Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
A British Parody
By: Norwin Adarve
Monty Python and the Holy Grail has been a comic success in the film industry for almost four decades. The main reason for its success is because the jokes have kept the audience laughing whether they watched it in 1975 or just saw the comedy for the first time yesterday. Monty Python and the Holy Grail would fall under two categories of comedy, a satire and a parody. In contemporary usage, a parody is a work that imitates another work in order to; ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke fun at the work itself; the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. Satire on the other hand is usually witty, and often very funny, although the primary purpose of satire is not humor but criticism of an individual or a group in a witty manner. There are many examples of parody and Satire throughout Monty Python and the Holy Grail. In fact, the whole movie itself is a parody. The movie focuses mainly on King Arthur and his knights’ ridiculous quest to find the Holy Grail and any aspect of society during that time in history is subject to parody as well. The film follows King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table in a chef’s salad of adventures, mainly the quest for the Holy Grail. Three medieval concepts that reoccur continuously in the movie are knighthood, chivalry, courtly love and the wheel of fortune. These motifs are more seriously depicted in the book Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and from tales in the book the Canterbury Tales.
In medieval times the ideal characteristics of a man were knighthood and chivalry both in battle and at home. The physical attributes included strength, skill at arms and horsemanship while as the non-physical ideals included courage, humility, courtesy and loyalty. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is told to leave the Green Chapel by the Lord of the Manor, the Green Knight's residence, without defending
A British Parody
By: Norwin Adarve
Monty Python and the Holy Grail has been a comic success in the film industry for almost four decades. The main reason for its success is because the jokes have kept the audience laughing whether they watched it in 1975 or just saw the comedy for the first time yesterday. Monty Python and the Holy Grail would fall under two categories of comedy, a satire and a parody. In contemporary usage, a parody is a work that imitates another work in order to; ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke fun at the work itself; the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. Satire on the other hand is usually witty, and often very funny, although the primary purpose of satire is not humor but criticism of an individual or a group in a witty manner. There are many examples of parody and Satire throughout Monty Python and the Holy Grail. In fact, the whole movie itself is a parody. The movie focuses mainly on King Arthur and his knights’ ridiculous quest to find the Holy Grail and any aspect of society during that time in history is subject to parody as well. The film follows King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table in a chef’s salad of adventures, mainly the quest for the Holy Grail. Three medieval concepts that reoccur continuously in the movie are knighthood, chivalry, courtly love and the wheel of fortune. These motifs are more seriously depicted in the book Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and from tales in the book the Canterbury Tales.
In medieval times the ideal characteristics of a man were knighthood and chivalry both in battle and at home. The physical attributes included strength, skill at arms and horsemanship while as the non-physical ideals included courage, humility, courtesy and loyalty. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is told to leave the Green Chapel by the Lord of the Manor, the Green Knight's residence, without defending