It seemed appropriate that just after Parzival is chastised by his cousin for not asking “the question” he bumps into the scanty covered Jeschute who is running from her husband Orilus. Of course many years earlier Parzival caused lady Jeschute much pain and suffering when, in youthful ignorance, he ate her food and stole her jewels.
In the two encounters thus far with Parzival’s cousin, Sigune, she seems to unwittingly direct him toward his future. In their first encounter she informs him of who he is, and points in a direction away from her lover’s killer that just so happens to lead to Arthur’s court. In Parzival’s next encounter with Sigune she seems to send him off in a state of dispair. However this is perhaps his beginning path towards the graal?
If so, it therefore seems appropriate that Parzival bumps into Jeschute; his actions with her seem to be a sort of blemish of his past. It might be unlikely that Parzival could achieve the graal with this sin hanging over his head. Although this situation does not seem to be the highly planned test we saw in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, it does seem to be a chance for atonement for Parzival. And it may be that only because he is able to reconcile Jeschute and Orilus, he can move forward towards his goal.
I think you're right - Parzival does need to purge himself of his sin in order to achieve anything related to the Gral. But I'm curious - why should Parzival be able to achieve the Gral at all if Princess Repanse de Schoye is only able to bear it because she is of "perfect chastity"? (Page 125) Is this a manifestation of the double standard that a woman must be completely chaste (and I'm assuming 'perfect' chastity means virginity, not just abstinence here) in order to bear the Gral, while a man must present virtue in a different - more manly - way?
ReplyDeleteMegan, your post connects with Leah's post in that Parzival can only ask the Question once he is the kind of man who will ask the Question or, in other words, once is he is the kind of man who exhibits the qualities (i.e. sin no longer hanging over his head) of a man worthy of asking the Question. In many ways, "Parzival" seems like a bildungsroman: here a is a young man who needs to grow up to be the perfect knight and all the trials that he goes through are part of his eventual coming-of-age.
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