COMEDY and Drama What are similarities between comedy and drama? What is comedy? What is drama? How is comedy different form drama? How is drama different from comedy?
When discussing a drama, an individual’s first thought is of if the drama is a comedy or a drama. These are the two basic forms of categorizing drama, and it divides it in immense forms. Although you
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These two all-inclusive dramatic modes are the most common when asked to classify. There are many factors in which comedy and drama become easily to distinct, but there are also many differences as well. Comedy generally depicts human weaknesses in a comical way. It mocks the faults that humans experience on a day to day basis. Since nobody is perfect, in one way or another, we can all relate. This generally brings an atmosphere of joy and laughter to a person interpreting the comedy. Comedy exhibits the absurdity in things such as hypocrisy and vanity in people and often misconceptions in life. Antidotes for human weaknesses are what make us smile and laugh. While comedy may exhibit absurdities, drama paints an image of human greatness. It usually includes somebody of a noble stature, who fails because of a tragic flaw or downfall. The …show more content…
Like tragedies, comedies were performed in outdoor theaters. Unlike dramas and tragedies, comedies are lighthearted and not serious. Comedies center around an ordinary character who experiences trouble in life and is thoroughly flawed. Unlike the hero of a tragedy, the hero of a comedy is an all-around flawed human being who, because of the flaws, encounters situations that turn the world upside down and make for outrageous humor. High comedy consists of satire, which criticizes life while low comedy introduces plot devices like mistaken identity and misunderstanding to create humorous situations.
In one sense, both comedies and tragedies are dramas because both genres are acted out on stage or on film. Today, drama has come to refer to a genre of play or film, which is serious, somber or sad in nature. Like a tragedy, calamitous circumstances befall the hero of the story. The plot unfolds in the hero’s reaction to these circumstances. Hope is maintained throughout and unlike a tragedy, the hero ekes out some form of triumph in the end, overcoming the circumstances that threatened to destroy the hero at the outset of the
In the movie, the three main types of comedy I recognized were farce, parody, and satire. Farce is comedy designed to provoke the audience into simple, hearty laughter and often uses highly exaggerated or caricatured character types and puts them into improbable and ludicrous situations. It also makes use of broad verbal humor and physical horseplay. Some examples of farce in the movie are:
It is this mix that so marks the play out from pure comedies such as
The differences of these two plays, gives one a sense that any general idea can be broken into a distinct one and not sway away from its intended idea. This means, a comedy can be made into a tragedy, romance, and other themes, and yet still maintain the purpose of providing laughter to the audience. This shows the development of literature over the years, as many more subcategories result because of the contrasts.
A tragedy is a wretched event that puts a person in despair. Tragedy is a genre which consists of continuous tragic happenings that ultimately lead to an unhappy ending. Arthur Miller expresses that what makes a tragic hero is their attempt to take fate into their own hands, which ends up being the reason for their ruin; while those who accept their fates tend to be the lucky and are spared a demise. Miller claims there are tragic consequences for a man who questions his position, regardless of whether he wants more or thinks he deserve less. The film, Crash, is an example of a tragedy, because one character tries to alter their own fate, and other characters have reservations of where they lie on the social spectrum.
Have people ever wondered why they laugh when there is something funny said? Why people laugh has always been a big mystery up until a few years ago. According to a PhD titled Robert Provine, laughter has always and will always be known to mankind. Humor has made a great effect on many people, and inside of it consists of love, and kindness.Everyone knows how to laugh, people do not have to learn how to laugh. Humor and laughter comes naturally to most humans. “Why we laugh is simple, the answer is humor” (nbcnews.com). Humor comes from the word humorous. “At first, the word humorous came from referring to the body’s language and moods, but then it transitioned to the words we speak that laughter is the source of” (Vocabulary.com). Humor means the quality of being amusing or comic, especially as expressed in literature or speech (Google Search)
According to Aristotle, “Comedy can be any colloquy or performance generally intended to amuse or stimulate laughter”. In modern times, comedy can be found in different forms, such as television, movies, theatres and stand-up comedy.
