T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land," Part 5: The Grail

How at the Castle of Corbin a Maiden Bare in the Sangreal and Foretold the Achievements of Galahad: illustration by Arthur Rackham, 1917
Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Sangreal.jpg

The most important symbol in all Fisher King legends is the Holy Grail, usually described as a sacred cup which holds the blood of Christ.  However, the original French word for the Grail, the sangraal, also could be interpreted as a stone, which is also religiously significant because of the symbol of the foundation of the Christian.  Since the Grail is an important symbol, it too must play a significant role in The Waste Land’s thematic exposition, not as a nourishing symbol of a cup, but as the unwieldy stone which provides refuge.

In its most popularly recognized form of a cup or chalice, the Holy Grail is not ostensibly in the poem.  Aside from the mention of “vials of ivory and coloured glass” (746) and empty bottles (749), there is little mention of containers, and no reference to anything resembling a chalice.  The absence of such imagery is perhaps significant, as the only other option of the Grail imagery is as a stone.  This difference is drastic in that the connotation for a chalice is of healing, coolness, and the quenching of thirst, whereas a stone brings to mind hard, dry desolation without anything to alleviate thirst.

The Grail as a stone is represented as the red rock: “There is a shadow under this red rock / (Come in under the shadow of this red rock)” (744), which offers refuge from the destitution of the Waste Land.  This symbolism of rock and stone recurs throughout The Waste Land, often mentioned in conjunction with colors.  In “A Game of Chess,” for example, the room described in the opening contains reflective marble and a ceiling “framed by the coloured stone” (746), harkening back to the red rock previously mentioned in the poem.

In the first section of The Waste Land, the rock is a place of refuge, but it also illustrates the conflict between the Waste Land’s harsh atmosphere and its persistent hope for relief.  Although it offers shelter from the scorching sun via its shadow, the Rock is stationary, and cannot make any active move to help the traveler.  Like the Rock, the Grail offers relief, but only if one finds it; the Grail is an object and therefore cannot take any action of its own volition.

The Grail, in the image of the rock in the Waste Land, is defined by its desolate, negative surroundings.  However, it is the main positive force in the poem, and offers redemption in even the direst of circumstances.  Just as the Rock represents shelter from the harsh natural elements, the Grail represents the hope of redemption from suffering, from uselessness, and chaos. 

The Attainment: The Vision of the Holy Grail to Sir Galahad, Sir Bors, and Sir Perceval (also known as The Achievement of the Grail or The Achievement of Sir Galahad, accompanied by Sir Bors, and Sir Perceval). , Number 6 of the Holy Grail tapestries woven by Morris & Co. 1891-94 for Stanmore Hall. This version woven by Morris & Co. for Lawrence Hodson of Compton Hall 1895-96. Wool and silk on cotton warp. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
Source: http://www.onlineuniversities.com/wp-content/uploads/quest%20for%20the%20holy%20grail.jpg

T. S. Eliot admits in his footnotes that “not only the title, but the plan and a good deal of the incidental symbolism of the poem were suggested by Miss Jessie L. Weston’s book on the Grail legend: From Ritual to Romance” (756).  Eliot’s allusions to Weston’s anthropological study of the Grail legend is appropriate considering the book relates it to fertility rituals, and traces recurrent symbols a wounded god or king throughout several ancient and multicultural mythologies.  In From Ritual to Romance, Weston explores not only the possible meanings of the Fisher King myth, but also connects it to such seemingly unrelated material as Tarot cards, which also would feature prominently in Eliot’s poem.

Using anthropology to trace certain recurring humanist themes is something else Eliot acquires from Weston’s book.  The Waste Land is acutely self-conscious of its place in history—of its perpetuation of traditional and innovation of modern literature.  However, Eliot’s use of generally human concepts like interpersonal relationships and the search for redemption confirm that he was not only writing in homage of previous epics and classic poets, but that he was also writing something that held relevance in modern civilization.  If anything, Eliot uses the traditional allusions as scaffolding on which to structure more existential themes.

The use of traditional literature also affects the structure—or the seeming lack of it—to the poem.  Arthurian romances were often so meticulously ordered in plot that they are justly described as cyclical.  However, the Grail legend “resists the ordering of plot.  The ‘meanings’ are always overflowing the narrative and overwhelming the design,” and this idea that the themes take priority before poetic structure is perhaps one that Eliot used in writing The Waste Land.  Repeated words and phrases like “rock,” “the violet,” and “water” are used as signposts to guide the reader to Eliot’s main themes of barrenness, repentance, and deliverance, as well as plot out a modernist retelling of the Fisher King legend.

Although the Grail legend is a significant plot in The Waste Land, Eliot’s use of additional connotations from such works as Dante’s Inferno, Shakespearean plays, and even the Bible, supply more thematic information for the reader to use in understanding the poem as a whole.   References outside of European literature show that the themes in the poem transcend time and culture, as the issue of human mortality confronted in this genre is recurrent throughout the history of global literature.

Independently, The Waste Land is a masterpiece in its own right.  But as a work drawing on history while moving toward the future, it takes part in a community of literature which gives the poem a sort of comprehensive structure.  Eliot uses what otherwise would be considered a chaotic jumble of abstract quotes and allusions from various forms of literature to create a sort of verbal mosaic that, when seen holistically, illustrates his themes of humanity, religion, life and death.  Even when personal inner-conflict is resolved, the quest for universal peace for all humanity continues.  The poem ends with the continued battle between the desire for order in the universe, and surrendering to the inherent chaos of human life. 

The conclusion of The Waste Land is the source of several critical controversies.  One such controversy regarding Eliot’s use of the Fisher King myth is whether the protagonist ever succeeds in his quest.  While some scholars believe that the poem’s end is one of marginal hope for deliverance, others argue that the poem ends in true Grail romance fashion, with the Quester achieving his goal and the Fisher King and his land being restored. 

The rationale behind the argument that the Quester ultimately fails is that there is a tone of submissive despair in The Waste Land’s conclusion.  The hopelessness in “A Game of Chess” which is expressed by the nightingale who “Filled all the desert with inviolable voice / And still she cried, and still the world pursues” (746).  The passive acceptance in the face of failure echoes even in the poem’s conclusion: “I sat upon the shore / Fishing, with the arid plain behind me / Shall I at least set my lands in order?” (756). 

           

This perspective is seemingly supported by the following lines, which are frenetic and nonsensical.  However, this interpretation does not account for the last word of the poem, shanti, which Eliot translates as “the Peace that passeth understanding” (760).  Although passive in the sense that the protagonist seemingly is at peace, there is no indication that he merely accepts his existence in the Waste Land.

 

The other interpretation of The Waste Land’s conclusion is far more optimistic, and assumes the invariable success of the Quester that is the traditional conclusion among medieval romance cycles.  The proponents of this interpretation admit that the scenes reminiscent of the Chapel Perilous lead the reader to believe that the quest will be in vain, but then “a damp gust / Bringing rain” (755) relieves the Waste Land of its drought.  The controversy of whether the Quester actually succeeds to restore the Waste Land arises because the poem’s complexity begs to be interpreted in many diverse ways with a variety of methods.  The dilemma of the modern mind is how humanity makes order out of chaos, reviving a seemingly dying culture into a semblance of its former glories just as the Fisher King and his people desire to do.  The Quester discovers the inadequacies of his own identity, as well as his inherent flaws that cause him to fail. These myths create the sense that the existential problems of modern civilization are not particular to modern civilization at all, but are part of a universal issue that transcends culture, religion, and time.  Although the deliverance of the Waste Land is precarious, its ultimate message is one of hope, because as long as life persists, redemption can never come too late.