Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Fear Essay

Words: 1445
Pages: 6

In the poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the repercussions of Sir Gawain’s fear are shown through his encounter with the Green Knight, the baroness and the King’s court. The first encounter Sir Gawain has with the Green Knight is a #gallant one. Sir Gawain sacrifices himself for King Arthur and accepts the Knight’s challenge. Sir Gawain does not seem scared and is very confident. Gawain offers himself up for the King without any question. He says, “Would you, my worth Lord, bid me abandon this bench and stand by you there, so that I without discourtesy might be excused from the table, and my liege lady were not loth to permit me, I would come to your counsel before courtiers fair. For I find it unfitting, as in fact it is held, when …show more content…
Sir Gawain throws away the girdle and rages against women and how they are to blame as his fearful instinct to rid himself of guilt and that he is not to blame. However, here he ruins his reputation worse and even the Green Knight knows he did it to save himself. Proverbs 28:13 says, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” This verse shows that God tells us that if only we confess and ask for forgiveness, he will show mercy and love to us and forgive us. But when we hide our sin, it only creates problems. Gawain was so caught up in his fear and self-pity he could not see that he could be forgiven at that moment. This is the first instance where we see Sir Gawain’s humanity; he is human and struggles with temptation as well. He handles the baroness very well in the beginning, being very #courtly to her but casually declining her offers as he should. The Pearl poet has built Sir Gawain up as a perfect character, a strong knight. But now, we are beginning to see his faults and his fear coming into play. On