"Help, help, I'm being repressed!": Satire in Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Frequently ranked as one of the best comedies of all time, Monty Python and the Holy Grail is undeniable comedic genius. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a series of comedic sketches which parody the legend of King Arthur's journey to the Holy Grail. During his travels King Arthur encounters two peasants, one of whom is named Dennis, who spout anarcho-syndicalist ideology in resistance to Arthur's repression of their freedom by being king.

The most obvious technique of satire used in this Monty Python sketch is parody. The legend of King Arthur and the quest for the Holy Grail is quite well known, and through costumes and setting they are able to recreate it. The comedy of the parody comes from the less than perfect recreation of King Arthur-rather than actually riding a horse Arthur gallops about while his servant bangs coconuts together to mimic hoofbeats. Instead of working the peasants sit in the mud and slap it about in an exaggeration of the actual menial work done by 10th century peasants. 
The skit also relies on hyperbole. As Arthur attempts to find out who lives in the neighboring castle, the peasants object to his superior attitude and reject his right to call himself king:

King Arthur: Well, I am king.

Dennis: Oh, king eh? Very nice. And how'd you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers. By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society. If there's ever gonna be any progress...

The language here exaggerates the loquacity of the peasant in order to make fun of the unnecessary complexity of language in progressive thought.

Monty Python uses situational irony to as a tool of satire in this skit. In a scene in which a king encounters peasants the audience may expect respectful and deferential treatment from the peasants. Instead, Dennis and the peasant woman are downright rude and challenge everything the Arthur says with anarcho-syndicalist rejections of authority.

Finally, this Monty Python skit is satirical because it uses these tools of comedy in order to comment on a larger aspect of society. The dialogue between Arthur and the peasants shows a power dynamic between leaders and citizens which bring up the degree of autonomy that people should have from the government. When Arthur shakes Dennis he screams, "Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system!" The skit criticizes an over use of power by leaders and questions what determines the authority of leaders at all. When asked why he is the king, Arthur says the Lady of Lake gave him Excalibur, to which Dennis replies, "Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government." Although placed in a historical context, Monty Python and the Holy Grail's skit criticizes the same power relations between the government and the governed that existed during it's 1975 release and continue to exist to this day.