Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: Part III

Part Three of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight contain one of the most interesting symbols of Sir Gawain and his chivalry. One way this is displayed is through the bedroom scenes that occur between the host’s wife and our knight. These scenes test both Gawain’s courtesy and his chastity, things that were often revered in knights of the Middle Ages. Each time Gawain refused the lady’s advances, she accused him of being discourteous toward her; however, when he would then try to act more courteously, she would again begin try to push him to be unchaste. This would have been a dangerous – and probably very conflicting – tug-of-war with two aspects of the code that Gawain holds so dear.
Another sense of chivalry comes through the three animals that the host hunts. The deer would represent the cautious and shy characteristics, while the boar would symbolize Gawain’s brave and ferocious qualities, and the fox would portray the knight’s cunning.