If we seek to justify Shakespeare's King Lear as a tragedy by applying Arthur Miller's theory of tragedy and the tragic hero, then we might find Lear is not a great tragedy, and the character Lear is hardly passable for a tragic hero. However, if we take Aristotle's theory of tragedy to examine this play, it would fit much more neatly and easily. This is not because Aristotle prescribes using nobility for the subject of a tragedy, but, more importantly, because he emphasizes the purpose of tragedy -- to arouse pity and fear in the audience, and thus purge them of such emotions.
Othello has been described as one of William Shakespeare’s most popular plays because the play focuses on its themes of good and evil, military, politics, love and marriage, religion, racial prejudice, gender conflict, and sexuality; but the controversy and debate surrounding Othello is “Why is Othello a qualification for a tragedy?”
Humor Humor is when an object or phrase is considered funny or hilarious. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, one of the definitions of humor is, “something that is or is designed to be comical or amusing.” What people find funny differs because there are so many types of humors that can be expressed in different ways. Humor will often lead to laughter, but some people may find a subject amusing while others may find it offensive. It can be making a racial slur or even a Yo Mama joke.
Tragedy, irony and modernism are only a few interpretations of the valued play The Taming of the Shrew by the respected writer William Shakespeare. However, one of the most intriguing and popular of these analyses is comedy. Shakespeare is recognized for writing several plays with comedic genres, a few of which include Much Ado About Nothing and The Comedy of Errors. Comedy, being a complex genre, is composed of many different concepts. This particular play can be interpreted as a Shakespearian comedy, a screwball comedy, a farce, or slapstick.
A tragedy typically deals with the downfall of an important character, in a serious play, via a fatal flaw. The audience would feel upset for the character as his weakness is not his fault and his in his nature. A tragedy has an unhappy ending or ongoing poignant events and during Act 5 sc3 and Act 3 sc3 in Shakespeare?s Coriolanus many of these take place.
A tragic play is a combination of dramatic scenes that act out a tragic event and usually labors unhappy endings. The play would usually portray the downfall of the main character. According to Aristotle, “Every Tragedy therefore must have six parts, which parts determine its quality—namely, Plot, Character, Diction, Thought, Spectacle, Song.” Based on Aristotle’s definition, Oedipus and Hamlet are a good examples tragedy. They both have been developed with a strong Plot and Characters. According to Aristotle, Plot is considered to be “the soul of tragedy” and very important in a play. Aristotle also implies Character to be second in line when it comes to developing a successful tragedy.
In society today, many people favor both genres. However, in some cases there are some people that are horror junkies and do not care for comedy and on the other hand there are people that cannot handle horror themed situations and settle for comedy. There are many movies and some novels that take horror movies and make fun of them. These film makers or authors typically use comedy to make light of the horror films they chose to make fun of. On average these genres clash, but at the same time can complement each other. Since some people will watch a comedy after a horror films to calm themselves down or watch a comedy first to calm themselves and mentally prepare themselves for a good
This is because the primary goal of comedy is to make the audience laugh. The comedic light on everything makes viewing a comedy enjoyable and amusing. Laughter is a form of expressions that everyone connects and understands. It's the universal language that needs no explanation. Laughter helps relieve stress, picks you up and gives you a sense of escapism. Comedies allow you to see the good things in the world and give a positive light on things. Despite everything in your life or in the world that may be troubling you, comedies are a place for laughter and fun. Laughter is truly a shared experience, and that's what comedy is all about. Not only is their goal is to make you laugh, but there are all aspects of humor out there. There is truly a type for everyone. There's a type out there for everyone whether it involves crude humor, found in White Chicks or Dumb and Dumber or all the way to ironic or satirical humor found in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World or Hot Rod. Everyone can find a comedy that appeals to them personally. There also varying themes in comedy that make you enjoy them more. For example, there are comedies that deal with reality and hardships but in a light-hearted way or imaginative worlds and ridiculous scenarios there. Comedy movies are also one of the few genres that can include family friendly options that appeal from kids to adults alike. Movies such as The Lego Movie, Zootopia
A tragedy is defined as beginning with a problem that affects everyone, i.e. the whole town or all the characters involved, the tragic hero must solve this problem and this results in his banishment or death [run-on sentence]. A comedy is defined as also beginning with a problem, but one of less significant importance. The characters try to solve the problem and the story ends with all the characters uniting in either a marriage of a party. Although these two genres are seen as being complete opposites of each other, through further analysis one can gather that though they are different certain similarities can also be seen.