In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by the poet Pearl, after two failed attempts to seduce Gawain, Lady Bertilak grants the knight a gift in response to his disinterest . and inability to offer him a souvenir of any kind. While Gawain refuses the gift of the magnificent red gold ring, Lady Bertilak offers him a green silk belt embroidered with gold thread. Gwaine also refuses this gift at first, insisting that he will not accept anything until he completes the Green Knight's challenge. But Lady Bertilak retorts that the belt has magical qualities, and Gawain accepts the gift, convinced that it would give him immunity against the Green Knight's blade. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Therefore, the promised protection is the first meaning that Gawain associates with the belt, as it appears to serve its protective function, but not in the same way that Lady Bertilak claimed. His belief in the magical properties of the belt gave him assurance that he might perhaps be spared from death and convinced him to tell the truth, making it a motive for his survival. As the Green Knight, revealed to be Lord Bertilak, said: "In confessing your failures, you are free from all fault / and you have openly paid penance at the point of my axe" (2391-92). Thus, the belt represents both Gawain's fall and salvation, a double-edged sword that will always be a part of him and haunt him for years to come. Likewise, the belt serves as a memento of Gawain's encounter with the Green Knight under the orchestrations of Morgan le Faye. It is also the incriminated object which made it possible to solve the mystery of the identity of the Green Knight, and to reveal the motivations of the people present at Château Hautdesert. In the final moments of the confrontation, Lord Bertilak, like his wife, offers the belt as a gift. “It is yours, Sir Gawain, / a memento of our meeting when you mingle and mingle / with princes and kings” (2396-98). Thus, the belt serves as a constant reminder to Gawain to remain humble and always remember the time when his chivalrous virtues failed him in a time of danger, against the influence of Morgan le Faye. Furthermore, the belt, like the scar on his neck, is proof of Gawain's sin. Although he did not gain Lady Bertilak's attention, nor did she give him any, his inability to tell the truth constitutes his shame and wrongdoing. Having privately confessed his sins to the priest and obtained absolution, Gawain did not consider mentioning the girdle to Lord Bertilak, only giving him the three kisses he had "earned" from Lady Bertilak earlier. Aside from the "girdle", the girdle is called "love's lace" (1874) throughout the poem, an implication of how Gawain is bound to his secret and his sin; “Once sin is bound, it is bound forever” (2512), as he describes it. This ties him to his personal shame, convincing him to seek repentance by wearing the belt for the rest of his days, and proving the negativity and sense of finality of his view of the events that occurred. King Arthur, on the other hand, holds the much more optimistic view that the girdle represents respect and unity among the lords and ladies of his court. As Gawain had volunteered as "the weakest of [Arthur's] warriors and the weakest of spirit" (354) to take on the Green Knight's challenge, the decision of all of Arthur's knights to wear a green belt serves as a sign of gratitude, and demonstrates the..