Shakespearean comedies

1. Shakespearean comedies

2. Definition A story of the rise in fortune of a sympathetic central character.

3. Comic characters • The Comic Hero • Displays at least the minimal level of personal charm or worth of character it takes to win the audience’s basic approval and support • “Average to below average” in terms of moral character • Ridiculous Characters • Although well-born, pompous or self-important instead of truly noble • Sympathetic Characters • Young men or women from humble or disadvantaged backgrounds who prove their real worth – their “natural nobility” – through various tests of character over the course of a story or play

4. Comic plots • Story centers around the concerns and exploits of ordinary people • Lower or middle-income husbands and wives • Students and teachers • Children and parents • Butchers, bakers, and candlestick-makers • About the kinds of problems that ordinary people are typically involved with • Winning a new boyfriend (or reclaiming an old one) • Succeeding at a job • Passing an exam • Getting the money needed to pay for a medical operation • Coping with a bad day

5. Classic Roots / Aristotle • Depiction of ordinary people in conflict with society. • Conflicts are always happily resolved, and typically arise from misunderstandings, deceptions, disapproving authority figures, and mistaken identities. • Emphasis is on human foibles & weaknesses of society. • Arouses sympathy & amusement.

6. Types of Comedies • Farce • Plots full of wild coincidences (full of zaniness, slapstick humor, and hilarious improbability) and seemingly endless twists and complications (i.e. deception, disguise, and mistaken identity). • Romantic Comedy • Love plot featuring 2 lovers who tend to be young, likeable, and apparently meant for each other, but are kept apart by some complicating circumstance until, surmounting all obstacles, they are finally wed. • Satiric Comedy • Exploration of human vice & folly through plots that trace the rising fortune of a central character who is likely to be cynical, foolish, or morally corrupt.

7. Comic Endings • resolution of Confusion: • Occurs when everyone recognizes what has been going on, learns from it, forgives, forgets, and re-established his or her identity in the smoothly functioning social group. • final events: • Typically ends with a group celebration (especially one associated with a betrothal or wedding), often accompanied by music and dancing. • The emphasis is on the reintegration of everyone into the group, a recommitment to their shared life together. • All sources of anti-social discord have reformed their ways, been punished, or is banished from the celebration.

8. The Merchant of Venice Setting: Venice. Duh. Best Known For:Being politically incorrect in its depiction of the Jewish moneylender, Shylock. And there’s the requisite cross-dressing. One-(long)-Sentence Plot:This is Shakespeare’s hugely controversial play in which a Jew won’t let his daughter marry a gentile (all of whom are depicted as jerks, anyway) and is just one more example of Shakespeare’s liberal, secular-humanist, anti-Christian agenda. Moral: Always read your loan papers before you sign them. Best Feature:Shylock’s “Hath not a Jew eyes” speech. Worst Feature: Anti-Semitism. Interesting Fact:Unlike today, in the 16th century, anti-Semitism was common throughout the world.

9. A Midsummer Night’s Dream Setting: Greece Best Known For:Being one of Shakespeare’s best. It is lyrical, funny, and magical. One-Sentence Plot:Shakespeare wrote it himself: “The course of true love never did run smooth” (I.i.7). Moral: Everybody likes a nice ass [AS IN DONKEY!] Best Feature:The play within the play performed by the Rude Mechanicals is usually the best part of the show. Worst Feature:At this point in his career, Shakespeare had been using the “girls dressing up like boys” gimmick for over a decade. Interesting Fact:Shakespeare never again depicted humans sleeping with animals. Somebody probably got to him.

10. Taming of the Shrew Setting: Italy Best Known For:Its political incorrectness. It’s the story of a man who breaks the will of a strong-minded woman so that she will be a subservient wife. Feminists love it. One-Sentence Plot:Petruccio tames Kate, and vice versa. Moral:NO means YES. Best Feature: Domestic bickering. Worst Feature: Domestic bickering. Interesting Fact: Shakespeare spent most of this adult life living in London while his wife and children lived in Stratford. Notable Film Adaptations: Kiss Me, Kate (1948), 10 Things I Hate about You (1999), Deliver Us from Eva (2003)

11. The Tempest Setting: A tropical island Best Known For:Probably being the last play Shakespeare wrote entirely on his own. It is one of his best comedies. One-Sentence Plot:Prospero discovers that not even stranding his daughter on a island will keep her from discovering boys. Moral:If you are going to take over your brother’s kingdom, don’t set him adrift at sea. Kill him instead. Best Feature: The play feels like Shakespeare’s valediction. Worst Feature:Another shipwreck (although, to be fair, it was based on an actual incident). Interesting Fact:Many see the character of Prospero as the embodiment of Shakespeare himself on the verge of retirement. As such, when Prospero lays down his magic book and breaks his stick, it is thought of as Shakespeare’s farewell before returning to Stratford.

12. As you Like it Setting: The forest of Arden, England Best Known For: The “All the world’s a stage” speech in Act II, which describes the “seven ages of man.” One-Sentence Plot:Desperate Housewives set in the forest of Arden. Moral:You can always get your guy be pretending to be a boy. Best Feature:One of Shakespeare’s best comedies. Worst Feature: At this point in his career, Shakespeare had been using the “girls dressing up like boys” gimmick for over a decade. Interesting Fact: Shakespeare grew up near the real Forest of Arden in Warwickshire, England.

13. The Comedy of Errors Setting: Ephesus Best Known For:Two pairs of identical twins who get mistaken for each other. One-Sentence Plot:Twins are funny. Moral:Adoption is a choice, too. Best Feature:This play can actually be pretty funny – there are lots of opportunities for slapstick comedy. Worst Feature: Productions in which the twins look nothing alike. Interesting Fact:Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, are known as the Twin Cities.

14. Twelfth Night Setting: Greece Best Known For:Malvolio, a truly funny character who takes himself far too seriously. One-Sentence Plot:Mistaken identity leads to love. Moral:Threesomes are complicated. Best Feature:Considered one of Shakespeare’s greatest comedies. Worst Feature:Shipwreck. Cross-dressing. Character A in love with Character B who loves Character C. We’ve seen it before. Interesting Fact:In Shakespeare’s day, the holiday called “Twelfth Night” was January 6, the last day of the Christmas season. On this day, they celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany. People played practical jokes on each other and the normal rules of society were suspended. Notable Film Adaptation: She’s the Man (2006)

15. Much Ado About Nothing Setting: Italy Best Known For: The reluctant lovers, Beatrice & Benedict. One-Sentence Plot:People in love act like idiots. Moral:Don’t believe everything you hear. Best Feature: The hilarious fights between Beatrice & Benedict. Worst Feature: Unfortunately, the main part of the play involves the Claudio plot, not Beatrice & Benedict. Interesting Fact: Kenneth Branagh directed and stared in a film version of Much Ado while he was married to Oscar winner Emma Thompson.