Chivalry and Sir Gawain

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has many themes involved in the complex poem. When writing a research paper on chivalry in the great work of medieval literature, be sure to clarify what aspect of chivalry you are focusing on. Paper Masters can help you flush out all the aspect of chivalry within Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in a research paper that is custom written according to your instructions.

Sir Gawain explores chivalry from the point of view of the following:

• Chivalry in society
• Chivalry in direct relation to women
• How Sir Gawain himself is the quintessential example of chivalry

You may want to choose just one of these aspects to cover, since it is never good to make your topic too broad. Below is an example of how you may want to look at the topic of courtliness and chivalry in the story.

Courtliness and Chivalry in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Courtliness and chivalry lie at the heart of the later medieval world's understanding of their culture. In modern times we tend to stereotypically associate these attributes to medieval society, but they were, in reality, more of an ideal, reserved mostly for literature and the extremely wealthy classes, than and part of medieval life. Write a literature term paper on a work such as "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," and how the author of Sir Gawain uses women and chivalry reveals more about their functions than any historical reality. In this poem, the unknown author uses courtliness and chivalry to reveal the differences between romance and reality, as Gawain's quest hinges upon the ability of the knight to live up to the ideal. Gawain must pass several tests of these chivalric ideals (many of which he fails), demonstrating how chivalric morality is a choice between the two obligations of courtliness and chivalry.

The main thrust of Sir Gawain's quest lies in his obligation to fulfill the test of the magical Green Knight, to receive a return blow the following Christmas. The Green Knight offered a challenge, and Gawain was thus required to meet the accepted terms. His journey to find the Green Knight is a matter of a series of temptations. He has accepted lodging at the Castle Bertilak and made another bargain with his host. He will exchange anything he "chances" on with anything Bertilak catches on hunt.