Biblical Symbolism and Imagery in the Story of Perceval
The story of Perceval, as first told by Chrétien in The Story of the Grail (Perceval), and then later adapted into a French art film, Perceval le Gallois by Éric Rohmer, is one of gallant knights and mysterious lords, but also draws inspiration from and comparisons to the Bible. Through direct imagery and references to parables, something that Chrétien mentions even before he starts his story, the audience gets that the Bible is a constant influence on the story. Chrétien sought to make his own parable subtext within his story of Perceval while loosely making connections to biblical elements. Rohmer, making his film as an almost exact adaptation of Chrétien’s story, adds a twentieth century perspective and French New Wave influence to it, and then even adding his own explicit connection to the Bible at the end of his film. This explicit connection to the Bible combined with a campy theatrical adaptation of Chrétien makes an argument for Perceval as a legendary figure on the level of Jesus, and continues to make biblical allusions throughout its runtime.
The most abrupt change in Chrétien versus Rohmer happens at the end of Rohmer’s film, and without warning. As he cuts out a large part of Gawain’s story, he then adds a dramatized crucifixion scene, with Lancelot as Christ. This scene is nowhere to be found in Chrétien’s original story, but the Biblical ties still remain. Constantly throughout Chrétien’s story, Perceval repeatedly finds and then questions the existence of or completely forgets about God. His original naiveness at the beginning of the tale, when he mistakes knights for devils and then angels, places Perceval within the Christian tradition, placing him as one of the few that witnesses the “glory” of angels. Perceval never joins the Knights of the Round Table for more than one day, so the easy tie to the Bible that would be Perceval as an Apostle, with Arthur as Jesus, falls through. Chrétien’s story instead leaves the reader to ponder what he means through his mentions and ties to the Bible, while Rohmer throws it almost directly into the viewer’s face, as he ends it with the aforementioned crucifixion scene.
The crucifixion of Perceval as Jesus in Rohmer’s film also begs a direct question to Chrétien’s story. While not a scholarly source, the film reviewing social media platform Letterboxd adds insight into Rohmer’s choice. Letterboxd user Jack Cole put in his review of Perceval le Gallois, “The film ends with a cut from Perceval, as Jesus, being speared in a Passion Play not to the resurrection but to him out wandering again, which begs the question, what if the apostles had died before writing Him out of Hell?” This is a direct reference to the end of Chrétien’s story, which ends mid sentence, with the line “When the queen saw her she asked her what was the matter…” (494) which doesn’t even refer to Perceval’s story. The last time Perceval’s story is mentioned is Chrétien telling the reader, “Thus Perceval acknowledged that God was crucified and died on Good Friday… The tale no longer speaks of Perceval at this point; you will have heard a great deal about my lord Gawain before I speak of Perceval again” (461). The last mention of Perceval, in connection with Jesus and the crucifixion, again ties back to Cole’s comment on the film. Perceval le Gallois leaves no subtlety in its imagery, and as referenced in the review by Cole, asks a question of the viewer, one with no complete response.
Perceval le Gallois implies that Perceval could have been on a mythological legendary level on par with Jesus. The movie then asks the question of if Chrétien’s story had been completed, would we see Perceval as a religious figure on par with Jesus? How would we see Jesus, and view the New Testament after Jesus’ death, had the story of his resurrection on Easter not been completed? It implies these points as a way of reflecting upon Chrétien’s original story, and by featuring the Biblical implications of the story of Perceval, Rohmer moves beyond the allegories to parables and figures that Chrétien writes, and instead makes direct reference and connections of Chrétien’s characters to Biblical ones.
The story of Perceval, as first told by Chrétien and then adapted by Rohmer is one of grandiose medieval adventure, but one heavily influenced by biblical concepts and figures. Rohmer’s film seeks to make an argument for the mythological power of both Chrétien’s writing and Perceval as a legendary figure.
Works Cited
Cole, Jake. “A Review of Perceval (1978).” Letterboxd, 24 Mar. 2013, letterboxd.com/jakepcole/film/perceval/.
Kibler, William W., and Carleton W. Carroll, translators. “The Story of the Grail (Perceval).” Arthurian Romances, by Chrétien , Penguin, 2004, pp. 381–494.
