Term Paper on "Themes in Chretien De Troy's Perceval"

Term Paper 5 pages (1628 words) Sources: 2 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Perceval

The Arthurian legends may seem truly British in origin, but they began as a literary form in the twelfth century with traveling minstrels who told stories of heroism, usually built in the exploits of the French king Charlemagne, or Charles the Great (742-814 a.D.). Another group of stories was known as the Matter of Rome, and these stories included tales from both Rome and Ancient Greece about the period before the siege of Troy. The third group of stories was known as the Matter of Britain. These stories grew in popularity during the twelfth century, and the tales told of the lives of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, of their magnificent castle at Camelot, of Merlin the Magician, and of the Round Table and the search for the Holy Grail. The oral literature was the only means by which many of these stories were then transmitted, and even if there were a kernel of truth in them, it would be likely to be changed many times in the course of subsequent tellings until whatever truth there was would be hard to discern. Most of the stories had been known only in parts of England and Wales for some centuries, but in the twelfth century their popularity grew when the French writer Chretien de Troyes published a popular written version in both France and Britain. One of these stories is that of "Perceval."

Perceval" was the fifth of the Arthurian romances by de Troyes, and it was unfinished. This work is the earliest account of the Arthurian Quest for the Holy Grail and so would influence many other versions to follow. The poem tells of Perceval, raised far from civilization in the forests of Wales. He meets several knights and decides he wants to become one himself. His mother objects, but the young man heads off to King Arthur's court to fulfill his dream. He meets a young girl who predicts that he will be a great knight. Once there, he is taunted by Sir Kay, but still he receives a knighthood and sets off on his own. He rescues the princess Blanchefleur, and he trains with the more experienced Gornemant. He meets the Fisher King and is invited to his castle, where he sees a seeming parade of men and women carrying objects from room to room, these objects being a bleeding lance, candelabras, and a richly decorated graal, or "grail." The latter contains a single Mass wafer with miraculous powers. Perceval has been warned not to speak, so he does not. The next morning, he returns to King Arthur's court and is admonished by a lady for not asking his host about the Grail. The poem comes in several sections, and in the next section, Sir Gawain has been challenged to a duel. Sir Gawain later liberates a castle and frees his long lost mother and grandmother and his sister Clarissant. Perceval returns near the end of this section to learn from his uncle, a hermit.

Roger Sherman Loomis notes that the poem can be divided into three parts, "the youthful adventures of the hero; his visit to the Grail castle and its sequel; the adventures of Gawain" (60). The first part is a coming-of-age story about the boy who becomes the knight Perceval. There is a religious component to his story as he first sees the knights in their gleaming armor and "fell on his knees, thinking they were God and His angels" (Loomis 60). His story is presented as a sort of parable of what happens as a young man grows up, for he plays as a young boy, becomes ambitious as he meets his heroes, and leaves his mother to die of grief when he sets out to fulfill his destiny. He is tested when he fights the Red Knjght who has stolen a cup from Arthur and claimed the latter's lands. Perceval is not yet a knight, but he defeats the Red Knight and then sets out on his own rather than returning to Arthur for his blessing. Instead, he finds the friendly Gornemant to teach him what he needs to know about being a knight. For an Arthurian romance, the first part of this poem emphasizes Perceval over Arthur:

All this first part of Perceval's history is a masterpiece of chivalric adventure and light comedy. It justifies the claim which the author made for it, as the best tale ever told in a royal court. Note, however, the ignoble role assigned to Arthur, so sharply contrasted with that of the spirited stripling, Perceval. (Loomis 60)

Loomis notes that the second part consists of four episodes concerning the central thee of the Holy Grail. The first three scenes are set at the castle of the fisher King and show the odd events that take place there, revealing the Grail to Perceval. When he returns to Arthur's realm, he learns more about what he saw that night as the lady admonishes him for not asking his host about the Grail:

The damsel rebuked Perceval bitterly for failing to ask about the graal, for, had he done so, the King would have been healed. The third scene is laid at Arthur's court at Caerleon. A hideous, maiden messenger rode in on a mule and cursed Perceval for his silence concerning lance and graal. Utterly humiliated, Perceval departed to seek the Grail castle and remedy his omission. Throughout these three scenes the atmosphere of mystery is maintained, and the reader, like Perceval, awaits with impatience an explanation of the lance, the two vessels, and the hideous damsel. (Loomis 61)

The real meaning of what Peceval saw that night is explained in the fourth scene in this section:

Five years later on Good Friday Perceval visited a hermit, who turned out to be his uncle. From him the young man learned that the graal contained a mass-wafer, and that the Fisher King's invalid father had been kept alive for fifteen years by the daily administration of the sacramental food by the Grail Bearer. Perceval's silence had been caused by his desertion of his mother. Repentant, he stayed with his hermit-uncle over Easter Day in prayer and fasting. (Loomis 61)

Loomis finds that this explanation in itself is absurd and contains a number of anomalies that are not answered. He concludes that there is a real, historical explanation for this story and notes how scholars have been trying to find one for decades. Central to the story and the mystery is the meaning of the Grail, which has been described in various ways over the centuries and identified with different sources, different historical ideas, and different religious icons. He notes how some have identified the Grail with the eye of the Egyptian god Thoth. Jessie Weston is cited in her view of the Grail and lance as sexual symbols, and that "the scene in the Grail castle was an initiation rite, which in Christianized form had been brought to Britain" (Loomis 62). Loomis notes that there is no record of such a ritual.

Loomis himself finds that the Grail is a symbol derived from Celtic myth, and he finds that "scattered through Irish and Welsh literature, are many remnants of the same miscellaneous myths and hero-tales which furnished the material for the quest of the mysterious vessel, and prototypes of the Fisher King, the Grail Bearer, Perceval, and Galahad" (Loomis 63).

The wafer on the platter is taken to be a Catholic symbol for the body of Christ and links the story with Christian iconography, though there is some possibility that problems in translation have contributed to this idea. The Grail may refer to the platter and not the wafer and may derived from the platter of Rhydderch, which magically provides whatever food one wishes were on it.

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