About the work
Parzival is a stage adaptation of the medieval verse romance "Parzival" by Wolfram von Eschenbach (written around 1200–1210), one of the central works of courtly epic poetry of the German Middle Ages. Since the 19th century the material of the Grail-seeker has been adapted for the stage in numerous dramatic, operatic and modern treatments.
Plot
The young Parzival grows up in forest solitude, kept by his mother Herzeloyde above all away from knighthood. When he nonetheless catches sight of knights, he sets off naively and impetuously into the world to be received at King Arthur's court. Along the way he heaps guilt upon himself out of ignorance: at the court of the suffering Grail king Anfortas he fails to ask the redeeming question of compassion and is cursed for it. Only after long wanderings, doubt and inner maturing — and through his encounter with the hermit Trevrizent, who reveals to him his kinship with the Grail lineage — does Parzival return to the Grail castle, ask the redeeming question and become the Grail king himself.
Cultural significance
Wolfram's Parzival is among the most significant narratives of European culture and shaped the myth of the Grail and the Grail quest enduringly. The material inspired, among others, Richard Wagner's "Parsifal" (1882). The combination of chivalric adventure, guilt and spiritual purification makes the Parzival material a popular subject to this day for modern theatrical and narrative forms, which turn the coming-of-age of the "naive fool" into an emblem of human self-discovery.