Perceval: the Story of the Grail by Chretien de Troyes remains one of the most important and analyzed works from medieval history and for the good reason. What is interesting about de Troyes’ work, is that instead of focusing the story on the artefact itself, or playing chivalrous acts straight, so to speak, it is instead the story of Percival’s self-discovery and growth – how he turns from an air-headed young boy to a man not short on wisdom and understanding the meaning of responsibility. Among the many themes explored by de Troyes, the most interesting one has to be the theme of shame. The feeling of shame is one of Perceval’s most defining traits and one which, simultaneously, leads him astray yet also helps him regain his courage and continue his pursuit of the Grail. Through Perceval, the author explains that concept and tries to show that feelings of shame can not and should not be buried in one’s mind or they will clutter one’s judgment, making them forget their purpose. Only through acceptance and repentance of shame is it possible to regain one’s mind and mental fortitude.
The shame of Perceval directly connects to the death of his mother. She died, unable to cope with fact that her son became a knight and might die in a battle. Although he wanted to visit his mother for a very long time, he never managed to do so because of his travels, and he subsequently learns about his mother’s death from his cousin whom he randomly meets on the road. This cousin, among many other things she pins on Perceval, blames him for the death of his mother: “And know this, too: this has befallen you because of the sin against your mother, for she has died of grief on your account.” (132). At first, Perceval even refuses to acknowledge or accept this fact, and challenges his cousin’s credibility: “ ‘Oh, cousin!’ cried Perceval. ‘If what you’ve told me is true, tell me how you know.’ ” (132), but eventually he realizes that his mother is indeed dead, but for being a relatively dimwitted character, he is yet to process that realization internally.
He is accused of not asking the Fisher King about who’s drinking from the Grail, as it is believed that whoever asks the Fisher King about the Grail and ever-bleeding spear would cure the king of his maladies and in doing so will also save his kingdom from despair and poverty: “It was an evil hour when you held your tongue, for if you had asked, the rich king who is so distressed would now have been quite healed of his wound and would have held his land in peace, which now he will never do. And do you know what will happen because that king will not now rule his land or be healed? Ladies will lose their husbands, lands will be laid waste, girls will be left in distress and orphaned, and many knights will die; all these evils will happen because of you” (161-2). However, when he was offered that opportunity, Perceval remained silent for he was ashamed to interrupt or disturb his hosts, as it was considered to be impolite: “but restrained himself from asking how it came to be, because he remembered the advice of the nobleman who had made him a knight, who had instructed him to beware of talking too much; he feared it would be considered offensive if he asked, so he did not” (121). Because of that personal fear of shame, of being embarrassed, Perceval sentenced the kingdom to doom. It is here that author chimes in from the point of view of the narrator to share his thoughts about Perceval’s misstep: “I fear he may suffer for doing so, for I’ve heard it said that in time of need a man can talk too little as well as too much” (122). For de Troyes, shame is something that cripples growth of the person and can do damage not only to them but to those around them. It is better to be ashamed but to try and to do the right thing than to remain silent and to retain one’s pride.
Eventually, the guilt from not asking the proper question to the Fisher King and the death of his mother consumes Perceval as he spends almost 5 years wandering with no purpose as he forgets the God’s teaching and doesn’t visit the church. He stumbles upon the shelter of the holy hermit in front of who Perceval breaks down, finally remembering about God and about all the bad things he had done throughout these 5 years. The hermit explains that it is the shame that he felt because of his mother’s death that caused all the troubles in his life: “It was because of the sin you committed there that you came to ask nothing about the lance and the grail, and many misfortunes have befallen you because of that” (208). Only after accepting and repenting that sin, Perceval could return to the Fisher King to finally ask said question.
de Troyes felt that shame is a trait that is both undesirable, but at the same time is one which should not be avoided but confronted directly. It is impossible not to feel shame and guilt for the actions that are not entirely pure and kind in nature, yet ignoring them would lead only to greater troubles, which is symbolized by the fact that Perceval’s shame doomed the Fisher King’s as he was unable to save him. That story could be also seen as the critique of classic chivalrous traits as it is Gorneman’s lecture, which essentially put pride above righteousness, that forced Perceval to make the wrong decision at the time when a mistake as such was unforgivable. In a surprisingly complex way, the author wanted to tell that shame, while being inherently a bad thing, is something that could not be avoided, for all of the person’s actions will lead to negative consequences in one way or another. Thus, it is necessary to swallow one’s pride and accept the actions along with their negative consequences lest they consume one’s mind and body until they forget who they are.
Works Cited
de Troyes, Chrétien, and Nigel Bryant. Perceval: The Story Of The Grail. 3rd ed., 1997.