You may choose to use one or more of the questions below as a guide in your response, or you may bring up your own analyses of scenes of interest:
1. Perceval’s encounter with the knights in the
2. Analyze the episode between Perceval and his mother. What is her reaction? What information does she try to impart to her son? Why do you think he reacts the way he does? Discuss his departure – how should he have behaved?
3. What does Perceval do in order to become a knight? How do you see this as problematic? Reference specific scenes or quotes from the text in your response. (We have the scene with the “Tent Maiden,” the scene in Arthur’s court, and the killing / murder of the Red Knight).
4. Discuss the scene with Gornemant of Gohort. How does the advice enter into a dialogue with previous advice? Why this need for repetition?
5. Blancheflor – Her name means “White Flower” (what do you think is the significance of this?) What do you think her role is in the text? How does Chrétien describe her? Why? What do her actions say about her (her weeping – for instance, this is not the first time we’ve seen a woman weeping over a sleeping knight)? Bring up other topics concerning Blancheflor you find interesting if necessary.
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ReplyDelete2. We first hear about Perceval talking to his mother when he came back to his manorhouse with the men who wanted to acquire some information about some men and women who had passed by earlier. His mother had purposely refrained from telling her son about these Knights, because she didn’t want anything to happen to her son.
ReplyDeleteThe mother told her son, “You have seen, I believe, the angels people complain of, and who kill all they meet.” (344) She was frightened for her son. He hadn’t heard of these men before, and once he finally met them, his mom was terrified. She fainted when he told her the story. She tries to tell her son that he had to be careful, and think about what he actually wanted. She didn’t want him to go out and become a knight. He wanted to be brave and go find the King, he believed that he could do it. With a little bit of training, he figured he will be right on track. She came from a family of knights, and didn’t want anything happening to him. She didn’t want to relay that information to him about his family earlier because she didn’t want that life to continue.
I think that Perceval acted the way he does because he wanted to prove to his mom that he was capable of becoming a strong leader. He wanted to keep the tradition alive with the family of knights. He wanted to meet the King, and his mother was still not proud of him leaving. She tried to stall him from leaving, but he left on his journey. If he had stayed with his mother instead of leaving, then she may have still been alive. She fell unconscious when Perceval left, and he didn’t go back to check on her. He found out later from his first cousin that his mother had died. If he had gone back to check on her, instead of going to find the King, then she would have been still alive. If this book was continued, I would have given him the opportunity to keep the knight tradition alive in his family.
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.
ReplyDeleteI 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).
4. The scene with Gornemant of Gohort is necessary for several reasons. Gornemant is a wise man who serves to guide Perceval and help him to become a better knight. Before we find out Gornemant's name, he is described as a "worthy" man which means that he is worthy, distinguished, and well-trained. Gornemant immediately judges Perceval when he greets him and Perceval says, "This is what my mother taught me." It is very interesting to see that even though Perceval went against his mother's wishes to become a knight, he is still very respectful and lives by everything she taught him. He is always very polite. Gornemant then asks why Perceval is there and where he got his armor from. Perceval responded by saying that the king gave them to him and that he is here because his mother told him to go to worthy men for "their counsel, trusting in their words, for those who trust worthy men have much to gain" (357). Gornemant is important because although he thinks Perceval is naive and foolish when he first meets him, he starts to believe in him and really helps him to achieve greatness. He is able to truly see the potential and drive that Perceval has to be a knight despite the wishes of his mother. Gornemant taught Perceval how to handle shields, lance, and ride horses. Everything came naturally to Perceval. Gornemant became comfortable around Perceval and when Perceval asked if he did well, Gornemant replied, "Friend, if you have the desire, you will know what you must. No need to worry" (358). It is very interesting to see how quickly Gornemant's attitude towards Perceval changed. He went from thinking he was foolish to calling him a friend and believing in him whole heartedly. Gornemant tells Perceval to take his mother's advice and his which is kind of confusing because they are both two very different things. Perceval's mother was deathly afraid of losing him and she didn't want anything happening to him. He wanted to prove to her and everyone that he is brave and could become a knight. He listens to his mother's polite ways and Gornemant's fierce fighting ways to become a knight.
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