What is the main subject of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?

• A. Satire
• B. Religious devotion
• C. Epic heroism
• D. Courtly love

Answer: (D)

The central focus is how a knight’s honor is tested within the courtly love context. The story uses Sir Gawain’s hospitality-filled encounter with the host’s wife and the flattery, flirtation, and kisses she offers to probe his fidelity, honesty, and adherence to chivalric behavior. The girdle episode heightens this test, presenting a choice between self-preservation and staying true to the code of conduct valued in a courtly setting. Because the tension and meaning come from navigating romantic or romanticized expectations within a knightly code, courtly love is the best fit for the main subject. The other options don’t align as cleanly: satire would imply a mocking aim, religious devotion would foreground piety rather than moral testing in a courtly romance, and epic heroism would emphasize grand exploits rather than the intimate moral trial at the heart of the tale.