Parody: an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect. In his book A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court, Mark Twain parodies the bland narrative of classic medieval stories by allowing the protagonist Hank Morgan to get within breathing distance of literary tropes then turning them on their head resulting in an interesting tale of what would happen if the manager of a weapons factory got teleported to 7th Century Camelot. This is done by parodying the characterization the topics of the novel in a way that still keeps the reader coming back for more.
One of the main ways that Twain uses parody in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court, is his characterization. Time …show more content…
Out of the topics presented in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court two major themes poke their heads above the rest as mainline ideas for the story. The first is the technological superiority of the 19th Century over the 7th Century, and the second the greater social understanding of the 19th Century over the 7th Century. What Twain does with these two ideas is, instead of running with them to the natural conclusion of the story where the protagonist overcomes adversity and establishes a fairer social order than the one he encountered; instead they 7th Century ends up prevailing over its counterpart leaving the hero with nothing to show for their efforts. Hank brings his current technology into the 7th century and while it appears to help him win over followers and win duels, it ends up causing more harm than good again with the massacre of over twenty-five thousand knights as just one example. It ends up being all for not as the church puts a ban on Hank’s “magic” and just like that everyone he worked so hard to uplift to his modern way of thinking abandons him and returns to their 7th-century peasant lives. To add insult to injury Hank loses to the magic that he worked so hard to supersede as merlin returns and puts him to sleep for thirteen hundred years. While the sleep spell can be seen as a metaphor for Hank waking up after being knocked unconscious …show more content…
From the mischaracterization and lack of archetypes; to the main topics of the book not even being fulfilled by the protagonist. By following formulas that have been drained to the last drop and swiftly directing the story in another direction Twain creates a parody not only of medieval tales but of literature as a
One of the main ways that Twain uses parody in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court, is his characterization. Time …show more content…
Out of the topics presented in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court two major themes poke their heads above the rest as mainline ideas for the story. The first is the technological superiority of the 19th Century over the 7th Century, and the second the greater social understanding of the 19th Century over the 7th Century. What Twain does with these two ideas is, instead of running with them to the natural conclusion of the story where the protagonist overcomes adversity and establishes a fairer social order than the one he encountered; instead they 7th Century ends up prevailing over its counterpart leaving the hero with nothing to show for their efforts. Hank brings his current technology into the 7th century and while it appears to help him win over followers and win duels, it ends up causing more harm than good again with the massacre of over twenty-five thousand knights as just one example. It ends up being all for not as the church puts a ban on Hank’s “magic” and just like that everyone he worked so hard to uplift to his modern way of thinking abandons him and returns to their 7th-century peasant lives. To add insult to injury Hank loses to the magic that he worked so hard to supersede as merlin returns and puts him to sleep for thirteen hundred years. While the sleep spell can be seen as a metaphor for Hank waking up after being knocked unconscious …show more content…
From the mischaracterization and lack of archetypes; to the main topics of the book not even being fulfilled by the protagonist. By following formulas that have been drained to the last drop and swiftly directing the story in another direction Twain creates a parody not only of medieval tales but of literature as a