Without evil to which to compare it, goodness would not exist. Without foes to defeat, heros would not exist. In two texts, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Beowulf, a hero battles his respective villain to uphold his values, and as such, save his world. Challenged by a green knight, Sir Gawain must receive blows to the neck by the creature after staying in the house of a Sir Bertilak. All the while, he must try to conciliate two differing moral codes. Beowulf, on the other hand, must defeat various monsters to protect his people and his allies. Although both must prove their worth, Sir Gawain must resist temptation to sin, while Beowulf must protect his people and their allies.
A giant, green warrior rides into a hall full of King Arthur’s men. Sir Gawain stands up, in place of King Arthur, and delivers a decapitating blow to the Green Knight after Sir Gawain promises to find him to receive a blow in return. As Sir Gawain searches for the Green Knight, he finds shelter in the castle of a local lord, Lord Bertilak, and his wife, Lady Bertilak. In the Church, desires of the flesh are considered evil, and should be avoided. In the chivalric code, one must always obey authority. These two values come in contradiction when Sir Gawain is asked by Lady Bertilak to give a kiss to her. “‘One gracious as Gawain is rightly held to be, with courtesy contained so clear in himself, could not lightly have lingered so long with a lady, but he craved a kiss out of …show more content…
The villain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight challenges his faith to his god and his knighthood. The monsters in Beowulf challenge his manhood, his worthiness as a warrior. In both, however, their morals are challenged and contemplated, giving to a discussion on what is right in their respective societies. These themes of what is moral and what is evil carry on even today. The gray area between what is right and what is wrong is still probed by humble human