Essential Question 4

Where do we see seduction and lust start to destroy Gawain, our young hero? What is the author trying to tell us?

Seduction and lust start to destroy Gawain when he goes into the castle and meets the rulers wife. He sees that the lady is absolutely beautiful and wants more than just an acquaintance with her, "our knight and the noble lady were accorded so closely in company there, with the seemly solace of their secret words" (lines 1010-1012). And indeed, Gawain's wants became realities and he and the lady had an affair, "sweet pipes beguile their cares and the trumpet of marital tones; each tends his affairs and those two tend their own" (1016-1019). This affair will not only be a burden of wrong-doing in the back of his mind for the rest of his life, but it will also be a huge problem to try and offer all he has gotten from the castle back to his host, considering he cannot give back what he has given the noble lady. Not being able to stick to his word and stick to the five knightly virtues could be the downfall of Gawain. Just by doing this one act he is disobeying every single knightly virtue. The author is trying to tell us that unless Gawain realizes what he has done and gets his act together, this story will not have a happy ending.