The seriousness of their love results from the lovers’ disrepudance (?) of artificial language of ‘love’ and superficial code they had tired by at the beginning of the play. This is seen through the development of language form beginning with rhyme (Levin- “Comedy set the pattern of courtship embodied in dance (rhyme)) heavily used in the first act to its replacement of Blank verse which representative of a for more logical and realistic tone. This also reflects a common Shakespearean comment on Appearance versus Reality which is often a deeper theme discussed in tragedy. Tragedy is said to be further represented in Shakespeare’s use of opposites or antithesis.
He also starts off with the irony that a family with so much hate could produce children with a love so strong. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses the literary device of foreshadowing to hint at the direction of the story, and the actions of the characters and pending events. He also uses dramatic irony to add excitement intended for the viewer alone to enjoy. This helps generate a sense of authority and even an advantage for the audience over the characters because there is a hint of knowledge of what is about to occur. In a sense, this is similar to reading a comic about superheroes, for we know that the protagonist will win we just don’t yet know the details of how; and while we feel a comfort for the ultimate outcome, we are engrossed in the way he gets
Although drama is an informative, entertaining and diverse genre, due to the conventions of the genre, it is impossible to read any text without drawing parallels between the current, and a previous reading of another text. I found this to be particularly true in my reading of this extract from William Shakespeare’s Act I Scene III of ‘Othello’, which was impacted by my understandin g of Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’. ‘Othello’ is a tragic drama which is set in the late sixteenth century in Venice, and narrates the demise of Othello as his loyalty is exploited by his closest friend, Iago. Similarly, ‘The Crucible’ is a tragic drama, although set in the early 1600s in the small new-england town of Salem, and narrates the demise of John Proctor and the town of Salem as it becomes overrun by the hysteria of the witch-hunts of the time. Through reading ‘The Crucible’ and ‘Othello’ we can see how this is true, as it us both a greater understanding of the genre of drama and of tragedy, as well as the characters, values, and themes in both plays.
However, Shakespeare presents Benedick’s change in a more positive and light-hearted manner, whilst Macbeth’s change revolves around negativity and wrong-doing as the approach to each individual genre is different, where comedies are humorous and happy, whilst tragedies are gloomy and grief-stricken. INTRO: The opening scene of the play, ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, is significant as Shakespeare introduces the genre of the play as a romantic comedy through the comic names given to Benedick and Beatrice by each other. Beatrice nicknames Benedick as “Signor Mountanto”, which uses sexual innuendo expressing their love hate relationship, created by the definition of the word ‘montanto’ (technical term for an upward thrust in fencing). This insulting, but hilarious comment would have only been understood by the Shakespearean audience. Opposing this, Benedick personifies disdain in the form of Beatrice, by calling her “Lady Disdain”, suggesting that she is in fact, the epitome of disdain or contempt.
It is suggested by this then that the play holds no deeper meaning or message of morality; it is simply designed to fulfill a purpose through usage of traditional comedic techniques. However, some have interpretated themes of sexuality and a gentle mocking of Victorian customs ultimately leaving the play open to assumption. The Importance of being Earnest certainly maintains many traits of a great comedy of manners, "A comedy that satirizes behaviour in a particular social group"(dictionary.com). In fact many people have hailed it as "the greatest stage comedy of all time", this triumph supports the viewpoint that Wilde merely succeeded in entertaining his audience rather than channeling a deeper understanding. The use of slapstick by Wilde produces a contrived and absurd plotline that is in every way unrealistic.
Additionally Shakespeare explores gender roles through a series of ‘lewd jokes’ and ‘cartoonish pratfalls’ which typically follow ‘the basic formula for comedy’ and also support the audience’s ‘expectation of plot’. Simultaneously Shakespeare subverts the audience’s ‘expectation of plot and character’ when exploring gender roles through the characters, as it creates tension and becomes less comedic. Following the ‘basic formula for comedy’ ‘A Midsummer Night Dream’ begins with the preparations for a royal wedding which is portrayed as a joyous occasion, Theseus is looking forward to the wedding and wishes to celebrate “With triumph, and with revelling” (Act 1: Line: 19) Shakespeare then removes the feeling of happiness and replaces it with a sense of tension when Egeus enters furiously with his daughter Hermia. It appears that Shakespeare has chosen to place these two events next to each other in order to sustain the audiences ‘expectation of plot’ as it
To what extent is ‘The History Boys’ a comedy of Tragicomedy? Comedy is a subjective genre, one which can be light and humorous or satirical in tone, and usually contains a happy resolution in an attempt to uplift the audience. Due to being subjective, comedy can be split into many different types; black comedy, tragicomedy, spoof comedy or arguably found in this play, satirical comedy. Comedy is created by Bennett throughout The History Boys through several techniques including the contrasting of characters, clever juxtapositions and intelligent metaphors. Although I am convinced about this play fitting to the genre of Satire, tragicomedy is my main focus of which The History Boys fits in as it contains a lot of it, maybe to appeal to a wider audience.
Ewing Hail LA Comp I T/TH 9-9-14 The chief aim of humorist is not merely to entertain, but to “convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” Society allows humorists to say things that other people cannot or will not say. Humorist are seen as serving a vital function in society. On the comedy scene, humorist use the tough issues that might be too sensitive for some. Add their own light so to speak, to make it easier to understand and swallow. Comedy can break through all the red tape and say what others cannot.
Q. With Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, ‘we trust that everything will turn out for the best. After all, this is a comedy isn’t it?’ How far do you agree with this statement, in view of the final scenes of the play? To a certain extent, Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night, or What you Will, does ‘turn out for the best’ for everyone. Indeed, the final scene offers a resolution to the disorder of the play, typical of the tripartite dramatic & comedic structure, however the resolution is not all encompassing and there are some characters who have been ‘most notoriously abus’d’.
It provides the audience with a vivid understanding of time and the image it creates. Also, the remarkable language indicating Macbeth’s insanity, and it’s lasting effect throughout the play. The passage also brought into a clearer explanation Macbeth’s tragic flaw, which was his weakness towards his ambition. Through these clever themes and images, much can be determined of the play, therefore making it the most gorgeous scene within