How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Quote #4
BROTHER MAYNARD [Reading from the fictional "Book of Armaments" in the Bible]:Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out.
A perfect example of order mocked and turned upside down. Especially since Arthur proves totally incapable of following this rule.
Quote #5
BRIDGEKEEPER: Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three ere the other side he see.
LANCELOT: Ask me the questions Bridgekeeper, I am not afraid.
BRIDGEKEEPER: What is your name?
LANCELOT: My name is Sir Lancelot of Camelot.
BRIDGEKEEPER: What is your quest?
LANCELOT: To seek the Holy Grail
BRIDGEKEEPER: What is your favorite color?
LANCELOT: Blue.
BRIDGEKEEPER: All right, off you go.
The Bridgekeeper has a very strange set of questions. It would seem that his questions, instead of being a test, are a mere formality: a little icebreaker. This is a parody of the riddles of the Sphinx, but instead of answering a riddle, the knights are subjected to the whimsical questions of the old man. The motif of the questions, and the formal verse in which they're offered, is a nod to a very traditional story line
Quote #6
ARTHUR [on the verge of attacking the castle]: Charge!
[Sound of police siren]
HISTORIAN'S WIFE [pointing at Arthur]: That's the one! I'm sure of it!
POLICEMAN [arresting Arthur]: Come on, come on. Put 'em in the van. Put a blanket over that one.
POLICEMAN (to cameraman): All right, sonny. That's enough.
The policemen who show up and abruptly shut down the movie serve as a juxtaposition of the lawlessness of medieval England and the rules and order of modern police procedure. Lancelot slays countless wedding guests and gets away scot-free… while one historian dies and a manhunt ensues. However, the fact that the movie just ends is itself a denial of any sort of rules that are supposed to govern a normal story. Many sketches in Monty Python's Flying Circus ended just this way; with the cast arrested for not having proper punch lines or being not funny enough.