A knight in Arthur’s court, and nephew of Arthur. Gawaine often fails to live up to courtly ideals, such as when he refuses to grant a knight mercy and then kills the knight’s lady by mistake. But he seems to strive to be a good, worthy knight, and pledges total loyalty to Launcelot, who serves as his idol for the kind of knight he’d like to be. However, Gawaine’s temper and obstinacy ultimately contribute to the downfall of the empire, as he refuses to forgive Launcelot for mistakenly killing Gareth in battle, and this leads to an intractable conflict between members of Arthur’s court.
Sir Gawaine Quotes in Le Morte d’Arthur
The Le Morte d’Arthur quotes below are all either spoken by Sir Gawaine or refer to Sir Gawaine. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 13
Quotes
Ah Gawaine, Gawaine, ye have betrayed me; for never shall my court be amended by you, but ye will never be sorry for me as I am for you. And therewith the tears began to run down his visage.
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Sir Gawaine Quotes in Le Morte d’Arthur
The Le Morte d’Arthur quotes below are all either spoken by Sir Gawaine or refer to Sir Gawaine. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 13
Quotes
Ah Gawaine, Gawaine, ye have betrayed me; for never shall my court be amended by you, but ye will never be sorry for me as I am for you. And therewith the tears began to run down his visage.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
