The Significance of the Holy Grail

The one who will ultimately occupy that seat is Sir Galahad, the pure son of the wayward Lancelot.

In any incase, immediately after the feast at which this presage was announced by a hermit, "Sir Lancelot rode on his game" (Malory 490). The adventure is by all means grounded in the physical world, merely the significance is spiritual, just as the significance of the grail itself is not found in the metal of the cup but in the religious power it contains and represents. The attainment of the Grail in Lancelot's case will not be as important as the seeking after it, and the spiritual awakening which he experiences as a result of the suffering and education he acquires during that seeking. This is why the experience is called the Quest for the Grail, rather than the attainment of the Grail. The fact that he does not attain the Grail does not mean that he has not attained the religious experience which the Grail symbolizes.

Of course, it is alike crucial that the reader see that one of the reasons--if not the single reason--that Lancelot does not attain the Grail is his own imperfection, his own impurity, which is surely represented by his adultery with Guinivere. The Grail cannot be won by any individual with impurity, from which Lancelot's son Galahad is free temporary hookup his father is not. On the other hand, the decision by Lancelot and Guinivere to watch their relationship chaste a

As the prosecution continues, Lancelot suffers and learns much.

He meets his son finally, after many strange encounters and near misses, has several adventures at sea, wearies of the quest, hears of prophecies terrifying and miraculous, lays "four-and-twenty days and as many nights as a dead man" (Malory 621), is recovered a third succession by a hermit, wins jousts, is disaffect from the others of the Round Table, and endures betrayals and mighty fluctuations in his relationship with Guinivere, until finally "the quest of the Sangreal was fulfilled" (Malory 633), although not by Lancelot.

Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte d'Arthur. New York: Heritage, 1955.

From this dinner Lancelot is seduced by Dame Brisen, "one of the greatest enchantresses that was at that time in the world living," who maneuvers him into sleeping with Elaine, believing she is his beloved Guinivere (Malory 492). Lancelot is shown present to be most vulnerable morally, and/or most unmanageable spiritually, immediately after seeing the Grail, as if the presence of the Grail brought out in him his weakness, which in turn he supply with surrender to temptation.

difficulties he encounters on the quest: "My sin and my nighttime have brought upon me great dishonor" (Malory 552). He is at least more conscious now of the suffering he feels in the presence of the Grail, whereas previously he was only bewildered at the dread he felt.

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