Abstract：Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a poem written in the 14th century when chivalry and chivalric romance prevail in literature of Medieval Europe. This poem depicts a legendary hero Gawain in the time of Round Table which dates back to about 6th century. 

     This paper, from the perspective of the chivalric tradition, analyzes Gawain, one of the two protagonists, in the medieval verse romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. According to the contemporary definition of chivalry, Gawain’s behavior during his journey to the Green Chapel sets a good example to the other knights in his time; however, Gawain is far from a flawless and perfect knight according to the codes of chivalry and all the knightly virtues. 

     In this paper, the author attempts to demonstrate how Gawain tries, successfully and unsuccessfully, to overcome the obstacles during his journey to perfection, how he comes to accept the natural being of himself and the reason why the author depicts an imperfect hero rather than a paragon knight in the time when both literature and society value the code of chivalry. 

Key words: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; Gawain; chivalry; romance; humanism

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Introduction-5

1 The Chivalric Gawain-7

1.1 Chivalry in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight-7

1.2 The Loyal and Gallant Gawain-8

1.3 The Courtly and Moral Gawain-10

2 The Human Gawain-11

2.1 Humanism in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight-12

2.2 The Dishonest Gawain-13

2.3 The Craven Gawain-14

3 The Reason of Conceiving an Imperfect Hero in a Romance-15

Conclusion-16

Works Cited-17

Acknowledgements-18