and, blames his failures firmly and squarely on himself. He does believe that he was duped by the treachery and deceit of women, but he blames himself for not having the internal qualities necessary to withstand earthly temptations and live up to his cherished ideals of knighthood. Gawain knows he has acted cowardly and coveted the wife of another, both no-nos in the world of chivalric knighthood. We see this when he returns to Arthur’s court and confesses his faults in shame, “'See! My lord,’ said the knight, touching the girdle, ‘this is the blazon of this guilty scar I bear in my neck, this is the badge of the injury and the harm which I have received because of the cowardice and covetousness to which I there fell prey,’” (Barron 21).
Thus, Gawain and Quixote are similar in that they both become disillusioned with their ideals of chivalry in the world, but Don Quixote chooses to blame external sources for his disillusionment, while Sir Gawain is more self-reflecting and chooses to blame himself. There is another way in which the two protagonists are very similar. Part of their disillusionment comes
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