Temptation in Sir Gawain and the Green KnightIn the poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, Gawain is a guest at Hautdesert Castle. During his stay at the castle, three separate hunts took place. These hunts also parallel the temptations directed against Gawain by the wife of the lord of the castle of the High Desert. In each hunting scene, a characteristic of the prey of that hunt is personified in Gawain's defense against the advances of the Lord's wife. Gawain's first temptation is perhaps the most difficult to defend. This temptation corresponds to the hunting scene involving a deer. In hunting terms, deer are hunted because they are a staple of the diet or because they satisfy a person. In the same way, the Lord's wife considered Gawain as an artistic animal that she hunted. She pursued him based solely on her carnal desire. This, his first temptation, is completely sexual. She says "Do with me what you will: it pleases Inc., / For I quickly surrender and ask for grace Which, in my opinion, since I must, is by far the best course" (1215-1217 -). Gawain just as a hunter would observe a deer. She's not interested in any kind of relationship and she doesn't flirt with him much like she does in the next two temptations; she just wants sex from him, plain and simple. In a sense, she “hunts” Gawain; hunting in the sense that she pursues Gawain with the sole aim of making him her trophy. If he falls prey to this temptation, then she has killed him. In his reaction to the lady, Gawain behaves a bit like a deer. He initially tries to ignore her completely, but this tactic fails. Then he stealthily avoids her advances, not directly confronting her, but subtly downplaying her... middle of paper ... which also comes into play here; he accepts this scarf as a cunning attempt to outwit the Green Knight during their impending encounter. But by accepting this scarf, Gauvain showed his weakness, his cowardice. As a knight, Gawain is meant to be protected by God alone. By accepting the scarf, Gawain has shown that he has lost his faith in God, as he believes the scarf will do a better job of protecting him than God would. Although it may be his only weakness, Gawain's cowardice did him no good in acting like an honorable, God-fearing knight. In these temptations it is evident that Gawain was being tested. Knowing the final outcome of the story, it is possible to see that Bertilak and his wife planned the hunts and temptations to coincide with each other. Whether this is true or not, Gawain certainly proved his honor during his brief stay at Château du Hautdesert..