acts like a true man. The virtue courage is like gold. Gold can help you with many things, it can make you rich and it can make your life comfortable. Courage can help the user in many ways with whatever feat he has to accomplish. Gold and courage are things one must have to earn, through laborious work.
As he journeys through the country, Sir Gawain’s supplies dwindle, and he is in immense need of food and shelter. The, quite suddenly, he comes across a magnificent t castle. Once there, Gawain asks the king of that castle for his shelter and food, and the Host, as the king is called, graciously accepts Gawian’s need for hospitality. Two important virtues play a role at this castle, one is temperance and the other is loyalty. To describe these two virtues, an update on the plot is required. Sir Gawain stays at the castle for some time, and then eventually asks the Host if he knows the whereabouts of the green chapel. The Host does know where the chapel is, but asks Gawain that he stays a little longer. Gawain accepts his offer. One day, when the Host and his men are out hunting, the hosts’ wife visits Gawian’s bed chamber. There, she asks for Gawian’s love, but with as much temperance as he could muster, Gawain only permits a gift from her, and nothing else. The Queen is disappointed, but she leaves him with no complaint. Temperance is the most significant virtue in this incident. When most men would have easily been flattered and allowed for the love, Sir Gawain composed himself and he used his temperance. If he had accepted the Host’s wife, he would have been cheating the Host out of his hospitality. In addition, Gawain thought of his owing loyalty to the Host. Gawain remained even on the deal of the Hosts’ hospitality, and he remained loyal, unlike the Queen, to his hospitable host. If Gawain had not have had the virtue loyalty he would have cheated the Host out of his hospitability, and things would have looked grim.
This whole scene shows that Sir Gawain shows loyalty to anybody as well as his king. Because of that, Gawain can be trusted and he can be counted on to be responsible and not make rash decisions. Lastly, the temperance Gawain displays goes on to show that Gawain as a very strong limit, and he can resist any temptation that would throw any knight off course and make him forget his training on composure to anything that is a distraction to a knight’s job.
The final virtue Gawain display is his pride. Pride, like courage, can be good or bad. Too much pride can make you foolish and it would make you commit rash decisions, which would most likely get you into trouble. Just the right amount of pride, can give a person then self-endurance one needs to finish a tough feat. Sir Gawain uses his pride as a foothold for his meeting with the Green Knight. Rather than being called cowardly by a green stranger, Sir Gawain accepts the challenge and the he journeys to the chapel. The last scene, in which Gawain displays his pride, is when the Green Knight ready’s to strike Sir Gawain. Gawain contains his fear, and remains rooted to the spot, his neck out, and gets ready to take the blow. He does not try to escape, nor does he try to prevent the Green Knight by attacking him. As seen, the right amount of pride can make a person respected, and it can also bring luck.
The story ends by the Green Knight only pricking Sir Gawain and not cutting his head off with the axe. The reason for this is because the Green Knight thought Gawain’s acceptance of the sash, the gift from the Host’s wife to Gawain, was still a little bit like cheating, so the Green Knight had to give Gawain a little prick, and a little draw of blood. Now, why would the Green Knight care if Gawain had accepted the sash form the Queen and cheated a little? That question is simple. This is due to the fact that the Host was actually the Green Knight in disguise! I think Sir Gawain acts as a rue knight thought this poem, even though he did accept the sash, and I am amazed on how much temperance Sir Gawain displayed. Lastly, I admire the Gawain poet on this truly magnificent piece of writing, it was an excellent story. All Hail Sir Gawain!!
