The Triwizard Tournament is a contest, held between the three wizarding schools’ champions in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which is meant to test the contestants’ intelligence, magical ability, and courage through the completion of three tasks, the last of which concerns locating the Triwizard Cup. Similarly, the Arthurian legend of The Quest for the Holy Grail tells of a quest for the Holy Grail, which can be described as a goblet or cup. The goal of this essay is to compare and contrast the two tales and expand on how the allusion lends to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. To accomplish this I will relate items and events between the two stories, compare characters between the two stories, explain the observable differences
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To begin with, all three cups are reminiscent of treasure, with the Triwizard Cup being the goal of the last task and associated with the prize winnings, the goblet of fire arriving in a casket, and the Grail being sought after and housed in a treasure chest in some accounts. There are also other similarities between the cups, such as the fact that in some way or another they all measure one 's worthiness. The goblet of fire decides who is best suited to join the tournament, just as the vision of the Holy Grail appeared to those noble enough to pursue it and the most worthy and the most capable competitor should be the one to find the Triwizard Cup. Another possible point of symbolism or parody is that one of Galahad’s visions shows the Holy Grail red and in midst of flames, which is similar to not only the Goblet of Fire but also the cauldron that was used to resurrect Lord Voldemort. Notably, this cauldron also contains symbolism to the Holy Grail in that it contains the blood of the innocent, as the Grail caught the blood of Christ during …show more content…
To Begin, Harry most closely takes on the role of Bors in the allusion since they both show themselves to be chivalrous and pure of heart. Like Harry, Bors is shown to be very modest by taking Lancelot’s advice to wear plain clothes and selfless by fighting for a lady without killing his enemy. Harry also bares similarities to Bors, in that Harry actually returns from the grail quest and has a scar on his head similar to Bors’. Both Galahad and Cedric are chosen to pursue the Holy Grail or the Triwizard cup by the Holy Grail and the Goblet of fire, respectively. Similarly to Galahad, Cedric also embodies chivalry that leads him to be chosen and find the Triwizard Cup. Reinforcing this connection, Cedric does not return when he travels with the Triwizard Cup and Galahad also does not return when he ascends with the Holy Grail. Krum is most closely representative of Perceval who, on multiple occasions, fails in his attempt to find the Holy Grail because he makes decisions that prove he is not as pure of heart as Galahad. In the second task, while Harry stays to help Fleur’s sister, Krum arrives and departs in the name of succeeding in his quest, aligning him with Percival, who made the mistake of not helping an injured fisherman in The Quest for the Holy Grail. Fleur does not directly represent any of Arthur’s
To begin with, all three cups are reminiscent of treasure, with the Triwizard Cup being the goal of the last task and associated with the prize winnings, the goblet of fire arriving in a casket, and the Grail being sought after and housed in a treasure chest in some accounts. There are also other similarities between the cups, such as the fact that in some way or another they all measure one 's worthiness. The goblet of fire decides who is best suited to join the tournament, just as the vision of the Holy Grail appeared to those noble enough to pursue it and the most worthy and the most capable competitor should be the one to find the Triwizard Cup. Another possible point of symbolism or parody is that one of Galahad’s visions shows the Holy Grail red and in midst of flames, which is similar to not only the Goblet of Fire but also the cauldron that was used to resurrect Lord Voldemort. Notably, this cauldron also contains symbolism to the Holy Grail in that it contains the blood of the innocent, as the Grail caught the blood of Christ during …show more content…
To Begin, Harry most closely takes on the role of Bors in the allusion since they both show themselves to be chivalrous and pure of heart. Like Harry, Bors is shown to be very modest by taking Lancelot’s advice to wear plain clothes and selfless by fighting for a lady without killing his enemy. Harry also bares similarities to Bors, in that Harry actually returns from the grail quest and has a scar on his head similar to Bors’. Both Galahad and Cedric are chosen to pursue the Holy Grail or the Triwizard cup by the Holy Grail and the Goblet of fire, respectively. Similarly to Galahad, Cedric also embodies chivalry that leads him to be chosen and find the Triwizard Cup. Reinforcing this connection, Cedric does not return when he travels with the Triwizard Cup and Galahad also does not return when he ascends with the Holy Grail. Krum is most closely representative of Perceval who, on multiple occasions, fails in his attempt to find the Holy Grail because he makes decisions that prove he is not as pure of heart as Galahad. In the second task, while Harry stays to help Fleur’s sister, Krum arrives and departs in the name of succeeding in his quest, aligning him with Percival, who made the mistake of not helping an injured fisherman in The Quest for the Holy Grail. Fleur does not directly represent any of Arthur’s