Sir Gawain and the Green Knight


 * Romance tradition was centuries old by the time the story was written down
 * Conventions associated / romance:
 * A knight/ hero undergoes a journey/ quest to prove himself, worth, adheres to Code of Chivalry
 * Tale will begin with a knight proving his character
 * Beowulf is focused more on physical acts/ characteristics (warrior code), whereas Gawain is more focused of personal character
 * Arthur and the court, what that represents
 * Gawain'sentable symbolizes his adherence to the chivalric code, his in ability to sin or deceive. It has Mother Mary on the back.
 * No romance in Beowulf, romance at the forefront of "Sir Gawain" (Bertilak's wife's attempted seduction of Sir Gawain)
 * Romance reflects feminine literary interests at the time
 * Is there air purpose or is the story just a story?
 * Critique of chilvalry, and then in turn Christianity
 * When Gawain is tested it is shown that he values his life more than the values morals of chivalry
 * When a person is rooted in ideals and not reality.