The Holy Grail is a dish, plate or cup said to have been used by Jesus at the Last Supper and is an important symbol in the Arthurian myth. The Holy Grail represents the unattainable perfection that Arthur's knights must strive towards. In Book III, The Ill-Made Knight, Arthur sends his knights out on a quest for The Holy Grail in the hope that the search may teach them morality and justice, and direct their violence and power towards a spiritual end. Ultimately, however, this fails: out of the three knights who eventually find the Grail, only one returns. The other two knights—Sir Percival and Sir Galahad—become too perfect for life itself and are unable to use their achieved perfection for justice in the realm. Thus, the Holy Grail represents not only spiritual perfection, but also the human perfection Arthur believes is fundamental to humanity. Arthur's quest for a just England is based on his assumption that man is ultimately good; but this assumption turns out to be false as a perfect man cannot exist (just as Sir Galahad and Percival die when they reach perfection) and hence is permanently unattainable for Arthur, just as the Holy Grail forever remains elusive.
The Holy Grail Quotes in The Once and Future King
The The Once and Future King quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Holy Grail. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 2, Chapter 14
Quotes
Although nine tenths of the story seems to be about knights jousting and quests for the holy grail and things of that sort, the narrative is a whole, and it deals with the reasons why the young man came to grief at the end. It is the tragedy, the Aristotelian and comprehensive tragedy, of sin coming home to roost.
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 3, Chapter 36
Quotes
Half the knights had been killed—the best half. What Arthur had feared from the start of the Grail Quest had come to pass. If you achieve perfection, you die. There had been nothing left for Galahad to ask of God, except death. The best knights had gone to perfection, leaving the worst to hold their sieges.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Once and Future King LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Holy Grail Symbol Timeline in The Once and Future King
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Holy Grail appears in The Once and Future King. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 3, Chapter 27
...skeptical, but Lancelot's eyes burn with excitement. He suggests they start a quest for the Holy Grail and direct the energy and spirit of the knights towards a religious and spiritual end.
(full context)
Book 3, Chapter 30
...many trials, he finally came across a holy boat intended to take people to the Holy Grail .
(full context)
Book 3, Chapter 31
...Two hours later, Uncle Dap presents himself to the King and informs him that the Holy Grail has been found by Galahad, Percival, and Bors who are with it now, carrying it...
(full context)
Book 3, Chapter 33
...arrived at a forestland where a white knight was waiting to take Galahad to the Holy Grail . Lancelot knew he would not be taken too, but asked Galahad to pray for...
(full context)
...Bors and Percival, and knights from other lands; and on a silver table was the Holy Grail .
(full context)
Book 3, Chapter 36
...changed. The best half of the knights have been killed in the quest for the Holy Grail . What Arthur had feared has occurred: if you achieve perfection, you die. Now, the...
(full context)
