Comedy Analysis

During the Age of Enlightenment, people began believing in and relying upon rational thought instead of religious dogma to explain the world. This newfound emphasis on rationality promoted a breadth of freedom in speech that was previously unknown, a fact which was utilized by philosophers such as John Locke, Rousseau, and Sir Isaac Newton. In addition, the Age of Enlightenment produced famous writers who didn’t agree with the irrational politics and old traditions of their respective countries, and instead relied upon wit and satire to expose the corruption and poor human condition existing around them. These Enlightenment writers use irony in their satires to get their interpretations regarding the human condition across.

Laughter is the medicine of life. Regardless of any bad day, laughter can lighten a mood consid-erably. There are different types of humor expressed in literary works; some humor is crude, some is dry, and some is lighthearted. George Meredith mentions a “thoughtful” laughter or humor. Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night are both satirical literary works that stir up “thoughtful” laughter in the audience or readers of the plays.

In the very beginning of the story, Jonathan Harker is traveling to Dracula’s castle in place of his boss who couldn’t go. His intentions are good so he can help his boss and make some money off of the land he is planning to sell, however his intentions get turned around when Dracula traps him inside the castle and he fears for his life. These are examples of situational irony.

Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used as an effective literary device. Situational irony is used to show the reader that what is expected to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to clue the reader in on something that is happening that the characters in the story do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.

Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used as an effective literary device. Situational irony is used to show the reader that what is expected to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to clue the reader in on something that is happening that the characters in the story do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.

Humor’s foundations are made up of seeds of truth, from which comedy and laughter can grow from. Within these seeds different types of issues are found that cast a wide array of topics in which are discussed or given question to by humorists. As the evolution of humor continues to grow it can be seen that it will continue down a darker road, as history has

Authors use irony in literature in order to give double meanings and make it more interesting to the reader. In the play “ The Death of a Salesman” Arthur Miller uses irony as a strong writing technique in order to express the character's behavior. In “The Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller moments of situational and dramatic irony helps to illustrate the story's theme in which Willy is a man trying yo achieve the American dream, however he have created a world of illusion.

The definition of irony is a contrast between two things. One example is verbal irony. It is a contrast between what someone says and what one means, while dramatic irony is a contrast between what the characters know to be true and what the readers know to be true. Many writers use irony in their short stories to prove a dramatic point, or just to develop a story for upcoming use. These short stories by Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” (140), Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” (183), and Stephen Crane’s “The Blue Hotel” (229), spin a tale of symbolic irony. Each tell a tale paradoxical twists with sublime contradiction where one is led to believe one side of an event, yet it is dragged down a twisted trail of mental sarcasms coupled with death. It is a known fact that many tales of irony require many major events to twist the order they are written in to create a viewpoint that stride away from the main topic or where the author wants the reader to end up.

As Bill Nye once said: “Humor is everything in that there’s irony in just about anything a human does.” Irony affects everybody. It affects how we think, do, and even act. Situational irony is a distort on a story; the opposite of what was expected for the reader, typically occurs in short stories. For instance, Guy de Maupassant uses situational irony to capture his readers into feeling sympathy for his main character in “The Necklace”. Also in “The Ransom of Red Chief” O.Henry uses situational irony to formulate an emotion in his readers, in this story O.Henry formulates the feeling of humor. By reading these two stories it is clear that authors utilize situational irony to deploy emotions in there

Ever heard of someone being excited to get kidnapped? Or someone who wanted more, but ended up with less? In the story “The Ransom Of Red Chief,” O. Henry uses situational irony to show funny humor for the boy who loves being kidnaped. It got to the point where they had to pay to have the kid leave. In the story “The Necklace,” Guy de Maupassant uses situational irony to show pity for mathilde. Mathilde wanted so much but ended up with so little. Authors use situational Irony to make the reader feel different emotions.

In "Ransom of Red Chief" O. Henry uses situational irony to create humor in his short story. It is very entertaining to see the things that happen throughout the story because the reader does not expect those things to happen. As a result of O. Henry using situational irony, it develops the theme crime doesn't pay. In order for the reader to understand the theme, they need to understand situational irony and how it affects the story.

Often times an author will use irony as a literally technique to throw a twist in his story, whereby allowing the outcome of it to be completely different from what the reader expected. In D.H. Lawrence’s “The Rocking-Horse Winner” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” Mrs. Hutchinson and Paul, despite their motivation, are victims of misguided reasoning, resulting in the irony of each character’s demise. In fact, each author uses a special dialect and tone to create a false sense of normality that gives the reader a feeling of certainty. Nonetheless, after the incongruity of events, this certainty dissipates and leaves the reader stupefied, in a state of astonishment.

In “The Ransom of Red Chief”, by O.Henry, situational irony is used to create a sense of comedy in the story. O.Henry first uses situational irony throughout the story. Typically, kids who get kidnapped in general are terrified and don’t really enjoy it, yet, Johnny(also known as red chief) enjoys the fact of being kidnapped. O. Henry proves this when Sam, the kidnapper, says to Johnny, “‘I’ll take you straight home. Now. are you going to be good or not” (45)? Usually, kidnappers threaten the kids they have napped by telling them they are not going home. Another example of situational irony is when the kidnappers themselves pay a ransom for the family to take Johnny back instead of it being the other way around. Once it has been about two days

Humour and satire are two concepts that are both wide ranging and diverse, from dark, to light hearted, with each producing a different effect. Humour in the main, is something that is used to please the audience, its function is to invoke laughter amongst its audience. Satire is used to create a comical critical view of the subject at hand, this can range from a light hearted comical way, to a judgemental way, with each style giving the text a different meaning, however this does not mean that satire cannot be humorous, which can evident in the use of parody and irony within texts. Within literature both concepts play an important role to how the text is viewed, humour can include word play, grammatical jokes, to even inside jokes with the author and reader, and with satire, including that of irony and parody, with each style and type delivering humour in its own unique way. These differing styles of humour can be found in a variety of forms including Jasper Forde’s The Eyre Affair (2001), with its silly atmosphere, word play and grammar jokes, and the use of light hearted satire and parody to brighten up the text, and Julian Barnes A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters (1989), where there is a more serious atmosphere, with a more critical, satirical eye on history and characters, as well as using irony to achieve its comical effect, and the position of the world. Each text is humorous and satirical in its own right, and with each author using different techniques to