Sir Gawain, the poem's protagonist, is the major individual whose essential character development serves as the work's emphasis. At the beginning of the poem, he is an ardent, cheerful, and devoted knight who accepts the Green Knight's challenge to guard Arthur and preserve Camelot's reputation. By the poem's end, however, Gawain has been deeply wounded by the experience and changed forever by his involvement with the Green Knight and Lady Guinevere. Gawain is a noble knight who belongs to the Round Table at King Arthur's court. He has earned the love and respect of everyone there through his courage and kindness. But now that he has been summoned to protect the king from a mysterious green knight at a tournament held annually at Carlisle, Gawain is afraid that the contest will destroy him just like the previous ones did. Despite this, he goes to Carlisle in hope of winning Guinevere's heart after she has already married another man. When the time comes for him to face off against the Green Knight, however, Gawain is unable to fight because he is too scared. The Green Knight defeats him anyway and takes him to Nimue's cave, where he forces Gawain to watch as he rapes and murders Guinevere. After this incident, Gawain decides to retire from court life and travel across Europe seeking forgiveness from those he has wronged.