Perceval- Part 1

One of the things that first caught my eye in this piece was the numerous parallels to masonry and masonic rituals. While the establishment of Freemasonry does not come about until the 16th or 17th century, many of the rituals date to much earlier times.

The first potentially masonic reference that I noticed was the fact that Perceval is the son of a widow. This made me recall the (somewhat) famous masonic phrase "Oh Lord my God, is there no help for the widow's son?" Seeing as this story predates the advent of Freemasonry, I felt compelled to research earlier significances of a widows son. My research turned up rather interesting results.

One early belief was that the mother represented the soul and the father represented the instructor. This sentiment holds true to this day. I know that in my family my father took on the responsibility of instructing me on how to do many things, whereas my mother was always a more compassionate and comforting influence. When the man reached adulthood, it was believed that the father (instructor) did not live on within the man, and that the mother (soul) remained. This effectively "widowed" the mother, and turned the son into the widows son.

This information greatly supports my theory of a premasonic influence in Chretien's writing. From the beginning Chretien makes it clear that this is to be a coming of age story. I do not think that his use of seeds as a metaphor is a mistake. Neither is the fact that the story commences in the spring and that Perceval initiates his journey of discovery en route to checking on the planters. All of these things are symbols of a new beginning, in this case, a new beginning, or perhaps the true beginning, of Perceval's life.

The fact that Perceval's father died when Perceval was quite young also supports this theory. It can be assumed that his father was somewhat successful in educating his children, seeing as we know that Perceval's older brothers were knights. Therefore, Perceval's ignorance can be traced to the absence of his fathers presence, and as such, the absence of an instructor.

At this point, the connection to Freemasonry can be made complete. Freemasonry is an organization that claims to exist to promote learning and understanding of individual spirituality. This is something that masons believe is learned through allegory and experience. It is common knowledge that the masons use rituals and tests to teach and initiate their members into different ranks. This is exactly what Perceval needs to do. He questions those who he doesn't understand, and he proves himself by defeating the Red Knight. The phrase "...is there no help for the widow's son?" is designed to show that a mason is in distress, but I think that this meaning can be broadened to mean that a man needs help in learning about himself or others, and this is the kind of help that Perceval needs.