FratFiles

• Save Paper

In the fourteenth century, chivalry was in decline due to drastic social and economic changes. Although feudalism-along with chivalry-would eventually fall for other reasons, including a decrease in cheap human resources due to a drop in population caused by plague epidemics and the emergence of a mercantile middle class, the Gawain author perceived a loss of religious values as the cause of its decline. Gawain and the Green Knight presents both a support of the old feudal hierarchies and an implicit criticism of changes by recalling chivalry in its idealized state in the court of King Arthur. The women in the story are the poet's primary instruments in this critique and reinforcement of feudalism. The poet uses the contrast between the Virgin Mary with Lady Bertilak's wife to point out the conflict between courtly and spiritual love that he felt had weakened the religious values behind chivalry. The poem warns that a loss of the religious values behind chivalry would lead to its......

View the rest of this paper...

Approximate Word Count: 2329
Approximate Pages: 10 (250 words per double-spaced page)

Similar Essays

1. Sir Gawain And The Green Knight: The Role Of Women
   

   Sir Gawain And The Green Knight: The Role Of Women In the fourteenth century, chivalry was in decline due to drastic social and economic changes. Although feudalism-along with

2. Sir Gawain And The Green Knight
   

   Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Women, Courtly Love and the Creation Myth in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a great epic written in fourteenth

3. Sir Gawain And The Green Knigh
   

   Sir Gawain And The Green Knigh Women, Courtly Love and the Creation Myth in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a great epic written in fourteenth

4. Fabric And Jewelery In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight
   

   Fabric And Jewelery In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Erin Kilkenny English Comp & Lit Cathy Seigel March 7, 2000 Sir Gawain Essay In literature, insights into characters,

5. Sir Gawain
   

   Sir Gawain Against the Grain: The Women from The Odyssey, The Wife of Bath, and Sir Gawain Until recently, the role of women in literature has seemed to reflect the way they were