When I first read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, I noticed that it reads like a Romantic normative poem about chivalric ideals and the traditions of the ruling class with secretly imagery Christian. The main character, Sir Gawain, stands out as a model of 14th-century chivalric ideals as he displays Christian imagery on his armor. The combination of Gawain's armor and actions in the poem exemplifies his characteristics of Christian perfection and chivalric ideals. The very first scene with Bertilak of Hautdesert known as the Green Knight begins to shape your perception of how chivalrous Sir Gawain is by portraying him as Arthur's valiant, humble and virtuous knight. I felt that Arthur's failure to accept Bertilak's request gave Gawain the opportunity to become a martyr if Arthur did not in fact succeed in decapitating Bertilak in one blow and so Gawain followed the code of chivalry to have an unswerving loyalty to his lord. the code of chivalry and the Christian faith struck me most about this poem and how as the story progressed the author portrayed Gawain more and more as a symbol of the ideal Christian knight, particularly through his armour. As I read the poem, part 2 to be precise was when Gawain was being armed for his journey and the armor he adorned showed a direct reference to the Christian influence. The symbol that Gawain displayed on his shield and cloak, and the fact to which the author gives a great deal of detail, is the pentagram "which Solomon designed long ago as an emblem of faithfulness" (Black 176), which recalls a five infinity star point which symbolized Gawain's entire journey as it was his obligation, as a knight and as a Christian, to fulfill h...... middle of paper ...... or he had a strong faith in Christianity . But in any case Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is still a poem that can be read and appreciated by anyone and that still takes away the main points. Works Cited Arthur, Ross. "The Shield of Gawain as Signum." Text and matter New critical perspectives of the pearl-poet. Troy: The Whitston Publishing Company, 1992. Print.Ashton, Gail. "The perverse dynamics of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." Arthuriana 15.3 (2005), pp. 51-74. JSTOR. Network. December 2, 2013Black, Joseph, et al, edited by The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: Concise Ed, Volume A. 2nd ed. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview. 2011. Print.Green, Hamilton. "Gawain's Shield and the Quest for Perfection." ELH 29.2 (1962), pp. 121-139. JSTOR. Network. December 2, 2013.Hodges, Laura. “Syngne, Conysaunce, Deuys.” Arthuriana 5.4 (1995), pp. 22-31. JSTOR. Network. December 2. 2013..