This month marks the 50th anniversary of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the 1975 comedy that has become a cult favourite and a surprising staple in medieval studies. Known for its absurd humour and low-budget brilliance, the film reimagines the legend of King Arthur with coconut horses, anarchist peasants, and killer rabbits.
Over the years, scholars have turned to Monty Python and the Holy Grail to explore how the Middle Ages are portrayed—and parodied—in modern culture. Its lasting influence can be seen in classrooms, academic journals, and discussions of medievalism. In celebration of the film’s anniversary, here is a list of ten open-access articles you can read that examine its legacy from multiple angles.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Madness with a Definite Method
By David D. Day
Cinema Arthuriana: Twenty Essays, edited by Kevin J. Harty (McFarland, 2002)
Excerpt: What I would like to attempt here, without becoming too serious myself, is to analyze one of the more notably consistent of Monty Python’s comic techniques, one readily found in some of their television programming and repeatedly used in what is probably their most sophisticated work of all, Monty Python and the Holy Grail; the juxtaposition of unlikes. Interestingly, given some shifts in academic and critical thinking in over the last decade, this technique curiously parallels the concerns of modern medievalists with the ways we try to understand the Middle Ages. Although my position on these questions is not really much different from what it was in my first essay on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, I will focus here more precisely on one or two of the ways the Python troupe gets its laughs, and suggest how, even more strikingly than I originally thought, they anticipate, parallel, or mock academic concerns about how we recapture the past.
Click here to read this article
Coconuts in Camelot: Monty Python and the Holy Grail in the Arthurian Literature Course
By Christine M. Neufeld
Florilegium, Volume 19 (2002)
Introduction: Teaching Arthurian literature affords a perhaps rare opportunity for medieval specialists to use the medium of film to interest undergraduate students in a period that is otherwise often considered foreign to their cultural world or concerns. The significant number of Arthurian films in die twentieth century reflects the continuous appeal of the Arthurian legend, a legend whose survival can be attributed to its adaptability, shifting throughout the centuries between elite and popular cultures, and disseminated in different forms through visual, oral and textual traditions.
Click here to read this article
Monty Python and the Absurd Comedy of Medieval Society
By Elena Correa Arenas
BA Thesis, University of Valladolid, 2022
Abstract: The Monty Python comic group and their 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail introduced a new vision of the Middle Ages to popular culture through humour and the absurd. Due to Terry Jones’ passion for the Middle Ages, their work reflected this historical period not only in the characters but in their use of carnival comedy, which was originated in medieval times and and became an essential element of their humour. This BA thesis provides an analysis of the comic representation of medieval social types in Monty Python and the Holy Grail along with a comparison between this film and Terry Jones’ documentary Medieval Lives while considering a historical context with the aim of analysisng how the Middle Ages are presented in each work.
Click here to read this thesis
Postmodernism in Monty Python and the Holy Grail
By Alexander Reece Loescher Quinlan
The Richard Macksey Journal, Vol. 1 (2020)
Abstract: Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a film that epitomizes the various forms of deconstruction in Postmodern Philosophy. The 1975 film presents a farcical version of the Arthurian Legend of the quest for the Holy Grail, along with this are a series of metanarrative deconstructions that permeate the film. Consistent with the definition of Postmodernism presented by Jean-Francois Lyotard, the film disparages metanarratives. This is presented at a surface level in the deconstruction of Arthurian tropes, from the base concept of the chivalrous noble to the knights of the round table and King Arthur. As each of the Arthurian characters is presented with a challenge, each acts counter to the expectations set by the modern Arthurian canon. Furthermore, interspersed throughout the film are moments of addressing the audience, and interactions between those making the film and the viewer. Beyond the deconstruction of the film as a means of conveying narratives, this also supports a Heidegger’s notion of Postmodernism as a means of bringing the audience to an awareness of their own essence rather than allowing them to be passive participants in a story flatly presented to them. The plethora of narrative, archetypal, and presentation deconstructions are layered throughout the film in such a way that Monty Python and the Holy Grail’s essence is that of a Postmodern narrative.
