Gawain: Devoid of all vice

From a creative writing standpoint, I was annoyed with the redundancy of other characters loving Sir Gawain so, so much. I was able to discern his character for myself in the beginning when he declared, “I am the weakest of [the knights], I know, and the dullest-minded, / So my death would be least loss” (Lines 354-5). I figured he was excessively humble, but he was willing to take one for the team, so I mentally gave him a thumbs up. And then we get to Fitt 2, and Gawain is “reputed as virtuous […]/ Devoid of all vice” (Lines 634-5). I’m pretty sure that nobody is free of all vice, so I was already a little peeved at this point. Then, when Gawain gets to the other castle, everyone thinks he’s the greatest person ever! The writer states, “And all the men in the castle were overjoyed/ To make the acquaintance quickly then/ Of the man to whom all excellence and valor belongs” (Lines 910-2) and later the lord exclaims, “Indeed, Sir, as long as I live I shall be the better/ Because Gawain was my guest at God’s own feast” (Lines 1035-6). Mr. Writer-Man, we get it. We get you’re point. Everyone loves this guy. As a minor note, that’s super unrealistic, and it bothers me that nobody hates him. But more importantly, why beat your audience over the head with the constant reminders about how great your character is! Especially, especially, when Gawain’s actions don’t exactly reflect this reputation. We know some “great pleasure” happened in “private” (SEX) (probably), which is definitely not what a man of his religion is supposed to be doing. In short, the writer broke the “show, don’t tell” law, so we should consider arresting him.