The Story of the Grail/Perceval [Response 2]

Question 3

I didn't really think much of the scene with the Hermit when I first read it; after Tuesday's class discussion, it made more sense to me. The day the incident occurs is significant because it is Good Friday, the day on which Christ was crucified. He died for mankind, in the ultimate act of love. After rereading the section, the penitent soldiers and ladies reminded me of Christ carrying the cross through the crowd of people. He suffered for our sins, and these people were reenacting this suffering, "to secure the salvation of theur souls" (pg 457). When I was younger, my mother used to take my sister and I on "the Good Friday walk" at church. A group of people from the churches in town would walk around town, taking turns carrying a large wooden cross. Although Chretien makes no mention of them carrying a cross, this is how I envisioned the scene.

Perceval is affected by the group of penitent men and women because he has never seen anything like this before. This mirrors the opening scene, in which he is in awe at the knights because he has never seen something so grand before. After talking with the group, Perceval becomes convinced he needs to find the Hermit and be absolved of his sins. I feel like while Perceval is actually repentant, he is also doing this because he wants to be like these people. This is exactly what happened in the scene with the knights; once he had seen and spoken to them, he rushed home in a hurry to set off and become a knight himself.

Perceval's scene of repentance is very sudden, but happens for a very good reason. "April and May passed five times - that was five years - without his having entered a church or adored God or His Cross" (pg 457). Once again, Perceval has ignored the advice of his mother, having been told to go into a church or chapel when he happened across one. When he visits the Hermit, he finally realises how wrong his actions were. Although the Hermit tells him that his greatest sin was in leaving his mother to die of her sorrow, and that this sin caused him to not inquire about the Grail, I don't believe this is all Perceval learns. "'Sir', said Perceval, 'it has been over five years since I have known where I was going, and I have not loved God or believed in Him, and all I have done has been evil'" (pg 459). It seemed to me, in that statement, that Perceval realised he had been blind to what knighthood really was. He was so caught up in the perceptions and the fighting and personal honor that he had forgotten the true meaning, which was to do good and help others.

I thought it was a little strange that both the Hermit and the man served from the Grail were related to Perceval's mother. After thinking about it, though, it makes sense to have them related to the mother. If Perceval had gone back and checked on his mother, then he may not have encountered so many trials in his journey. If he had followed her advice, he would have been a better knight, fighting for what knighthood really is about. It is fitting that Perceval's journey ends with his mother's relations, who help him to realise his mistakes and what he needs to do.

The Story of the Grail/Perceval [Response]

Question 5.

The name "Blancheflor" is significant because it describes the type of woman she is. The color white is usually associated with purity and innocence, and flowers are usually considered feminine and delicate. Blancheflor is delicate and innocent, but she is also a woman who knows what she wants. Other women in medieval literature have been given names with "Blanche" in them. For example, in Chaucer's "The Book of the Duchess", the narrator encounters the Black Knight, who is mourning for his dead lover, Blanche of Lancaster. The Black Knight spends line after line describing how fair and beautiful she was. If she had been a horrible woman, she would not have been praised in such detail.

I believe Blancheflor was put into the story as a character we could be sympathetic to. Her castle has been under siege throughout the summer and winter, she is a single woman in control of the castle, and she only has a few knights left to defend her. She has hardly enough food to feed herself, let alone the remaining knights, and yet she is hospitable and welcomes Perceval into the castle. It could be argued that Perceval should be the character that we should pity, but I find it hard to do so. Regardless of whether it is due to his upbringing or not, Perceval is rude and stupid; his mother should have taught him better manners but instead she just let him walk all over her. Blancheflor is someone with real problems; although we may not know how it feels to be living in fear of an impending attack, we have all been afraid of something and can relate to that feeling.

Chrétien describes Blancheflor in very positive terms. On page 404 (the pages may not line up, I am using a different copy of the text), Chrétien states: “And if ever before I have described the beauty God formed in a woman’s face or body, I should like to try a new description without varying at all from the truth…God has made her an unsurpassed marvel to dazzle men’s hearts and minds; never since has He made her equal, nor had He ever before”.

Blancheflor’s actions speak a lot about her. Although we find her weeping over Perceval’s bed in one scene, her weeping is different than the other weeping maidens we encounter later in the story. The other women weep because they have lost a lover; Blancheflor weeps because she could be taken prisoner by Anguingeron and given to Clamadeu. No woman wants to be taken against her will and given to a man she does not know and does not love. Blancheflor also weeps because so many men have been killed or imprisoned for her sake, and she feels terrible about it. Although on page 406 Chrétien says “…she had come to shed tears over his face for no other reason, in spite of what she pretended, than to inspire in him the desire to undertake battle, if he dared, to defend her and her lands”, Blancheflor has valid reasons for crying. She knows Perceval can help her defend not only her castle but also her honor, and she hides her true intent not for malicious reasons but because, as Chrétien tells us, “…it often happens that one hides one’s true desires when one sees someone who is keen to enact them, in order to increase his desire to fulfill them” (page 407).