Click here to read this article
Humor Analysis of Monty Python and the Holy Grail
By Fauzan Romdhoni Kusnandi, Isti Siti Saleha Gandana, Nia Nafisah
Passage, Vol. 8:3 (2020)
Abstract: This study entitled Humor analysis of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) aims to analyzes humor that exists in a British comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), which is directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, to understand the humor and what the humor implied. Employing textual analysis, this study uses Vandaele’s (2002) humor mechanism and film form proposed by Bordwell, Thompson, and Smith (2017) as the tools of analysis. The study indicates that the humor is constructed based on the four contexts as described by Vandaele (2002): (1) (De-) normalization, (2) solution, (3) conditioning, and (4) evaluation. Furthermore, the humor signifies the film author’s credibility to deliver humor that is enjoyable to many people, especially those who have been exposed to western culture.
Click here to read this article
Got Grail? Monty Python and the Broadway Stage
By Laurie A. Finke and Susan Aronstein
Theatre Survey, Vol. 48:2 (2007)
Introduction: Money matters. In Act 2 of Spamalot, Eric Idle’s Broadway musical based on the 1975 cult classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the show’s star, Tim Curry, as King Arthur, comments that the characters are running around in a “dark and very expensive forest.” The joke, it turns out, is entirely on us. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was an inexpensive independent film, costing $250,000 to make, a bargain compared to the same year’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show ($1,200,000) and Python’s own 1979 Life of Brian ($4,000,000). From its release, Holy Grail ran continuously in many theatres, and large numbers of people could afford the price of a ticket; it still circulates widely in relatively inexpensive DVD and VHS editions.
Click here to read this article
Killer Decorations: The Killer Rabbit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail
By Andrew Wiebe
University of Saskatchewan Undergraduate Research Journal, Vol. 8:2 (2022)
Abstract: This paper assesses the historical accuracy of Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam’s film Monty Python the Holy Grail, which demonstrates how the film’s satirical elements are tied to morality and the Gothic tradition. It examines John Ruskin’s Victorian criticism and the marginal decorations within Gothic manuscripts and sculpture. By identifying and displaying their symbolic power as symbols of morality, as adapted in the film, this analysis offers a fresh take on why killer rabbits are found within Gothic manuscripts.
Click here to read this article
Using Monty Python and The Holy Grail to Teach the van Hiele Model for Geometric Thought and Logic
By Todd O. Moyer
Ohio Journal of School Mathematics, Vol. 80 (2018)
Abstract: One of the greatest comedy movies of all time is Monty Python and The Holy Grail. The author presents an activity to engage preservice teachers in the van Hiele Model for Geometric Thought and logic using specific clips from the movie. The author provides questions that complement the clips.
Click here to read this article
Absurdity and Irony in the Work of Monty Python
By Barbora Štěpánová
BA Thesis, Univerzita Hradec Králové, 2016
Abstract: The goal of the bachelor’s thesis is to point out the elements of absurdity and irony in the work of the British comedy group Monty Python. These elements will be demonstrated by the analysis of the television and film production of the group. This study also underlines typical elements of Monty Python’s humour in the context of the classical approach to humour. Last but not least, the paper also presents individual members of the group, introduces Monty Python’s work itself and speaks about their influence on the development of the British comedy.
Click here to read this thesis
Could the Black Knight have survived to bite King Arthur’s legs off?
By Nathaniel Morris
Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics, Vol. 7 (2018)
Abstract: The paper examines the feasibility of the Black Knight surviving to the end of the duel with King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. By looking into the blood loss accrued when each limb is chopped off the level of haemorrhaging is found throughout the scene. Given the blood loss he would have sustained it is unclear as to whether the Black Knight would have been able to survive until the end of the scene. However, he would have certainly lost consciousness and died seconds after the fade to black.
Click here to read this article
You can also find a few books about the movie. A Book about the Film Monty Python and the Holy Grail: All the References from African Swallows to Zoot, by Darl Larsen is the definitive guide to the film, while Leadership Lessons From Monty Python and the Holy Grail, by Richard D Parker is considered a fun read. You can also buy the movie’s screenplay.
Subscribe to Medievalverse
