The Subversion of “Cortaysye” in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

In the medieval French cycle of romances, Gawain is portrayed as a treacherous knight, but in England he was always the epitome of chivalry and the embodiment of courtesy. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, courtesy is explored in its various meanings, namely its association with the motif of courtly love. In this sense, the poem denounces the development of the notion of courtesy, parodying some of the meanings it came to acquire in French romance, the genre it also subtly criticises.