“A system of values ​​that knights in the Middle Ages were expected to follow”, values ​​which were further defined as loyalty, defense, courage, justice, faith, humility and nobility, this is chivalry (Merriam-Webster and Gonder). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Shrek showcases what is known as a "tongue-in-cheek retelling" of the classic knight story, teaching readers that Shrek's evolution over the course of the film represents the characters' move from ironic mockery to cliché of the knight, to someone who truly embodies a knight (Travels in Hyperreality). The film almost immediately presents itself as a film set in a fictionalized version of the Middle Ages; the film features numerous fictional characters (e.g. Pinocchio, the Big Bad Wolf, the Three Little Pigs, etc.) and depicts them as pillars of the world in which Shrek lives. Despite the fact that the film inhabits a fictional universe, featuring gentle, harmless versions of most fictional characters, the knights in the film are far from gentle and far from chivalrous. Although the knights apparently belong to the same socioeconomic class as the Middle Ages, noble men who worked under the king, Shrek's knights seem to ignore all senses of courage, justice, faith and nobility, in favor of overwhelming loyalty. to their tyrannical leader, Lord Farquad. The first act of Shrek begins by familiarizing the audience with a selfish, fickle and contented ogre. Shrek's selfish nature is embodied by his need and contentment to live alone – as depicted in the opening montage – and his volatility resulting from his insistence on scaring the general public surrounding his swamp. Rather than begin the film by introducing a character who wishes to embody what it means to be a knight, and to be a knight, Shrek introduces a character who wants nothing but the opposite, a tongue-in-cheek satire of the knight cliché. Shrek directly juxtaposes this trope, and this is very well illustrated at the beginning of the film; Shrek begins the film sitting in his toilet making snide comments about the knight's "classic" story. Interestingly, the audience is not even aware that Shrek is in his toilet until 45 seconds into Shrek's narration of the book he is reading. When he reaches the end of the story and discusses how the knight and the princess he saved would fall in love, Shrek remarks, "as if it would never happen", proceeding to tear out the last page of the story and - apparently - uses the story that sees it as a "load of shit", as a means of cleaning his shit (scene 1). While this scene makes it almost immediately clear that the film is a satire and not a "love story" - as the first 45 seconds suggest - it also serves as the perfect introduction to Shrek's crass, volatile, and outspoken behavior. Further suggesting that this film will serve to poke fun at the classic knight's tale, as well as asserting that it (the outcome illustrated in the knight's tale) will never occur, is the fact that – as already mentioned – Shrek uses the final page he treats the story like toilet paper, implying that both the story and what it represents are "beneath" Shrek. Interestingly, this scene actually serves as more than a means to establish the story as a satire, but also introduces the obvious fact that Shrek is clearly not a knight and doesn't want to be. Shrek's position as a character juxtaposing a knight is further highlighted by the sequences following Shrek's time spent in the bathroom; while All Star by Smash Mouth plays, the montagefollows Shrek as he goes through his typical day: painting "do not enter" signs, brushing his teeth with mud, showering with mud, and eating eyeballs (scene 1). Shrek's selfish attitude persists in the first act of the film until the final event in which Shrek, for his own reasons, fights numerous knights (who are supposed to represent chivalry); surprisingly, this also plays further into the overall satire of the film. Instead of fighting the beast and killing it, as the knight did at the beginning of the book (in Shrek's latrine), these knights are actually defeated by the beast (scene 2). Shrek remains a selfish satirical creature throughout the film's first act but, much like the clichéd hero of the tale he loathes, Shrek begins to evolve into something more as the story progresses and he begins his true quest. Shrek shows the character's transition from opposition to being a knight to embracing the cause he has taken up, while his motivations at this point in the film are selfish in nature, his transition from selfish and withdrawn is also extremely evident. At this point in the film audiences have seen Shrek display traits of loyalty - through and through - courage and even nobility in his cause. It is at this point in the film that the audience also sees Shrek's transition from a “creature of satire” – a character whose actions make the film a satire – to a satirical plot device – a character whose existence and being are the satire. Before the second act of the film, it was Shrek's direct actions (his words) that made the film a satire of the classic knight tale, but during the second and third acts of the film it is Shrek's overall action, as a hero, to make Shrek even more powerful. a mockery of the clichéd knight story, because Shrek is not a knight. Shrek's growth is best exemplified in a scene where the audience sees him walking through a corn field with Donkey. The two eventually reach a clearing and Shrek picks up an onion and, after a remark from Donkey, begins to describe how he, like the onion, has layers. This scene in particular expresses the change Shrek has made since the beginning of the film, after telling Donkey that "ogres are like onions", Shrek proceeds to explain that they have layers, and then cuts off his response (scene 2). At first glance, this phrase doesn't seem to represent much, but after careful analysis it actually seems to best represent Shrek's shift to a character who is a satire of the knight cliché; Shrek's comments about Ogre's layers also denote that he is wearing armor. Just like Shrek and an onion, knights wear protective armor to protect the true human being within, and beneath that armor resides a living being with emotion and depth; claiming to be like an onion – and by extension a knight – Shrek admits that he is a more complex character than previously thought. In peeling back the layers of an onion, the onion becomes more raw both in the literal sense - eyes burning and watering - while Shrek admits, at this point, to be similar - with emotions under its protective skin. Shrek wears figurative armor to protect what his character has buried deep beneath his layers, he has the potential to be more chivalrous and heroic, successfully establishing the "monster" as the "knight" of the story and further representing the look of the film. satire. In the film's third act, the selfish ogre that audiences got to know at the beginning of the film is long gone, and in his place viewers are introduced to a character who is not only profound, but also someone who cares for others. – in stark contrast to the Shrek that –.