In which ways does Sir Gawain and the Green Knight complicate the idea of Chivalry?

The text complicates the ideal of chivalry through the character of Sir Gawain. Gawain is a "God-fearing knight"(ll. 381) The poet flatters him with the highest praise as a knight; he gives him the five touchstones of a knight. "So these five sets of five were fixed in this knight,"(ll. 656). Not to mention Gawain was a good as the purest gold .... A notable. A knight. (ll. 633,639). However the poem shows that even this perfect knight fails. The green knight states "You're by far the most faultless fellow on earth", yet a few lines late he says "But a little thing more- it was loyalty that you lacked" (ll. 2363, 2366) It is clear that the perfect knight is unattainable.

"The frailty of his flesh is man's biggest fault"
(ll. 2435)