Though Gawain and Guinevere share the high table at the
New Year’s celebration in Arthur’s court, he describes himself as
the least of Arthur’s knights in terms of both physical prowess
and mental ability. His modest claim to inferiority and his high
status at court—he is Arthur’s nephew and one of Camelot’s most
famous knights—testify to both his humility and his ambition. Gawain
seeks to improve his inner self throughout the poem. After Gawain
arrives at Bertilak’s castle in Part
Even though the Green Knight essentially tricks Gawain by not telling him about his supernatural abilities before asking Gawain to agree to his terms, Gawain refuses to back out of their deal. He stands by his commitments absolutely, even when it means jeopardizing his own life. The poem frequently reiterates Gawain’s deep fears and anxieties, but Gawain’s desire to maintain his personal integrity at all costs enables him to conquer his fears in his quest for the Green Knight.
Gawain is a paragon of virtue in Parts
Gawain is not a static character. In his encounter with the Green Knight, he recognizes the problematic nature of courtly ideals. 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.