Maturing of sir gawain

The tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a “coming-of-age” story where Sir Gawain matures as a knight and learns a deeper meaning of humility. Sir Gawain is steadfast in his pursuit to uphold the ideals of chivalry and honor. When the Green Knight enters the hall of Camelot and challenges Gawain’s lord, King Arthur, Gawain jumps in to intervene this conflict to protect his lord. Gawain is praised by all those around the…Round…Table for his act of chivalry and honor. Through his journey in this tale, however, Gawain will learn humility is a lesson that must be experienced at a level deeper than words can reach. R.A. Shoaf, in, The Poem as Green Girdle, points out the naiveté of Gawain’s youth: “In his youthful idealism and unreflective devotion to knighthood” Gawain was guilty of the “pride that inhibits the necessary questioning and probing of the value of things” (Shoaf, 31). Through the adventure with the Green Knight, Gawain learns that “the mature steward of the ideal is mature because he questions even the value the ideal; he recognizes that pride can also insinuate itself where one is most careful against it” (Shoaf, 33). After the encounter with the Green Knight at the Green Chapel, the green girdle becomes a symbol of the humility he has learned. Perfect humility, perfection, is impossible for man and to believe one is completely humble is an act of pride. The pursuit of humility will be met with failures, and the failures can teach the humility.

Bibliography
Shoaf, R.A. The Poem as Green Girdle. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1984.

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