Wolfram Von Eschenbach's Parzival Essay

Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival is often regarded as the greatest narrative poem of the medieval ages. Eschenbach follows up on the work of his predecessor Chretien de Troyes but goes on to weave his own tale full of romance, chivalry, and adventure. While it may appear to be just a fantastical story of knights to some, Eschenbach actually provides an insightful look into the views of the time as well a sampling of his own unconventional thoughts. In a short four hundred and eleven pages, Eschenbach discusses everything from religion to war while still managing to sprinkle in some subtle humor. This paper will proceed to analyze and compare Eschenbach 's views and opinions with the status quo of the time. While this tale was written nearly 1000 years ago I found it to still be

Wolfram begins his look into religion in through the eyes of a young Parzival who asks “Oh mother, what is God? (Pg 71)” While seeming to be an innocent and simple enough question, it in fact is one of the most complex and controversial questions that the human race has ever come across. In this question we also see some of the parallels Brian Murdoch discusses between Parzival and Adam. Where Parzival grows up in “idyllic surroundings but in isolation (Murdoch 147)”, much like Adam who was created into a perfect world but was isolated. Both will then go into to commit their own mistakes/sins and renounce their faith in God. Using these comparisons, Eschenbach makes Parzival a much more powerful character he elevates Parzival to the level of one of the most important people in the bible. Through Parzivals life, Eschenbach also reflects the problems Adam himself faced and tries to show that even if God’s initial creation could have such considerable fallacies it was okay for the reader to have some as well as long as they commit the proper penance. Parzival will go onto explore some of the intricacies