“Nay, to fight, in good faith, is far from my thought;/There are about on these benches but beardless children,/Were I here in full arms on a haughty steed,/For measured against mine, their might is puny.” Bertilak is here to challenge the reputation and ideals that King Arthur and his court are held to, and he does a very good job at pushing the right buttons to get them to respond. Bertilak knows that the idea or image of King Arthur’s court is what is important to them and they will do anything they can to spare it, even as ridiculous a challenge as Bertilak suggests.
The challenge is masked as one of physical domination, but conversely is a test of the true character of King Arthur’s court of which Sir Gawain will be a representative. Sir Gawain is allowed one blow at Bertilak with the ax, but one year and one day after he inflicts his damage, he must find Bertilak, and receive a strike in return. Gawain takes his turn and decapitates Bertilak and then the Green Knight departs, head in his hands, leaving a reminder with Gawain that he must not follow him, but in one year and one day, he must hold to his word, find him, and receive his return blow.
Living up to his reputation, approximately one year later Gawain sets out on his journey to find Bertilak. He travels far and wide searching for the home of Bertilak known as the Green Chapel. He faces many challenges along the way, viscous animals, men, and of course winter weather, but he never gives up and proves to be very courageous. The author does not describe in detail these fights that Gawain engages in which supports the idea that this challenge Gawain is enduring is one of a different sort. It is not a physical challenge, but rather a virtuous challenge, one that tests his honor and his excellence in character.
Despite these set backs and battles, Gawain sticks to his word and continues on to search for the Green Chapel. Along the way he comes upon a wondrous castle and asks to stay for the night to gather his strength. They welcome him with open arms, later to find out he is Sir Gawain, “that of courage ever-constant, and customs pure/ Is pattern and paragon, and praised without end:/Of all knights on earth most honored is he (l.912-914); the father of fine manners (l.919)”. This description of the knight; these virtues, are those that are put to the test; courage, customs pure, and fine manners. Gawain will prove himself in these virtues for the most part, but we will see that he does not exemplify perfection in them as his reputation suggests he would.
Sir Gawain has held true to his word to the Green Knight so far and his intentions of finding the Knight are strong. Unbeknownst to him, however, this most courteous host that he has happened across is the Green Knight himself, in disguise. He makes a pact with this hospitable man that everyday, Bertilak will go hunting and Gawain will remain at the castle. Whatever Bertilak earns on his trip he will give Gawain and whatever Gawain earns at home, he will give Bertilak. This is a rather odd pact to be made between the host and Sir Gawain, as Gawain would probably not expect to earn much when he will be doing no labor, but Gawain agrees without question because he is obliged to respect his host, another knightly virtue that he displays, but not completely, as this test will show. With the help of Lady Bertilak, the Green Knight will test Gawain’s chivalrous nature and his word to keep to the pact made at the beginning of his stay.
Each day Lady Bertilak will try and seduce Gawain, she will use his knightly reputation to manipulate him and each day he will use his gift for flattery to get him out of the situation. One example of how Lady Bertilak uses Gawain’s reputation against him is in lines 1293 and 1297-1301. She says: “But our guest is not Gawain—forgot is that thought.”(1293) “So good a knight as Gawain is given out to be, /And the model of fair demeanor and manners pure, /Had he lain so long at a lady’s side,/Would have claimed a kiss, by his courtesy,/ Through some touch or trick of phrase at some tale’s end.”(1297-1301) She does not literally think that Gawain is not who he says he is, but rather she is insisting that a knight of Gawain’s reputation would have been so courteous and chivalrous to at least give her a kiss, rather then totally reject her as he was so skillfully doing. He initially responds to her in great haste, as he is worried that he may have not held up to his reputation of being the king of “love’s language” (l.927). Here we see Gawain’s concern that he always hold true to his reputation and the virtues of a true knight. He says: “Good lady, I grant it at once! /I shall kiss at your command, as becomes a knight, /And more lest you mislike, so let be, I pray.” (1302-1304)
Gawain does a great job at keeping both his pact with Bertilak and resisting the seduction of Bertilak’s wife--until the third day. On the last day of his stay at the castle, Lady Bertilak gives Gawain her girdle in addition to her three kisses in the morning. She tells him the girdle will save him from danger; “…the man that possesses this piece of silk,/If he bore it on his body, belted about,/There is no hand under heaven that could hew him down,/For he could not be killed by any craft on earth.” (l.1851-1854) Sir Gawain will be leaving on the following day to meet with the Green Knight, so he finds this gift to be most useful. They agree that he would not tell Bertilak about it, which goes against his pact made at the beginning of the stay. Here we see the beginning of Gawain’s ultimate weakness and the dilution of his reputation. He knows his life is in danger and it scares him, so when the time comes to give Bertilak all that he earned for the day, he gives him only the three kisses and withholds the girdle.
Gawain, in holding with his reputation and character, is to be honest and courteous to his host, yet he lied to Bertilak about the girdle and he did not follow the rules of the pact. He is supposed to be courageous, yet he withholds this silk girdle because he is afraid for his life and thinks it will save him. These are Gawain’s ultimate failures as a knight and to the reputation that he holds so dear.
When Gawain meets the Green Knight, he shows he is lacking in other virtues as well, such as courage. This knight with “courage ever-constant”, even protected by the magical girdle, flinches from the blade of the ax when Bertilak goes to strike him. Bertilak responds, “You are not Gawain the glorious,/That never fell back on field in the face of the foe,/And now you flee for fear, and have felt no harm:/Such news of that knight I never heard yet!” (2270-2273) Gawain responds with courage, defending his honor and his reputation saying he would keep still.
The third time the Knight raises the blade and brings it down on Gawain, but only scratches his neck. Gawain is shocked, but hold’s the Green Knight to his word of one strike. The Green Knight explains that he is Bertilak the hospitable castle dweller and he has been putting Gawain and the reputation of King Arthur’s court to the test from the inception of the initial challenge. He explains that although Gawain failed his reputation and that of King Arthur’s court, he understands why; “Yet you lacked, sir, a little loyalty there, /But the cause was not cunning, nor courtship either, /But that you loved your own life; the less, then to blame.” (l.2366-2368) To try and save his pride, Gawain blames Lady Bertilak for his demise. This is just more proof that Gawain is only human; he has failed; yet he doesn’t want to admit his failure and take complete responsibility for it. His identity lies with his reputation and without it he would probably rather perish.
Sir Gawain now bears a scar on his neck, a reminder that he is not perfect, nor is King Arthur or the rest of the court. Sir Gawain bore this humanizing experience for his comrades and almost succeeded. It exemplified the fact that this reputation they held was impossible to fulfill for any human. We all fear at some point in our lives, whether we want to or not, and we all have feelings and thoughts that would not be conducive to a good reputation. Yet, we are all in control of our actions and we must not let our desires affect our integrity, as Gawain found out.