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Shakespearean comedy and tragedy compare
Shakespearean comedy and tragedy compare
Comparison between shakespeare tragedy and comedy
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Difficulty Distinguishing Between Comedy and Tragedy in Shakespeare's Plays
Shakespeare’s theatrical works are generally categorized into three all encompassing groups: the uplifting comedy, the lamented tragedy, and the excruciatingly boring history play. However, things can get a little confusing when you end up with a comedy like Measure for Measure or a tragedy like Titus Andronicus. Often we find that many of Shakespeare’s plays do not fit into their ascribed categories, but is it the plays that don’t fit the categories, or the reverse? Are the general groupings of comedy and tragedy really applicable to Shakespeare?
Society generally defines a comedy as a piece a theatre with some good laughs, a problem posed, and a fabulous resolution, after which everyone lives pretty much happily ever after. We run into problems, though, when we try labeling a large group of Shakespearean plays as such. Few of his “comedies” have pretty, tidy little endings, and even fewer are devastatingly funny. Measure for Measure, for example, finishes off with men dying and a would-be nun possibly betrothed to a man she cares nothing about. Though there are some jokes, they’re few and far between. In fact, it would seem that Measure for Measure in today’s terms would be a kind of soap opera on a Friday afternoon: no one knows what will happen, but it sure won’t be good.
The links between Shakespearean “comedies” are rather tenuous. There always seems to be some sort of problem which arises, threatening the lives or the happiness of the central characters. Usually, these central characters are one or more romantically inclined couples who are a little unfamiliar with the ways of the world. Many mishaps occur, plans go awry, and in the end a solution is formed to cope with the characters’ problems. However, this solution tends to bring up different problems for the characters to deal with after the curtain closes. These “comedic” solutions also tend not to end with too many people disemboweled, a trend that is seen in another grouping of Shakespearean works: the tragedies.
In contemporary theatre, a tragedy generally includes death and destruction, a romance gone horribly wrong, the hero or heroine’s total collapse, or any combination thereof. It puts the audience in a depressed, angry, or at least contemplative mood. In some ways, the Shakespearean tragedy does fit this mold: there is almost always an excess of dead people, and you can usually be sure you won’t laugh the theatre laughing.
Perhaps the first and most obvious effect of Shakespeare's use of comedy in the two Henry IV plays is the resulting diversity of characters. The plays can be seen to be divided into three general scenes or settings, the court, the tavern, and the rebel's camp, and it is largely the tavern scenes which introduce characters not found in the plays' historical bases. In doing so, Shakespeare of course draws in a more diverse audience, who can perhaps see something of themselves in the full variety of society's characters found in I Henry IV and II Henry IV. Shakespeare's mastery of language and dialect help to acheive this, for his characters' speech resounds with realism. The tavern crowd's lines, for example, are filled with colloquialisms and double-entendres:
...ar being most effective in bringing forth feelings of pity and fear that the audience is consequently purged of these feelings, we may conclude that King Lear is clearly a tragedy. Arthur Miller's theory of tragedy, although moving and persuasive, fails to account for the tragicness of this play, perhaps because his main concern is to discuss the "tragedy of the common man," and thus limiting his scope of discussion on the genre as a whole.
What are Shakespearean tragedies? Well they simply share the same conventions and features, for example; Romeo and Juliet verses Othello. Conventions are an element that all stories have in common. In Romeo and Juliet and Othello there are similarities in the characters and the general idea of the stories.
Mehl, Dieter. Shakespeare's Tragedies: An Introduction. Cambridge, New York, New Rochelle, Melbourne, Sydney: Cambridge U, 1986.
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.
Use of Humor in Romeo and Juliet & nbsp; Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's most famous plays. One. could give many reasons as to why this play became such a huge success, but one of the most important reasons could be the use of humour in the play. The main reason for doing this could be to relieve the tensions in the play. and to entertain and keep the Elizabethan audience interested. &
The play Othello is Shakespeare's own version of a classic Greek tragedy. A classical dramatic tragedy derives its essence from the ancient Greek plays that were often popular in Athens. These plays would typically consist of the downfall of a famous Greek character in history/legend, or the breakdown of a hero. Typically the hero is forced to struggle against overwhelming odds, and fate only that this characters downfall would be so imposing that regardless of these forces of nature and fate that destroy him, that he would rise and regain glory due to his moral victory. These tragedies would invoke terror and pity on the audience, in a sense a tragedy could be considered a form of a catharsis, literally cleansing the soul as it is performed, even though the horror typically disturbed audiences, at the same time it cleansed their soul and purified the spirit.
Beginning with the Greeks, tragedy has been an essential form of entertainment. Although it has changed slightly over time due to different religious and social values, it is still written and performed to this day. Perhaps the most well known tragedy of all time is Shakespeare's Hamlet. Hamlet is perhaps the epitome of all tragedy. Not only does the tragic hero Hamlet meet his demise, but all the main characters in the play at some point due to some flaw in their character, or some fatal decision, also meet the same fate. It is because of their character flaw and/or their fatal decision at some time during the play that their death can be justified.
William Shakespeare masterfully crafted Othello, the Moor of Venice as an Aristotelian tragedy play. The main protagonist of the play, Othello, is the perfect example of a tragic hero. Shakespeare was influenced by Aristotle’s concept of a tragic hero and used Aristotle’s principles to create Othello. William Shakespeare attempted to create an Aristotelian tragedy play with a tragic hero and succeeded in Othello, the Moor of Venice by weaving in pity and fear into each line and action. The power of pity and fear creates the upmost tragic situation and follows in accordance of Aristotle’s definition of tragedy. Othello makes the ultimate act as a tragic hero by killing himself at the end of the play. “Othello, more than any play in the canon, has a fascinating and contentious performance and reception history,”
As a Shakespearean tragedy represents a conflict which terminates in a catastrophe, any such tragedy may roughly be divided into three parts. The first of these sets forth or expounds the situation, or state of affairs, out of which the conflict arises; and it may, therefore, be called the Exposition. The second deals with the definite beginning, the growth and the vicissitudes of the conflict. It forms accordingly the bulk of the play, comprising the Second, Third and Fourth Acts, and usually a part of the First and a part of the Fifth. The final section of the tragedy shows the issue of the conflict in a catastrophe. (52)
Humor in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night In Twelfth Night we see different types of humour. There is the witty
The Dark Comedy of Measure for Measure & nbsp; Measure for Measure, the last of Shakespeare's great comedies, is also the darkest of his comedies, and represents his transition to tragic plays. This play differs from Shakespeare's other comedies, and is in many ways more akin to tragedy than to comedy. In setting, plot, and character development Measure for Measure has a tragic tone, however, because none of the main characters actually loses his life, this play is considered a comedy. & nbsp; Almost all of Shakespeare's comedies have dual localities: the real world of crime, punishment, and responsibility, and an idyllic world, where reality is malleable, and forgiving. For example, As You Like It occurs in both the world of the court, dangerous for almost all of the primary characters, and the forest of Arden, a sanctuary that nurses conflict to resolution. Measure for Measure, on the other hand, offers no safe haven for the characters.
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.
In 350 B.C.E., a great philosopher wrote out what he thought was the definition of a tragedy. As translated by S.H. Butcher, Aristotle wrote; “Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions. . . . Every Tragedy, therefore, must have six parts, which parts determine its quality—namely, Plot, Characters, Thought, Diction, Spectacle, Melody. (http://www.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/poetics.html)” Later in history, William Shakespeare wrote tragedies that epitomized Aristotle’s outline of a tragedy. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one such tragedy.
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.