Claudio and Hero share a conventionality, and compliant behaviour which contrasts sharply with Benedick's/Beatrice’s independent spirit, jaded opinions about the opposite sex, and their shared eccentric wit. Standard comedic pieces are utilised to address rigid social conventions and present often taboo concepts, that otherwise wouldn’t have been tolerated but within this instance are accepted as a form of social release as they make light of aspects of the society they inhabit. Within this comedic instance Benedick/Beatrice reprise the role of ‘Jesters’(with their self-proclaimed abstinence to marriage “I would not marry”) characters allowed to override social convention and converse with liberty despite their lack of nobility or title as their words are masked by comic delivery. ‘Jester’ is reference to the source of amusement within the king’s court and often the unlikely source of guidance and counsel as he unlike any other can speak freely without trepidation of persecution as because of his station he is not taken seriously. Such as the case with Benedick/Beatrice as their obscene outbursts and not only tolerate but applauded as the audience can because of the context of the piece easily
Chaucer's contemporary William Langland was a vehement satirist against the church as an institution. But Chaucer's primary aim is to provide entertainment to his readers and not to correct the corruption of his age. A satirist has always the intention of teaching or ridiculing but Chaucer, though always ready to criticize, has no such aims. As he takes things tolerantly, therefore his criticism is both good-humoured and kind-hearted. Some Expressions Containing Satire · The Monk disregarded the Biblical rules that hunters are not holy men.
Furthermore, what is denounced here is not religion as such, but religiosity and the abnormal conduct of supposedly devout believers. And finally, what is at stake is, beyond the attack on Willie Fisher himself, an indictement of strict Calvinist theories. 1. Holy Willie, a Satire. The speaker The humour here seems to arise from the discrepancy between what the speaker says, the “I” of the poem, and what one would expect from such a man as Burns.
(D.H. Lawrence, "Morality and the Novel") Aesthetically, the fiction which reveals a truth by explicit sermonising rather than as a natural conclusion drawn from the relationships and events it presents, is displeasing, even "immoral." Indeed, Martel's statement is likely to have the opposite effect on his reader, provoking a determined counter-reaction not to succumb to a didactic religious agenda. Surely enough, Life of Pi fails to meet its ambition. As he travels through its pages, apparently on the Damascun road to enlightenment, the reader will not, atheist or already committed follower, experience some major revelation to the spirit, coming to, or restoring, a belief in God. Nor, despite Martel's explicit but deceptive statement, is he intended to.
Chaucer uses the narrator to describe each of the pilgrim’s flaws either through physical description, or by describing the pilgrim’s actions, or ways of life. To describe each of the characters flaws Chaucer seems to use mostly metaphors and long methods of characterization so that the reader has to make inferences about what the narrator sees as a bad trait in the character. Although Chaucer mostly points out flaws, he still points out some of the good in the pilgrims as well. He admires something in every single character except for the Pardoner, for there is nothing positive about him. The metaphoric satire is best shown in the narrator’s descriptions of the Friar and Monk, two characters with revealed problems.
The mechanicals are important in a midsummer night’s dream as they introduce the comedy of the piece. Scene one is extremely dramatic “Full of vexation" and this is juxtaposed by the humour of the mechanicals in scene two "let me not play a woman; I have a beard coming". Until there entrance it seems a romantic tragedy on a par with Romeo and Juliet, in a way the introduction of the mechanicals reassures the audience that it is in fact a comedy and allows them to laugh. The mechinals are Peter Quince, Nick Bottom, Francis Flute, Tom Snout, Robin Starvelling and Snug. Peter quince is one of the illustrious Mechanicals who puts on the play, Pyramus and Thisbe.
Iago, who is known as the Machiavellian villain perpetuates the tragedy by bringing forward a hamartia or a fatal flaw from Othello. As soon as the play begins, Shakespeare used dramatic irony to illustrate Othello’s view of Iago as an honest and trustworthy man through his repeated description of “honest Iago” and “a man of exceeding honesty” to the audience. Of course that is not the case, the audience views Iago to be “Janus-faced” and deceptive through his constant declaration of “I am not what I am” and how he “hates the moor”. This juxtaposition is created so that the audience can empathise with Othello. I know I can definitely empathise with him.
The Fool is one of the most alluring characters in Shakespeare’s King Lear. He is a choric commentator whose lines reveal thematic motifs within the play, as well as a character that strategically uses humorous language as comic relief to Lear, but does not diminish the intensity of Lear’s misery. As he alleviates the intensity through humor, he equivocates because he says metaphors that speak the truth like the three witches in Macbeth, but the opposite. The Fool’s role is essential because he is aligned with Cordelia. Like Cordelia, the Fool is honest, but his comical language masks his honesty.
Here, Touchstone's character changes yet a bit more; Rosalind is saying that he is a born fool or idiot, but this is wholly out of keeping with what we know of Rosalind's character. Obviously, this is most likely a pun on the words "natural" and "nature," words that occur frequently in the scene. The comic banter of the two girls here is used as a contrast to the somber opening scene, and it is also used to establish the comic device of the pun, a word play that Elizabethan audiences never tired of. The extended pun on "natural" and "nature" in this scene where Touchstone's "wisdom" is questioned culminates in Celia's remark, "the dullness of the fool is the whetstone of the wits" (I.ii.58-59). Touchstone, more appropriately, is described by Jaques as being "a motley fool" (II.vii.13).
Desdemona’s innocent, loyal, and honorable traits contribute to the theme that things are not always as they seem due to Othello’s failure to recognize them in his moments of jealous accusation. Desdemona’s most obvious trait is that of innocence. It is shown clearly throughout the whole play through her religious faith, dedication to Othello and her disbelief in any act of betrayal. In the beginning of the play, Othello too is dedicated and in love with Desdemona. Although, by Act IV of the play Othello is convinced, by Iago, that Desdemona is a “whore” and dishonorable to their marriage.