Name
Professor Martin
World Literature I-WEB/SCC
28 July 2008
True Men Can But Try
	So many of our heroes in modern literature and life disappoint us with human failings and bad decisions.  In many modern day films, the main characters are ruthless individuals bent on a life of crime or personal destruction.  In contrast, however, the fourteenth century romance of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight shows us a noble individual tested in various ways, doing his best to behave in a manner appropriate for a knight of King Arthur’s legendary round table. Sir Gawain however seems to represent more than just a knight presented with a problem to solve.  Sir Gawain is undoubtedly human with strong moral character seeking to solve an apparently unsolvable problem in a human way.  Gawain himself explains his own humanity in his statement upon his departure, “In destinies sad or merry, True men can but try” (Part II, 564-565).
	Having accepted the challenge presented by the Green Knight and lopping off his head with the great green ax, Gawain is thrust into a surreal position of watching the headless Green Knight ride his horse away with his head in his hand reminding him of his now new obligation for the following New Year.  The human, Gawain, although the greatest in human eyes, is presented with a supernatural inhuman challenge to all that he believes.  The unknown author spends the rest of the story showing us Gawain’s struggle between honor and humiliation, faith and fear, loyalty and lust.
	There is a striking distinction between the character of Gawain and the main characters of the epics of Gilgamesh, the Iliad, and the Odyssey.  Gilgamesh, Achilles, and Odysseus are endowed with super-human god-like strength and beauty with godly support for their decisions and actions (Markman 581).  Gawain has none of this.  His strength is in human morality and extreme loyalty.  Gawain shows the readers a real human struggling to maintain his values under extraordinary circumstances.  Although Gawain is the best of the best, any reader can identify with situations where their values are challenged.  Another interesting aspect of the characters of the epics and the Gawain character is their reputations.  The epic characters and Gawain were all well known to readers to such a point that little work is required on the part of the poet to define them much beyond a few words in their respective works.  Readers of the fourteenth century were keenly aware of Gawain’s reputation of integrity and proper behavior in every situation.  To place Gawain though in a strange and supernatural situation brings new interest in seeing how the best of the best may behave when presented with the bizarre (Markman 582).  Before the bizarre however, one must look at Gawain as a human with his human characteristics.
	Sir Gawain is certainly the greatest of the knights of the round table.  He had the seat of honor at the table of King Arthur, seated next to Guenevere, the queen.  He is also the nephew of King Arthur, being afforded all of the rights and expectations of such a position (Part I 109-111).  Gawain is adored by the other knights and people at the castle.  This shows especially as Gawain prepares to leave for his rendezvous with the stroke of the ax.
Then ladies lovely and lords debonair
With sorrow for Sir Gawain were sore at heart;
Yet they covered their care with countenance glad:
Many a mournful man made mirth for his sake. (Part II 539 – 542)
Then the first and foremost came forth in throng:
Yvain and Eric and others of note,
Sir Dodinal le Sauvage, the Duke of Clarence,
Lionel and Lancelot and Lucan the good,
Sir Bors and Sir Bedivere, big men both,
And many manly knights more, with Mador de la Porte.
All this courtly company comes to the king
To counsel their comrade, with care in their hearts;
There was much secret sorrow suffered that day
That one so good as Gawain must go in such wise
To bear a bitter blow, and his bright sword
				      lay by (Part II 550 – 561).
Gawain had made an impact on the people of King Arthur’s court and round table.  Gawain is known for his truthfulness and courtesy to others (Part II 637 – 638).  His personal symbol is a five pointed star that stands for benevolence, brotherly love, pure mind, pure manners, and compassion all in a perfect pentangle that had no end or beginning.  Gawain is the perfect gentleman in all ways.
	When presented with his first test, that of the overbearing queen and wife of Bercilak de Hautdsert, Gawain fends off lust and dishonor through the use of his mind and his speech.  He is able to keep the woman talking and deflects the advances with a few kisses.  This is more than a test of infidelity however, this is a test of loyalty.  When Gawain entered the protection of Bercilak, he effectively became his subject, even though a guest.  Gawain also had loyalty to King Arthur in that any action on his part would reflect directly on the Knights of the Round Table and his king.  Finally and foremost, Gawain’s loyalty to himself and his own moral code is tested.  In all three he fared well.  His only perceived lack of honesty is in the acceptance of the green gold-laced girdle that Gawain understood to be a method of protection against the strike of the ax he had to endure.  Gawain chooses protection of his own life over a full disclosure of his winnings during the game of exchange with Bercilak after each hunting adventure.  The girdle is given back to Gawain and is used as a reminder of humility for him ever after.  The test of the ax did not seem to be much of a test to the great knight.  It seemed that, although he dreaded it, Gawain never gave thought to turning aside from his obligation to take the blow of the ax.  He did choose to use cunning with the use of the green girdle, but he is not sure it would work and willingly accepted the outcome, whether it worked or not.
	Gawain is a man of great integrity and seemingly incorruptible throughout this romantic poem.  The only crack in his armor is his desire to stay alive which causes him to accept a gift and then not to reveal it to Bercilak.  From this Gawain adds humility to his repertory of reminders of proper behavior.  Gawain is not a perfect man, but did his best in every case to be morally and ethically consistent with his ideal of honor and integrity.  When presented with a failing, Gawain accepts it and readily learns a lesson which he then holds dear.  Sir Gawain is a character in literature who should be held up for closer examination for all generations as a model of human behavior.  There is no doubt that Gawain is mortal, yet he strives with every part of his being to be the kind of man he expects himself to be.  “In destinies sad or merry, True men can but try” (Part II, 564-565).

Works Citedperfect!
Markman, Alan. “The Meaning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” PMLA 72.4 (1954): 574 – 586.  JSTOR.  Collin County Community College Library, Plano, TX.  23 July 2008 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/460169>.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.  The Norton Anthology of World Literature: 100 - 1500.  Ed. Peter J. Simon.  New York:  W. W. Norton & Company, 2002.  1993 – 2045.