The Flaws in the Concept of Knighthood - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages These virtues included truth, faith, charity, justice, hope, prudence and diligence (Zesmer, 91). All these virtues were supposed to be shown by the people. During the knighthood ceremony, knights swore oaths that they would never associate themselves with traitors; treat a lady with respect and to protect them against any harm. A knight was a soldier who was ready to sacrifice his life in saving children and women. They were brave soldiers who fought wars to defend their religion and justice. They were trained as professional soldiers who were to serve and do good deeds. They were supposed to take their job as a religious contract with God but most of them took their training as chance to kill rape and burn (McGlynn, 72). Most of them never followed the rules that they were taught in their training. There were rules of courtly love which described pure romance and loving another man’s wife. These courtly rules were thirty one in number. It stated that boys were not allowed to marry until they were matured enough. It also stated that, it was not proper to love a woman whom you will be ashamed of. All these rules only existed in writing but were never taken into consideration in the real world. All these concepts of knighthood had many limitations. Some were applied in the real life while others were never. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, there are many limitations to the rules of chivalry. Also, in Wife of Bath tale, not all of concepts of knighthood were accomplished either. Chivalric virtues teach one to be faithful to God. Everyone should fear God and always maintain His church. One should always persevere to any difficulty he comes across. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight poem, we see that Sir Gawain is obeying all these rules before he goes to challenge the Green Knight. Green Knight gives a chance to anyone who wants to strike his neck with an axe if the challenger is ready to offer his neck to be chopped off in the following year on the same date. Gawain agrees to take this challenge and he beheads the Green Knight in one blow but miraculously, Green Knight does not die. He picks up his head which is still speaking to Gawain and tells Gawain that they have to meet at Green Chapel in the following New Year’s morning for them to exchange the blow as they had agreed. Gawain agrees to go to the Green Chapel. Through his faith, he gets guidance from God. This is one of the chivalric values that he is supposed to obey. This value fades away when he is seduced by Lady Bertilak. He has to choose between the request from the woman and his faithfulness to God. He falls into the woman’s trap and his faith in God is shaken. He fails to honor that value that he was taught as a knight (Clein, 35). Chivalry codes states that knight is a brave and fearless warrior who must be ready to die while protecting his people. He should be ready for any situation even if it is very dangerous and may make him lose his life (Mcglynn, 76). When Gawain is riding to Green Chapel to face the mysterious Green Knight, he is alone. He has no one to talk to but to God. He encounters many challenges on his way. He battles giants and beasts and struggles through the hostile conditions. The weather is very cold and could even kill a weak man. His faith in God also helps him defeat the enemies on the way (Clein, 34). This shows how brave Gawain is. When he meets the dangerous Green Knight, who has a monstrous axe, he is horrified. He has to expose ...Download file to see next pagesRead More