how does Gawain feel about himself at the end of the selection, and why? How does the Green Knight feel about Gawain at the end of the selection, and why?

Question

asevilla5 · Answer

Gawain is a paragon of virtue in Parts 1 and 2 of the poem. But in Part 3 he conceals from his host the magical green girdle that the host’s wife gives him, revealing that, despite his bravery, Gawain values his own life more than his honesty. Ultimately, however, Gawain confesses his sin to the knight and begs to be pardoned; thereafter, he voluntarily wears the girdle as a symbol of his sin. Because Gawain repents of his sin in such an honorable manner, his one indiscretion in the poem actually ends up being an example of his basic goodness. When he returns to Arthur’s court at Camelot, the other lords and ladies still look to him like lighthearted children, but Gawain is weighed down by a new somberness. Though he survives his quest, Gawain emerges at the end of the poem as a humbled man who realizes his own faults and has to live with the fact that he will never live up to his own high standards. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gawain/can... More help here: http://www.timelessmyths.com/arthurian/g...