‘Comedy involves men of middling estate; its perils are small scale, its outcomes peaceful’. To what extent do you agree with this definition of comedy in relation to Much Ado about Nothing*? Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing is one of the most popular comedies in history, selling out Shakespearean theatres until their closure in 1642. The comedy is thought to be written in 1598 and is often described as a ‘problem play’ meaning it shares tendencies with that of a tragedy. Of course MAAN follows Shakespeare’s traditional comedy structure but modern critics have their own agenda that a comedy, being such a complex genre, should conform to.
The Fools songs, riddles and jokes are a source of comic relief, used to break up the intensity of scenes. The Fool appears to have a deceptively simple part in the play when in actual fact his role is of key significance. The Fool and Lear have a fascinating relationship throughout the play. Lear seems to depend on his Fool increasingly to be his voice of reason or his conscience, because he reminds Lear of all his mistakes and manipulates his feelings into realising them. This is a great irony as the King who is supposed to be wise is in-fact a fool, yet the Fool himself is full of
Explore how Much Ado draws on and challenges comic conventions. Much Ado About is a play largely based on romantic comedy. Many aspects of the play are funny because of the desire and need shared by characters, to be together, although they each express it in different ways. Although the young lovers Hero and Claudio provide the main storyline through their excelling relationship, the tension between the older, lovers Benedick and Beatrice is what makes Much Ado About Nothing so memorable. 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.
Moliere was a french play writer and actor who was considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature. Moliere wrote two types of plays: the farcical comedies and high comedies, it is very clear that Tartuffe falls into the comedy of character. Commedia Dell'arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked types which began in Italy in the 16th century and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios and is the craft of improvisation. The characters that Moliere created seemed ridiculous because they deviate from decorum and the rules of Neoclassicism. The characters IL Capitano and Tartuffe both display similar characteristics in terms of them both being pretenious, cowardly liars that are very hypocritical.
Being the only example with complete surviving works he is therefore taken as representative of Old Attic Comedy. A running theme within his writing is the political satire of current events, such as the Peloponnesian war which heavily influenced his plays such as The Wasps and Lysistrata. Now, almost considered to be literary relics, the works of Aristophanes along with other famous classical writers are held as an opportunity to learn more about the ancient world. However, his plays are not just examples of timeless literature, as it may be perceived today, but vital components of entertainment in ordinary Athenian life during the Peloponnesian war. Theatre in Aristophanes’ time was very different to what an audience would experience in the twenty-first century and this was characterised not only by the nature of the writing and the performance but also the physical
This use of dramatic irony creates humour for the audience as Benedick is unable to defend himself without giving away his identity. The audience also can’t help but wonder if Beatrice does truly know its Benedick that she is talking to. While this is obviously a very comical and light-hearted scene, it contrasts greatly against the character of Don John and the scenes he’s involved in. Don John is the ‘villain’ behind the breakup of Claudio and Hero’s love, by falsely accusing the ‘pure’ Hero of being unfaithful. This shows the darker side of this Shakespeare comedy as Don John is a ‘plain dealing villain’ who ‘cannot hide who he is’.
Is Benedick the comic hero of the play? How far do you agree with this statement? Suggesting if Benedick is the comic hero of Much Ado About Nothing is difficult to pin point a precise hero as each character possess a different comical trait. For the reason that each character during the play being a character to laugh at or with for respite after tragic events, for instance Dogberry’s use of malapropism mocks authority and makes fun of those who are in it. Devices that are used by Benedick and Beatrice are Bawdy language, word play and puns, which are very different compared to Dogberry’s According to Aristotle the idea of comedy comes from speculation concerning men dancing, signing and cavorting around the image of a phallus.
TITLE “A critical response to Ralph Berry’s “Shakespeare and the Awareness of the Audience” based on William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. The essay includes: * A: A summary of Ralph Berry’s argument. * B: An evaluation of the effectiveness of the argument. CRITICAL RESPONSE * A. Renowned Shakespearean critic Ralph Berry, in his critique of William Shakespeare’s most-widely recognized and appraised comedies, Twelfth Night Or What You Will, entitled “Shakespeare and the Awareness of the Audience”, seeks to highlight the audience’s response to the play in its entirety, arguing moderately well and exploring the character of Sir Toby, Maria and Malvolio, and the joke that has been taken too far.
Willy Russell is one of the most important working-class playwrights of our time and his politics and social attitudes are expressed through comedic value. It is in this way the paradoxical status quo of Frank and Rita is expressed through comedy in his play ‘Educating Rita,’ 1983 and it is this paradox that will form much of this discussion in looking at how the role of comedy highlights social differences and how these social differences could be viewed with hilarity rather than seriousness; in other words Russell wants us to laugh at social class because it is so ridiculous and that people should be judged on merit and not where they come from. Much of the comedy in the play stems from Rita and Frank’s conversations. Their cultural differences are a noticeable source of comedy in the play; where Rita speaks colloquially and has a working class accent, Frank speaks in Standard English without any accent. This is significant because Rita’s lively and irreverent speech is a source of humour in the play.
Coming to the definition of it, tragedy is a literary piece of work, usually written to be performed on stage, in which tragic hero withstands a good deal of misfortune. That misfortune is not happening by chance and it has a reason, usually in characters actions and rarely by god's intervention. That means that tragic action arouses as a result of characters deeds – the character himself has a choice, and his decision affects his future and causes any further acts. One of the tragedy theoreticians, Aristotle, wrote in his book Poetics that “the structure of the best tragedy should be not simple but complex and one that represents incidents arousing fear and pity – for that is peculiar to this form of art.”[1] Aristotle gave one of the main limitations to the tragedy in general. He stated that if a tragic event is triggered by a mystifying cause, than it is only a misfortune.