Compare and contrast Gawain's and launcelots character traits. In your opinion which character best exemplifies the ideals of chilvalry?
I might consider Gawain for this. Much of Gawain's virtue rests in his religious piety, from which he gains the strength to endure his ordeals. As he wanders through a desolate Waste Land, Gawain is the "servant of God" and finds his strength in talking to God (ll. 692-711). On the brink of despair, Gawain beseeches the Virgin Mary to guide him, and almost immediately stumbles upon the castle of Bertilak. In Fitt III, Gawain draws upon his Christian faith and chivalric loyalty to Bertilak to counter the sexual advances of Lady Bertilak: "And all that passed between them was music and bliss and delight./But the danger might have been great / Had Mary not watched her knight!"
Lancelot is considered "The flower of chivalry," but he did have a sinful relationship with Guinevere.
