Unraveling Shakespearean Comedy Tropes

1. BBL 3208WEEK 10 • ANALYZING WORKS OF COMEDY

2. ANALYZING WORKS OF COMEDY

3. SHAKESPEAREAN COMEDY • What makes a Shakespearean comedy? If you tried to make a list of every Shakespeare play that had funny parts in it, you would end up with a list that included comedies, histories, tragedies, and romances alike. The comedy As You Like It begins with a Duke forcibly exiling his niece from her home; it is a poignant scene, and if sadness were the only factor, then As You Like It would be a tragedy.

4. Rather than looking for plays thats funny, sad, and/or lyrical, it is helpful to think of the categories of comedies, tragedies, histories, and romances as groups of similar plays. All of the comedies have a set of shared tropes—certain patterns that help define them as comedies. It is important to remember, though, that these tropes are not necessarily inherently funny; humor is certainly a part of Shakespearean comedy, but it is not the defining characteristic.

5. Theory of Comedy Tragedy is about the break-up of civilization. Comedy is about the establishment of social harmony. Both are dramatic terms of art: thus “tragedy” is not the same as “horrible” and comedies can be bittersweet as well as funny. Drama is not life, but ritual: thus Shakespeare ends comedies in weddings as a sign, not a proof, of social stability, for example, 3 weddings in the Midsummers Night Dreams

6. Comedy Impossible to define Definite kinds, low to high Reformation of a (ridiculous) character Holiday spirit Ritual element (marriage) Comic diction

7. Elements of Comedy Sense of moral uplift for vile humans “Montage” of death Dinner party as image of social communion Outsider/scapegoat to remove evil Hint of heaven Rebirth after death Music and harmony Message: be kind to others

8. A comedy is a story of the rise in fortune of a sympathetic central character. • The comic hero Of course this definition doesn't mean that the main character in a comedy has to be a spotless hero in the classic sense. It only means that she (or he) must display at least the minimal level of personal charm or worth of character it takes to win the audience's basic approval and support.

9. The comic hero • The rise of a completely worthless person or the triumph of an utter villain is not comical; it's the stuff of gothic fable or dark satire. On the other hand, judging from the qualities displayed by many of literature's most popular comic heroes (e.g., Falstaff, Huck Finn) audiences have no trouble at all pulling for a likeable rogue or fun-loving scamp.

10. The comic hero • Aristotle suggests that comic figures are mainly "average to below average" in terms of moral character, perhaps having in mind the wily servant or witty knave who was already a stock character of ancient comedy. • He also suggests that only low or ignoble figures can strike us as ridiculous. • However, the most ridiculous characters are often those who, although well-born, are merely pompous or self-important instead of truly noble.

11. The comic hero • Similarly, the most sympathetic comic figures are frequently plucky underdogs, young men or women from humble or disadvantaged backgrounds who prove their real worth--in effect their "natural nobility"--through various tests of character over the course of a story or play.

12. Ordinary People • Traditionally, comedy has to do with the concerns and exploits of ordinary people. The characters of comedy therefore tend to be plain, everyday figures (e.g., lower or middle-income husbands and wives, students and teachers, children and parents, butchers, bakers, and candlestick-makers ) instead of the kings, queens, heroes, plutocrats, and heads of state who form the dramatis personae of tragedy.

13. Ordinary People • Comic plots, accordingly, tend to be about the kind 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, or simply coping with a bad day. Again, the true hallmark of comedy isn't always laughter. More often, it's the simple satisfaction we feel when we witness deserving people succeed.

14. How to identify a comedy • The strategies described in this article can help you read a comedy, but how are you going to know whether or not the play you are looking at is a comedy? Don’t worry, there’s a simple solution using only the title of a play — and it works for almost every play by Shakespeare! If the play title has the name and a number in it, it is most likely a history (Richard III, Henry V).

15. If the title of the play has either a pair of names or a single name, but no numbers, it is probably a tragedy (Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Hamlet). If the title of the play has a phrase or saying in it, you can bet that it is a comedy (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, Measure for Measure).

16. Some of Shakespearean Comedy • A Midsummer Night's Dream is a festive comedy. The play takesplace in June and this is a bewitched time. In the spring thecustom is to celebrate the return of fertility to the earth. During this time the young people spend the night in the woods tocelebrate. • Shakespeare uses the green-world pattern in this play. The play begins in the city, moves out to the country and then backto the city. Being in the country makes things better becausethere is tranquility, freedom and people can become uncivilizedversus when they are in the city and have to follow customs andlaws and behave rationally.

17. The play brings closure to the reader by having thetraditional ending of a comedy. They usually end in weddings anda feast which is exactly what happens in A Midsummer Night's Dream. • Lysander and Hermia, Helena and Demetrius, and Theseus andHippolyta all get married which signifies a new beginning. • Theworking men end the play with a Bergomask dance and the fairiesjoin in the dance and bless the marriages.

18. Shakespeare wrote Much Ado About Nothing which is also acomedy, but it is a different type of comedy than A MidsummerNight's Dream. Although these two plays share some common elements, they also have differences. • Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy of intrigue. It involvessuspense, question and has a detective story element. • Within thecomedy of intrigue, there is social comedy involving Beatrice andBenedick. Through this couple and Claudio and Hero, the playexplores the way people interact with each other.

19. Measure for Measure is a play that is very different from AMidsummer Night's Dream. The comedy in this play is very raw. The • atmosphere of the two plays are different but they both deal withthe same issue of sexuality.

20. The satire in this play looks at the two extremes and theaudience tries to believe something in the middle. • The languageused in this play is crude when they are discussing sex. • The menin the city talk about sex in a nasty ways discussing how manydiseases they have gotten from the whores. Sex is portrayed as avile and nasty thing.

21. Measure for Measure is visually unlike other plays. There isinsistence on laws that are very extreme. • People are beingmeasured in judgement. It shows that you should be reasonable andweigh things out before actions are taken.