One man facing horrible, agonizing death for the mere satisfaction of keeping a promise. Another fights to the death simply to protect his honor. Meanwhile, a a third man is slain for insulting the woman of another. In Medieval times, chivalry was an active part of people's culture and lifestyle. Today, chivalry progressively rots in an ancient grave. .
In the time of the legendary Sir Gawain, all men actively practiced chivalry in their everyday lives. They lived by the code of chivalry in every aspect: loyalty, truthfulness, keeping promises, and most importantly, honor. They would, without a thought, put themselves in harm's way for the sake of being chivalrous. Their honor was also very important to men of medieval times, and honor was directly ties to chivalry. If one was not chivalrous, he was not honorable, and was therefor frowned upon by society.
Many years ago, chivalry was slain and buried, never to rear it's head again. In modern times men are in no was expected to put their lives in serious danger in efforts to keep a promise. Much less are they supposed to fight another man with deadly force over an insult to their honor. Ideals such as loyalty, truthfulness, keeping promises are no longer important, nor do they tie in with a man's honor. Honor, which was the single most important thing men lived for in medieval times and revolved around chivalry, has changed greatly. As a matter of fact, it seems that money is the most effective tool for earning honor, or respect, in current times. This is precisely why men no longer feel the need to demonstrate great chivalry to become honorable- because money, not chivalry earn things such as status, and respect. .
Chivalry. What was once the most important ideal in society, is now rarely seen. Every now and then, one might be lucky enough to witness a man opening the door for a lady. However, chivalry will never become what it was, society has changed too much to allow chivalry to once again become the center of men's lives.