Parodies
Parody: is a comic imitation of another work or of a type of literature. The purpose of a parody is to
poke fun at the original; however, in a truly masterful parody one’s own culture receive some of the
humorous endeavor as well.
As you work with the parodies of the Arthurian Legend look for the specific ways in which the Medieval
Romance has been twisted.
Medieval Romance (Traits and Characteristics)
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Chivalric code (See sheet on Chivalry)
Idealized noble characters
Exaggerated or larger than life behavior
A hero’s journey or quest which is motivated by love, religious faith, or a
desire for adventure
Supernatural or magical elements
Unusual or exotic settings
Incident involving hidden or mistaken identity
In the chart below identify events and incidents which “poke fun” at the characteristics listed above. For
each incident provide a short description and identify which trait is being parodied.
Monty Python—The Holy Grail
Connecticut Yankee-Twain
Don Quixote-Cervantes
The Knight in Shining Armor—
which the Boss’ difficulties in the
armor.
Knight in Shining Armor—His
armor is cobbled together, some
of it is actually cardboard & he is
literally a madman.
Exaggerated behavior—The
tournament, Knight errantry
being ridiculous, you lose so
many knights.
Exaggerated behavior—The
majority of his labor is directed
at creating situations to be a
knight errant rather than in
being a knight errant.
Hero’s Journey—The journey is
set in the real world, with the
world’s problems.
Hero’s Journey—The difficulty he
has in getting going because
Sandy has no real information.
Chivalry—Discussion with Sandy
& discussion of the knights and
how old they are.
Chivalry—He goes on a quest for
a lady, not at the lady’s request,
but because that is what he is
supposed to do, she does not
even know he is doing it.