I always thought that the Holy Grail Quest was the epitome of all quests. In this story it does not seem that way. Is it just me or does this quest seem quite underwhelming. What do you think? Is this how you expected the quest to be introduced or could it have been presented in a different way?
Hi Megan - It's tough since we are reading so little of it; this is one of those moments in the Arthur stories when you have to stick with it for it to really carry the full meaning. I think the initial entrance of the Grail is pretty epic and mysterious though - hard to remember sometimes that Malory's original audience had never seen a movie with CGI! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI don't know about underwhelming, but it sure was convoluted. The story was supposed to introduce Sir Galahad, but kept going in different directions only to come back to him. It didn't feel like the knights were gearing up for a quest because they were so focused on figuring out the truth about Galahad. He's the "chosen one" of the grail story, and we're constantly reminded at every turn. But there's more focus on his obscurity than on the actual quest. I would agree that it could have been presented differently and with a bit more clarity. Perhaps a clearer explanation of Galahad and why he's the "chosen one" as well as why everyone wants to go on the quest. (Maybe these are clarified later, but I didn't read ahead!)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you here. The author really seemed to jump around and not focus on one central idea. This may have made it seem like the quest was not as big and important as it really was, but I am on Dr. MB's side. I think that if we continued reading through, I believe it would live up to its hype.
DeleteIn my opinion, I believed that the quest for the Holy Grail would be the quests of all quests. I also was let down while reading this due to the underwhelming presentation of this quest. Also, comparing this reading to last week's, last week's reading viewed the quest for the Holy Grail as a very important quest above all the other quests. Maybe this is because T.H. White didn't find it necessary to blow this quest out of proportion, or maybe he just didn't view it as important.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a bit underwhelming as well. Honestly I was a little confused as too why if the knights knew or eventually realised the Galahad was the "chosen one" to get the Grail, why did so many of the knights go after it just to die or turn into a hermit, or get banished or something similar. It seemed a little redundant honestly.
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