Humor in A Midsummer Night’s Dream “The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter.” -George Meredith Introduction to Comedy: In comedy the appeals are made to the head, not to the heart. As audience members, the writer expects us to see the incongruity of an action. Comedy is based on the principle that no man knows who he is and that he cannot see his real mirror image but only what he wants to see. Irony* and incongruity* are the triggers of laughter. Reversal of roles, exaggerations, and understatement all surprise our mental expectations and make us see things differently.
Benedick and Beatrice argue with delightful wit, and Shakespeare develops their journey from antagonism to sincere love and affection with a rich sense of humour and compassion. Since Beatrice and Benedick have a history behind them that adds weight to their relationship, they are older and more mature than the typical lovers in Shakespeare’s comedies, though their unhealthy competitiveness reveals them to be childish novices when it comes to love. The play can also be perceived as a comedy of manners through the humorous bickering between Beatrice and Benedick. At the beginning of the play Beatrice interrupts the men speaking to make a smart remark on Benedick; “I pray you, is Signor Mountanto returned from the wars or no?” The fact that she interrupts questions her manners as a woman of that time, where there were great expectations of women to be submissive to men, however we soon unravel that Beatrice isn’t just an ordinary woman of that century, she’s greatly independent which is also seen in the continuous bickering between her and Benedick. This, however, also makes it funny because of the reactions received from other characters, for example the uneasiness of the Messenger after Beatrice’s very forward statement.
Throughout the play, Beatrice and Benedick’s exchanges provide obvious humour as they trade insults until Don Pedro, Hero and Claudio decide to ‘bring Signior Benedick and the Lady Beatrice into a mountain of affection.’ Her character’s freedom is a source of humour within the play as it is so far from the social orthodoxy of the time it becomes humorous, as, according to Dr Emma Smith, to be funny means being able to ‘push boundaries.’ Beatrice’s comments show her ideas on authority and her individuality as a female character being outspoken. Comedies are ultimately conservative as female characters are expected to be obedient and almost have to act as
Shakespeare transformed the character of Malvolio into several different personas as the play progresses, displaying the different emotional and mental levels within the character. Twelfth Night begins with introducing Malvolio as a very simple person- a puritan, a stiff and proper servant who likes nothing better than to spoil other people’s fun. He has a poor opinion of drinking, singing, and recreational amusement, which becomes annoying and highly irritating to some characters. “My masters, are you mad? Or what are you/ Have you no wit, manners, nor honesty but to gabble/ like tinkers at this time of night?
Sir Andrew fits this description perfectly therefore he is the real fool in twelfth night. His name (“Aguecheek”) itself implies he is a character that shouldn’t be taken seriously by the audience. Aguecheek means pale face which shows he is a vile character. He is constantly being manipulated by Toby, is very slow witted and lacks wisdom. All of these things make him a very comical character enjoyed by the audience during Shakespearian times and in the present day.
To what extent is the comedy in Much Ado About Nothing at the expense of the female characters? Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ combines “Villainy and scheming with humour and sparkling wordplay” to subtly fashion a satirising gender critique of the conventional female in the Elizabethan patriarchal society. David Lucking precisely argues that the play revolves “around a drama of groundless jealousy” while Ross Stewart describes Much Ado as a “problem play of obscure intent”, much like ‘The Tempest’. I believe ‘Much Ado’ creates humour by using the dominant role of male characters to gently ridicule the expected position of female characters in society; most notably through the portrayal of Hero and Beatrice; the latter having striking similarities to Katherine from ‘The Taming Of The Shrew’ due to her repugnance towards marriage. Humour at the expense of women is also prominent in ‘Much Ado’ through the use of ‘vulgar’ pre-marriage language, favoured by Margret – another arguably unconventional woman of the Elizabethan society, who participates in sex outside of wedlock purely for pleasure, creating controversy and humour.
Because people are making fun of his nose he is able to provide witty humor that makes the book become a comedy. Valvert says “Ah…your nose…hem!...Your nose is…rather large!” “Rather” “Oh well” “Is that all” “Well of course.”(35-36 Act 1) But Cyrano does not leave it like this he replies by insulting Valvert and ultimately making him angry by telling him all the better insults that he could have had. He threw it right back in his face by making it a joke. Throughout the story comedy like this occurs and that is why I believe it is a
“How far would you agree that the characters’ susceptibility to deception is what drives the plot in this dramatic comedy?” Much Ado About Nothing is a dramatic comedy written by William Shakespeare. Its main themes include deception, social grace, honour, marriage and gender- with characters falling in love, falling out of love, being disgraced and being accepted once more; but what really drives the plot in this dramatic comedy? Many would argue that it is the characters’ susceptibility to deception as deceit is one of its main themes. I am going to argue for and against this and come to a conclusion of how far I’d agree that it is what drives the main plot. Much Ado is a play based around the theme of deliberate deception- sometimes this deception is malevolent and sometimes benevolent but much of the play hinges around them and their effect on the characters.
It could in some ways be considered the driving force of the play itself. The sickly jealousy which comes to consume Othello would have meant very little at all if he had not loved Desdemona with the passion and vigour that he did. There are a number of contrasts utilised by Shakespeare to convey two very different forms of love, each nearly completely antithetical to the other. The relationship between Othello and Desdemona, proved in the end to be something pure and good, is set beside the sickly, superficial relationship between Iago and Emilia. Interestingly, this makes the theme of love in Othello yet another aspect of the idea of opposites, two-facedness, the ultimate duality of black and white, good and evil, inherent in the play.
Feste shows us his intelligence through his many displays of knowledge and good decisions. Feste may be labeled a fool, but if you were to compare his knowledge to that of anybody else's in the play, you'd think they were all the fools. One of the most prominent examples of Feste's knowledge is in his implied understanding of the fact that Viola is not, indeed, a man. "Now Jove in his next commodity of hair send thee a beard," (Shakespeare 35) Feste says to Viola when he is having one of his "word bouts" with her. To the innocent bystander, it looks as if Feste is just being funny and commenting on Viola's apparent lack of facial hair, but between Viola and himself, there is a mutual knowledge that he knows she is not a man.