Monday, March 24, 2014
Together til the end
So this reading of the Holy Grail was....wow. So many crazy things going on. One thing I really felt I could relate to this story was the round table. All of the knights went out on this quest together, knowing they were probably going to die, and that just displays honor to me. We're always discussing characteristics of a knight and that has to be one of the most important traits. The round table plays a part in this to me because it symbolizes that all of them are equal. The shape of the table gives everyone fair game and no favoring of one knight because of a certain spot. This being that they're all equal, had them all out on this quest together.
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I feel like the table could be a symbol of how we like to idealize characteristics within ourselves in society-that we ideally think of ourselves as equals.
ReplyDeleteAnd when half of the knights of the round table die by the end of this quest, I felt like that symbolized the break down of the illusion that they were all honorable and equal. The reality seems to be (for me) that the knights were never equal, Arthur was always a King, a supreme or a jesus I'd even argue. And what of the honor part? I feel like the incestuous affairs among most of the knights and their wives/beloveds are swept under the rug and portrayed as "courtly love." What does honor then mean?
I feel like so much of the themes in Arthurian stories are reflections of human struggles that even today people can relate to.
Unfortunately we are not scheduled to read about Arthur's death and what happens to this "ideal" time and place.
DeleteI feel like many of the stories represented the physical glory of knighthood (Love many of the times overcame Reason), whereas this tale stresses the mental stability of the knights and also...their spiritual connection to God: the ultimate challenge.
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