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Analysis of the taming of the shrew
Analysis of the taming of the shrew
Taming of the shrew analysis
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In this essay essay I will look at two of Shakespeare's comedies and ascertain if they are different types of comedy, the plays I will look at are As You Like It and Taming of the Shrew.
To begin with I believe it is important to clarify what I mean by comedy and then see if both plays conform to the conventions of a Shakespearean comedy.
In Shakespearean comedies there is generally a few principles which are similar and appear in most of his comedies for example the following all tend to be the bearings of a comedy: a struggle of young lovers to overcome difficulty, the difficulty usually being presented by the elders in the play, a witty servant, mistaken identity/deception , multiple intertwining plots, a pastoral element and last of all they usually finish with a happy ending1. Hence it could be seen as ritual comedy, however I do not think that all the conventions are mutually exclusive, as what classes as comedy is quite a broad range of ideas. Many different critics define comedy differently, Samuel Johnson in his 1755 Dictionary defines comedy as “a dramatick representation of the lighter faults of mankind” and Sir Philip Sidney in An Apologie for Poetrie (1595) claims that “delightful teaching is the aim of comedy” this also fits in with the idea that comedy is a moralising form it teaches us morals. C.L Barber related comedy to to pre-modern community festive rituals2 which fits in with Thomas Hobbes definition of laughter as an expression of superiority, a feeling of sudden glory arising from some sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves by comparison with infirmity of others, by experiencing the the humiliation of being laughed at , so the idea goes is that the victim is led to recognise his or her soc...
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...hen hidden behind different persona's, they also address gender constraints and have assertive women almost directing the flow of the play. There obviously is a difference in the sense that Taming of the Shrew is a farcical play and As You Like It contains more pastoral literary elements to it, however in essence at the core of both plays they follow the same ritualistic plot men and women meet, court and then marry.
Works Cited
Hattaway, Michael (ED.), The New Cambridge Shakespeare-As You Like It, (Cambridge University Press, 2000).
Leggatt, Alexander (ED.), The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Comedy, ( Cambridge University Press, 2002).
Thompson, Ann (ED.), The New Cambridge Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, (Cambridge University Press, 1984).
Waller, Gary (ed.), Shakespeare's Comedies, (Longman Group Ltd, 1991).
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:
The second being through the actions. of characters and by their behaviour and the third by the incidents of the play. I will be there. Shakespeare uses characters like Mercutio and the Nurse to bring out the comical element of the play, and each character does this in a different way of doing things. & nbsp; One of Shakespeare's tools used to evoke humour is the mockery that is aimed at a particular character. Some of the funniest moments are when one character is sarcastic to another.
Shakespeare's comedies A Midsummers Night's Dream and Much Ado About Nothing have many parallels while Measure for Measure is a problem play with a completely different tone. Comparing and contrasting these three plays provides insights into the views of Shakespeare concerning comedy.
“The Taming Of The Shrew” by William Shakespeare is a work of satire created to criticize the misogynistic outlooks of the 16th century. With this play, Shakespeare is trying to say that the idea and role of women in his society is deeply flawed and should be fixed, as well as to make other social commentaries, such as on the treatment of servants. Through exaggeration and parody, Shakespeare makes society look silly.
Shakespeare has written three different ‘types of genre’ in his plays. One of these is his Tragedies like ‘Macbeth’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Another genre he writes within is Comedy, an example of which is ‘Much Ado About Nothing’.
Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night are two of Shakespeare’s most successful comedies. Some may say that the two poems are like day and night, much different from one another. But it will be proven to you that they are very similar. Shakespeare incorporates many of the strong elements of Much Ado About Nothing into Twelfth Night and vice-versa. The characters also share common traits across both plays. The settings have a slight utopian feeling, as both worlds are based on Italy. Even the plots have big similarities as they are both based on love, power, wealth and marriage.
Both use the words of Shakespeare but are strikingly distinct due to rendition of the words and the environment which provides a different feel.
One way that Shakespeare uses humor in this play is by using plain humor that
Dutton, R., & Howard, J.E. (2003). A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works.(p. 9) Maiden, MA: Blackwell Pub.
What is comedy? Funk and Wagnalls New Encyclopedia says: "A comedy depicts the follies and absurdities of human beings." Webster's Dictionary defines comedy as: "A drama or narrative with a happy ending." Shakespeare's play, Measure for Measure, fits both of these descriptions. Follies and absurdities are present in the play: Lucio slanders the Duke, not realizing that his crude remarks are being spoken to the Duke himself; Angelo abuses his power thinking that the Duke is not present to know; and Ragozine happens to die in prison the day a head is needed to substitute for Claudio's. The play also ends on several merry notes, consistent with the definition of comedy. For example, Angelo's life is spared and he is forgiven; Mariana is married to Angelo; the Duke punishes Lucio humorously with marriage; Barnardine is pardoned; and Claudio is saved. The parallels between Measure for Measure and three other Shakespearean comedies, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night, also help to classify Measure for Measure as a comedy. In Measure for Measure, like in The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night, an arbitrary law or obstacle is eventually overcome; a disguised character affects the outcome of the play; a clown adds humor to the plot; a female character bears a large responsibility for the final resolution; and forgiveness and reconciliation mark the conclusion of the action.
Humor in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night In Twelfth Night we see different types of humour. There is the witty
William Shakespeare often compares imagination and reality in his plays. He explores this comparison through the role and purpose of the forests in Midsummer Night's Dream and As You Like It. Midsummer Night's Dream focuses on imagination and escape, while As You like It focuses on reality and self discovery.
An example of this intertwined genre is The Winter's Tale, one of Shakespeare's later plays performed between years 1610-11. This play defies any specific genre such as tragedy or comedy, however is distinctly an amalgamation of both: tragi-comedy. However, Leonte as a character conveys genuine realism, and not an absolute tragedy like Othello. When comparing both jealousies of Leonte and Othello, Leonte comes off as more realistic in context, as his paranoia over Hermoine deepens - 'Of laughing with a sigh?
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.
Shakespeare's comedies can be recognized in terms of plot, structure and characters. We can see that Shakespearean comedies follow the same structural pattern, a basic plot on which the play is based. For example, a key feature of all comedies is that they depend upon the resolution of their plots. However, Shakespeare's comedies are distinguishable, as some are classed as comic dramas and others as romantic comedies. In comic drama, there is usually a motif of a place where reality and the unreal merge, the roles of characters are reversed and identities are mistaken or lost. This place may take on the form of a feast or celebration, or it may be presented as a place segregated from the normal society, such as the wood in A Midsummer Night's Dream. When scenes are set in this place, the ordinary rules of life and society do not apply. There is always an experience of chaos, which must be resolved in order for the play to become a true comedy.