Similarities Between Monty Python And The Holy Grail

The film Monty Python and the Holy Grail satirizes the medieval “epic hero” through parodying actual heroes in medieval literature. The comedy film displays important medieval values in a humorous light and pokes fun at Arthurian legends. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and other tales of Arthur’s Knights of the Round table are heavily parodied through out the film. The medieval tales often include the knight errant, or a knight who wandered the lands in search of chivalrous adventures, and throughout the film Arthur and his newly formed gang portray the knight errant as foolish and cowardly.

One example of parodying Arthurian legend is when King Arthur encounters a black knight in a forest and cuts off all of his limbs

when he refuses to let him pass. This part of the film parodies the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight because in the medieval tale, Sir Gawain must try and kill the Green Knight so he decapitates him but the Green Knight somehow survives getting his head removed. The film points out the absurdity of surviving an attack after having your major limbs chopped off. To add to the comedic scenario in the film, the Black Knight continues to try and fight King Arthur, even after all of his limbs had been removed.
The film also parodies tales like Sir Gawain by displaying King Arthur and his knights as cowardly. In the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain displays courage by holding up his deal with the Green Knight and staying at the green chapel to face the knight. In the film, however, King Arthur and his gang often flee from danger, especially the knight dubbed “the Brave Sir Robin” who happens to be the most cowardly of all the knights. Sir Robin’s minstrel even follows him around exclaiming how he is the “brave Sir Robin” despite his fleeing from every obstacle he encounters. This display mocks the idea of medieval song and how it praises the Arthurian hero’s bravery.
Many of the tribulations that the knights face in the film are similar to problems that the knights of the round table would face in Arthurian legend. Another example of this is when Sir Galahad is faced with temptation at the Castle Anthrax.