Essential Question 4

Where do we see seduction and lust start to destroy Gawain, our young hero? What is the author trying to tell us?

The episode with the Green Knight is the first example of Gawain's destruction. As we may assume, Gawain has broken the five knightly virtues, especially chastity. His lustful actions have led the Green Knight, who we can assume as being God or an angel of God, to come and make Gawain aware of his wrongs. The Green Knight challenges Gawain to the game, which he accepts. Having one who represents God come to change his ways shows that Gawain has done something to destroy the love God promotes. We also see when he arrives at Bertilak's castle how Gawain and the king's wife grew quite fond of each other than usual. The nonchalant attitude of Gawain makes some type of destruction or punishment imminent. The author is trying to tell us that we are to hold the virtues highly and respect God's values because he is watching, as we see through the Green Knight's arrival, or we shall face punishment.