Long ago, a journalist profiling the Monty Python troupe
contended that whether their films were set in Medieval England or ancient
Israel, the real target of their humor was always middle class English
people. A valuable insight, maybe
one that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny, but it got me thinking about their
comedy in a new way.
After many years of teaching writing and doing some writing
myself, I’ve concluded that the famous Spanish Inquisition sketch is really
about the frustrations of writing.
Anyone who has ever tried to arrange an unruly heap of information into
a fluid inventory can identify with Michael Palin’s Cardinal Ximinez’s faltering
effort to express the myriad weapons of the Spanish Inquisition.
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