Things that were peculiar about the Seagrail Quest reading
today
1.
After Lancelot enters the chamber (after the
voice said not to) and he collapsed and was “like dead” for 24 days.
In reference to what we were
saying earlier today about people relating to Lancelot’s decisions, I think the
24 days he “lain dead” is another loud parallel that people can relate to. The effects of doing something you know
you shouldn’t because you think you know better than otherwise, and then having
to deal with some sort of consequence.
Lancelot said that he felt the 24 days was a punishment for his
disobedience of what the voice told him to do. I find it odd for Lancelot accepts it as a punishment,
and that he deserved it…I was expecting him to react boldly; inspired by a” WTF
just happened” moment, I thought he’d charge off on a horse to justify his
name. But no.
2.
The demonic horse that rode for four days
journey in an hour, the lion and the serpent.
When I was first reading that Percivale decided, almost randomly
it seemed, to help the lion fight the serpent I felt confused. WHY? The only reasoning that followed was that the lion was “the
more natural beast of the two” and then Percivale thanks god for the fellowship
that he has with the lion. There
is, of course, the religious symbolism that I can see that might explain the
issue’s he’s having with temptation:
serpent representing evil things and the devil and the lion representing
god and being good.
I get that, but letting that
though sit in my mind for a few seconds…then what does the dream that he has
while sleeping with lion mean (with the young and old lady that visit him in
his dream)? The young lady sat on
the serpent and the old lady sat on the lion and it was the young lady on the
serpent that warns him…am I the only one who thought that was weird? Why was it the young lady sitting on
the serpent (representing evilness) who warned him, and not the old lady on the
lion? I feel like it’d make
more sense if the lady on the lion warned him…am I missing something?
Anyways, I actually really enjoyed
this reading, probably the best reading for me so far in this class. The way Malory wrote the Sangreal Quest
is very alluring…I felt that he (Malory) was telling hard facts of what happened;
yet it felt like a story.
This is 1 out of 5
This is 1 out of 5
Young lady riding a serpent, young lady as evil, young lady as temptation/seductress, and Percivale as a virgin adds up to a big phallic metaphor. She'll get him when his guard is down.
ReplyDeleteBahaha true. But I find that the pavilion that pops up out of nowhere is odd...you'd think that Percivale would take note of the randomness around him.
DeleteTrue, but if he was tempted, enchanted enough, would he in his knightly arrogance entirely care?
DeleteI think we can all relate to "feeling dead" or at least really awful after doing something disobedient. I know I feel this way when my parents tell me I disappointed them, hate that line... But I think Lancelot felt that he cheated himself out. I agree with the lion representing God and that being a reason why Percivale decided to choose that route. I've noticed a lot in our stories that its often the opposite outcome of what we expect to happen.
ReplyDelete