Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – A Test of ChivalryEssay with outline Loyalty, courage, honor, purity and courtesy are all attributes of a knight who displays chivalry. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is truly a story of testing these attributes. In order to truly test these attributes, there must first be a knight worthy of being tested, meaning the knight must first possess chivalric attributes. Sir Gawain is certainly not the best knight in the world. He said: “I am the weakest, I know, and the weakest in spirit; / and the loss of my life [shall be] the least of all” (Sir Gawain, l. 354-355). Continuing to test a knight who doesn't seem worthy certainly won't make for a great story or establish a theme. Through the use of symbols, the author of Sir Gawain is able to show that Gawain possesses the attributes necessary to make him worthy of testing. He also uses symbols throughout testing each individual attribute and to reveal where Gawain's fault lies. The effective use of these symbols allows the author to integrate the test of each individual attribute into a central theme, or rather an overall test, the test of chivalry. To establish the knight's worth, the author first shows Gawain's loyalty to his king. The Green Knight challenges anyone in the room to a game of beheading and no one goes for it. Arthur, angered by the Green Knight's taunts, is about to accept the challenge himself when Gawain intervenes saying "would you grant me this grace" (Sir Gawain, l. 343) and takes the ax from 'Arthur. This is a very convenient way for the author to introduce Gawain and also show Gawain's loyalty to Arthur, but it almost seems too convenient. There I...... middle of paper ...... life.VI. Gawain's fault is only truly revealed when he is at the Green Chapel. Upon arrival, he hears what appears to be a sharpened scythe.1. The scythe is a harvesting tool.2. This may be related to the harvesting of the land just before the Day of Judgment.B. The test turns out to be the Green Knight's plan.C. Gawain's real fault is his desire to preserve himself.VII. Gawain is placed in many different situations in which he must demonstrate that he does in fact possess the attributes of a worthy knight. The author uses symbols to place Gawain in these different situations and to show that he is exemplary.B. Loyalty, courage, honor, purity, and courtesy are all elements of the term chivalry.C. When the individual tests of these attributes are put together, the result is an overall test: the Chivalry Test..