which becomes the basis for the judgment, is his own invention since he does not attribute this to Morgan. This enables him to then turn her plan, which was hatched for destructive purposes, to a noble and elevating test which serves the high moral purpose of teaching Gawain a lesson--hold true to the ideals of the Christian doctrine as a support for the chivalric code. Gawain, in his confession and absolution, goes through a similar shifting of power and blame. When the Green Knight first reveals Gawain's failure of "cowardice and covetousness" (2374), Gawain shows deep shame in his own actions. However, upon his absolution he shifts the blame from himself to women, becoming one more man unwittingly duped by women and led into sin. In this way he displaces the blame and is able to regain his power within the story by returning not as a failure but as a fully reinstated knight of honor. As he is shifting the blame to women, he comes to the realization that chivalry does not hold the path to perfection and therefore discards courtesy and renounces women. He concerns himself instead with his sins of cowardice and covetousness. He refuses to return to the castle to make peace with Bertilak's wife and Morgan, despite his kinship with latter, effectively banishing them and eliminating the internal conflict generated, are eliminated. Power is back in the hands of the appropriate authority, and Gawain's loyalties are redefined. This shift in blame can be traced by the girdle's changing symbolism. First, as a symbol of female sexuality, the lady offers it as a love token under the pretense of its life saving powers. In this way it undergoes its first transformation, from love token to token endowed with the magic to protect his life. When the confession and absolution scene occur, it becomes a possession of the Green Knight, who then redefines it as a token "of the great adventure at the Green chapel" (2399); at this point Gawain takes it up as...
