Through all its complicated twists, redefinings and renamings, "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" consistently develops the theme of chivalry. The author uses Camelot, the epitome of chivalric myth, to ground his story and thus to provide a backdrop for his questioning and probing of the meaning and purpose of the chivalric code. To evaluate the code, the author arranges a challenge in which the code is broken, and then allows three different characters, Arthur, standing for the Camelot Court and representing the insider, Gawain, the insider who went out," and Bertilak, the outsider to judge Gawain's offense. Each view is firmly grounded in the psychological and physical proximity of the assessor to the chivalry of Camelot. Though all seem to agree on the basic definition of chivalry, the three have very different views on who deserves to be deemed chivalrous and on the exact requirements of the title. As we examine the characters, their position within the context of the story and their eventual verdict on Gawain, the author's own prejudices emerge and lead this reader to side with Bertilak in his final judgment of chivalry. .
The first introduction to the concept of chivalry is through the Court of King Arthur. Likely, even more so for the author's contemporaries than for we moderns, Camelot is the quintessential chivalric legend. By introducing us to the concept of chivalry through Camelot, the author immediately sets a very high expectation for the conduct of his characters, and he reinforces this idea by opening in the heroic style of epic myth, describing the great leaders of antiquity such as Aeneas and Romulus. However, this expectation is quickly questioned, as the great English hero, Arthur, is inert and belittled throughout much of the description. Whereas Aeneas "prevails"" and Romulus "builds," " Arthur merely "lays"" (6; 9; 37). He is considered "courteous " but not necessarily brave, and his "gentle knights " are apparently more interested in making "brave din by day and dancing by night " than actually participating in the "fair feat[s] and fray[s] " that the real "champions of chivalry achieve in arms"" (37-55; 92-95).
