Man and Superman: A Comedy of Ideas
Shaw’s Man and Superman is a comedy of ideas. He has presented a good number of ideas in Man and Superman but his treatment of these ideas is comic rather than serious. Serious ideas have been presented with wit and humour. For this comic treatment of serious ideas the play is regarded as a comedy of ideas.
Shaw’s aim was to make certain ideas, which were unpalatable to the early twentieth century society, receive attention among the thinking public. In the wit and sparkle of a comedy he thought people would be interested, and once interest was created, the ideas presented along with the comedic would be less objectable . He has succeeded to a significant extent in his aim by presenting his unconventional ideas through a comedy. A comedy’s aim is to entertain people. Along with that aim Shaw has the second aim more important than the first, to make people listen to something important. In the play we see Show as a comedian with a serious purpose. Most of his ideas are original and unconventional. He has chosen the drama to be the medium to communicate his ideas. The substance of man and superman is of the utmost seriousness. But the presentation is with the utmost levity.
Shaw calls the play a philosophy for he has brought in all the subjects under the blue heavens into it for serious discussion. Sex, marriage, social reformation or education, religion or superstition, evolution or physical science all have been discussed in the play. Shaw also has expressed his view on happiness, on love, women, art, socialism, democracy, industrialization, morality, virtue, sin, death, peace, war, slavery and a host of other topics. His remarks on all these countless subjects are original and st...
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...oring. But here the dialogue is written with so much wit and humour that an audience does not have a dull moment in its entire performance. There are plenty of comic moments in the play. For instance, when Shaw wants to express the idea that the idle rich are no better than robbers he puts it thus.
Mendoza : I am a brigand : I live by robbing the rich
Tanner : I am a gentleman : I live by robbing the poor
This wit keeps us amused while Shaw drills his ideas into our heads. He has successfully dramatized philosophic ideas in a comic way.
In a drama of ideas characters talk about serious ideas. A drama of ideas often becomes boring but in Man and Superman serious ideas are presented with wit and humour. The dramatist doses not treat the serious ideas seriously rather comically. Therefore Man and Superman is a good example of comedy of ideas.
Not all plays are character-driven, in fact a great many are not. So if the characters are not what keep the audience intrigued, well then what does? There are many possible answers to this question. Paper Wheat uses the history of a group of people, a specific message commenting on a time period, spectacle elements such as song and dance, and the genre of comedy to keep its audience both engaged and entertained.
the play. It looks at the person he is and the person he becomes. It
audience in his play. I will be analysing act one of the play to try
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a comedy that has been interpreted in different ways, enabling one to receive multiple experiences of the same story. Due to the content and themes of the play, it can be creatively challenging to producers and their casting strategies. Instead of being a hindrance, I find the ability for one to experiment exciting as people try to discover strategies that best represent entertainment for the audience, as well as the best ways to interpret Shakespeare’s work.
...es serious issues to be comical, the ability for Francis to fool and deceive both his guvnors up till the end of play seems almost humorous, arousing the comedic nature of the play. However, it is the mistreatment of Alfie that limits the comedy in the play from conflict, the more mature audience would feel outraged by the treatment of the 80 year old war veteran who is smacked over the head with an 'autographed cricket bat'. This is insensitive as it shows an elder being treated like an object to whack, and thus many may find some aspects of conflict in a severity light instead of in comedic nature.
themes of the play and helps us gain insight on other characters. I find the following quote to be
In Hamlet’s speech, Shakespeare’s efforts to target his Elizabethan audience develop the theme of the frailty of man. Shakespeare conveys this underlying theme of the play by subt...
lighten the mood and accentuate the comedic theme of the story through his creation of
Humor in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night In Twelfth Night we see different types of humour. There is the witty
In conclusion, we can see that despite heavy emphasis on the comedy of the play through the use of classic comedic devices, that have enchanted modern and Victorian audiences through the stage. There is a somewhat serious underlying message delivered in the way that Wilde writes the play. We are being suggested throughout, that the Victorian high classes are dysfunctional due to the high expectations and vanity of the class. Therefore I can only see that this play is a harsh comment on the Victorian society in which it is set even though it is delivered in a highly comical shell.
Throughout Shakespeare's play Hamlet, the main character; Hamlet displays his contemplative side and his sexual deviancy wrapped up in his enigmatic character that makes for a thought provoking play with many interesting twists and turns to keep the reader on their toes. Hamlet’s creative character allows for the viewer and the characters in the play alike to search deeper into the meaning of Hamlet’s words hoping find something more about Hamlet than meets the eye. As for Hamlet’s sexual deviancy, his dirty jokes and interest in his mother’s sex life are just another loop Shakespeare employs to get the reader engrossed and slightly disgusted in the story. Hamlet’s philosophical and contemplative side involves the reader in Hamlet's quest to find and accept the whole truth however hopeless it is, due to Hamlet’s love of questions that cannot be answered with certainty.
Wilde effectively and regularly utilises the typical conventions of dramatic comedy to present a plot in which characters move away from a strict Victorian society: especially with regard to gender roles. Adhering to the conventions of a typical Comedy of Manners play, Wilde aims to comment, and most likely mock a civilisation heavily concerned with appearances, and upholding traditional values. He also firmly follows the codes of a dramatic comedy by using comic inversions to create a sense of disorder and subsequently discomfort within audiences, particularly Victorians. Wilde repeatedly questions the idea of the role of both women and men in the rigid, Victorian era and is shown to both conform and subvert the differing expectations of both sexes.
In conclusion, with a prominent use of inversion, satire and epigrams; Oscar Wilde is able to create an eloquent blend of effective yet sometimes implicit social criticisms of late nineteenth century society and derive humour for both modern and Victorian audiences in doing so. Combined with carefully sculptured characters such as Lady Bracknell and with the use of puns and intelligent wordplay, the playwright elegantly comments on aspects of society such as marriage and traditional gender roles thus confirming Sir John Hankin’s interpretation that the play is ‘…only a joke, yet an amazingly brilliant one’[ ] and mope importantly establishing The Importance of Being Earnest as a sardonic masterpiece.
Shakespeare exposes the human frame of thought through Hamlet. Throughout the play, he questions life and death and Shakespeare carefully crafts Hamlet to contrast with the other characters who are unable to see the things Hamlet does and question the prospects of death. Beginning and ending with death, Hamlet’s philosophical insight is a way of reminding us to also question the things around us instead of giving in to the ways of the world.
William Shakespeare’s dramatic and poetic techniques and his use of hyperbole are used to describe the characters emotions and weaknesses. The use of dramatic irony is used to create personal conflict. This is done throughout the play to describe the characters concerns and their situations.