While "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" broadly follows the conventions of the romance genre--a feast is interrupted, a mysterious challenger appears, and a knight sets out upon a quest--there are deviations from these conventions. For, conventional romance would have the threat of the challenger resolved and a return be made to the feasting. Instead, the Green Knight puts back his axed head and instructs Sir Gawain to come in a year.
There is also a deviation from the conventions with the ambiguity that runs through the poem, creating a sense of unease in the audience. For instance, Gawain sets out on his quest in the winter and arrives at a strange castle that is realistically described, yet it has ghosts of a white hue. Further ambiguity is created as the castle is described as a sort of Eden, which was the scene of both good and evil. When Gawain is presented to the host of this castle, Hautedesert, the host seems much like the Green Knight.
More ambiguity occurs after the meal when Gawain meets two women, one ugly (Morgan le Fay) and one beautiful, suggestive of a false Guinevere. She is not the chaste maiden, however, and tries to seduce Gawain, who is the ethical one. Later in his meeting with the Green Knight, Gawain learns that the knight is the same as the host of Hautedesert and the false Guinevere is his wife. The Green Knight, who earlier acts as a romance villain with supernatural powers, now is heroic in rewarding Gawain--more ambiguity.
The exploration of Gawain's individuality also is unconventional as he takes the ethical obligation of his code more seriously than such other Arthurian characters as Sir Galahad.
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