Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a satirical film about King Arthur and his knights who run into many erratic hardships while on the search for the Holy Grail In Monty Python and the Holy Grail medieval culture and literature is mocked by the use of satire Satire is a style of rhetoric that exposes vices and foolishness in society and is used in the movie as the knights of the round table search for the Holy Grail Three specific types of satirical strategies used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail to mock medieval culture and literature are anachronism reversal and parody First in Monty Python and the Holy Grail anachronism is used to mock medieval culture and literature Anachronism is derived from the Greek word anachrous which means against time and is an error of chronology or timeline in a literary piece For example in the beginning of the film a modern historian is shown documenting events happening in front of a camera However it is the Medieval ages and cameras were hundreds of years from being invented Also in the scene a knight travels by and kills the historian for no apparent reason Then his wife hurries frantically to his aid and she is wearing pearls loafers and a skirt This is a notable example of anachronism because pearls loafers and skirts were not fabricated until hundreds of years later Another example of anachronism is the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch When the Knights of the Round Table are trying to enter the cave they use a grenade to kill the rabbit When they use the Holy Hand grenade they must read the instructions on how to correctly operate the grenade ridiculing the knights incompetence
