Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

4 Pages 1065 Words

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, courtly love is used to test the loyalty and faith of Sir Gawain. One definition of courtly love was a “code of behavior that defined the relationship between aristocratic lovers in Western Europe during the Middle Ages … influenced by contemporary chivalric ideals.”(Encarta) Although courtly love was a part of chivalry, it also helped to define it. Since this was during the time of the Crusades, strict adherence to Christian morals was required of a knight. Chivalry was the code of conduct by which knights were supposedly guided. In addition to military prowess and valor and loyalty to God and the knight's feudal lord, it called for courtesy toward enemies and generosity toward the sick and oppressed, widows, and other disadvantaged people (Encarta). Incorporated in the ideal of chivalry was courtly love, which was romantic devotion for a sexually unattainable woman, usually another man's wife. It was a way of defining adultery in a time when marriages were primarily arranged for profit or military advantage. Courtly love was a strong element in the Arthurian legends, which Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a part.
The Arthurian legends also had very strong moral conflicts between Christian and pagan beliefs. This is evident in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by the Gawain’s act of putting his trust in a pagan charm and not in the Virgin Mary. Chivalry itself is a conflicting concept since it consists of both pagan and Christian principles. Although on one hand, chivalry promoted virtuous actions towards others such as kindness and compassion, but chivalry also promoted the sin of infidelity. At the time, society encouraged knights to become involved “platonically” with married women, but with the rise of the Catholic Church, these ideals were being challenged. This may, in fact, be the primary cause for this work.
Many tests of chivalry were placed on the knight Sir Gawain. For exam...