She uses the very virtue that should be a deterrent to promiscuity to attempt to convince him to be immoral. The next morning, when she enters his bedchamber again, Lady Bercilak plays on the knight’s wish to be polite and chivalrous to get him to have sex with her again. This concession shows that Gawain’s noble will to always do the right thing is imperfect. He talks his way out of having sex with Lady Bercilak, but in the end must give her one kiss. This is most likely because it is a more intimate situation and would allow the knight to obey her request for sex, telling him that “My body is here at hand, Your each wish to fulfill” (1236-7). He tries to obey this social norm, but the lady of the house convinces him to stay in this most improper position.
This modesty shows that Gawain is concerned with behaving morally and in the proper fashion as it would not be suitable for a noble lady to converse with a man in his pajamas sitting in a bed. Sir Gawain begins the first of these daily encounters by suggesting that he dress himself and get out of bed, saying, “I should quit this couch and accouter me better, And be clad in more comfort for converse here”? (1220-1). When the lady of the castle attempts to seduce Sir Gawain every morning, she initiates a second battle between chivalry and basic instincts, namely the knight’s morality and the basic urge for sex or procreation. One might expect such primal adventures to take place in the wilderness of the surrounding forest, yet inside the castle another hunt is taking place. This wildness acts as a setup for the action to follow and could also be foreshadowing the fall from chivalry and order that Gawain later experiences.
Despite the uncivilized aspects of the hunt, much show and pageantry surrounds the daily hunting, especially when the lord is preparing to leave and upon the party’s return. The hunting party engages in fierce chases and battles to kill the prey, emphasizing their brute manliness. It involves one animal killing another for food (and clothing in the case of humans) and is a task necessary to survival. This hunt is presumably out of entertainment and politeness to his guest, but essentially, the act of hunting is very barbaric in nature. The agreement that the two men make to share their winnings at the end of each day gives readers the sense of rules and civility, yet what goes on during the hunt, or hunts, is reduced to basic human urges.
Each day the lord of the castle sets out to hunt and Sir Gawain rests and attends Mass in preparation for his upcoming battle. The events of the three days before Sir Gawain travels to the Green Chapel illustrate the struggle between a want for a strict code of ethics and instinctual urges. In reality, however, the castle is a fabrication of Morgan le Faye, and exists only to deceive Gawain and cause him to stray from his noble ambitions to live up to his word and meet the Green Knight. On the positive side, the castle and Lord Bercilak’s court are the answer to Gawain’s prayer as they appear to him in the middle of the wilderness and provide for him a haven to rest before his battle. The castle of Lord Bercilak is the appropriate setting for this struggle and slackening of chivalric code since it serves two main purposes: one good and one evil.
Such reverence for civilization and society’s order falls apart in the second half of the story when Sir Gawain visits the castle of Lord Bercilak.Īlthough Sir Gawain attempts to adhere to society’s standards, the atmosphere of the castle causes the basic needs for food, sex, and a will to live to overcome the desire for structure and civility. Sir Gawain attempts to live his life morally, humbly, and in accordance with Christian teachings. It is even more obvious in Sir Gawain’s wish to take his king’s place in the Christmas game that the knight has great veneration for honor and loyalty. This respect for the chivalric code is apparent in many instances throughout the poem, such as when King Arthur accepts the dangerous challenge from the Green Knight to save face in front of his knights and the strangers, as well as to live up to his name as a brave man. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain and his peers hold values such as courtesy, loyalty, and honor in high esteem. As is the case with almost every example of romantic epics, and certainly every story concerning King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, the characters carefully observe a strict code of ethics, or chivalry.
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