Volpone – Disturbing or Funny? Essay

Norman Cousins said, “Laughter is a powerful way to tap positive emotions" (Moss 1). Humor is studied by many researchers in sociology, psychology, art, literature, and medicine. When people wonder whether humor aids in areas other than health, a treasure trove of possible benefits to the learning or educational community is opened up. Humor can be used as a tool to promote learning.Research speaks to the many benefits of humor in healing, to its benefits in the classroom or boardroom, from reducing stress of students or employees, to boosting self-esteem and feelings of camaraderie. Additionally, studies show that those who use humor to convey a message are often more favorably perceived. Humor helps deliver the presenter's message to

In both Goblin Market and “The Bloody Chamber”, women face objectification as pornographic objects whose solitary purpose is to be a man’s appealing possession. Evidently, the objectification of women impacted the way each author constructed their texts. Feminist movements aiming to undermine these rigid female and male roles are prominent in the time period of both literary works. Both Christina Rossetti and Angela Carter use strange worlds to differentiate from the typical fairy tale’s predictable conclusion and instead make a statement through the use of a female heroine. Both literary works contrast the archetypal idea that a man must always be the savior

many love stories originate from previously existed love, as either to continue the story or to improve on the story line or even just to recreate the story/play into a movie. There are many successful remakes of plays and some that did not work out, as they did not contain the deep roots and meanings of the original play/ story. Many Shakespearian plays and stories were recreated into movies to entertain audiences and to get the morals across to the audience by a more naïve and a youthful way for all kinds of watchers. William Shakespeare has wrote many plays that hold vast concepts that do nit intrigue the reader when he/she reads it but when they understand the concept and story behind it.

Maintaining a sense of humour – the job that we do within school is obviously very important, however sometimes it helps to see the funny side of some situations as laughter can be a good way to break the ice and is also a great way of relaxing and relieving stress.

the fact that the value of human life is not so important. Even the children consider

People always say that laughter alleviates tension. If this is the case, then it makes sense that the use of humor when discussing uncomfortable topics can make the conversation easier and more light-hearted. One of Mark Twain’s most frequently used devices in works such as “Advice to Youth”, “To the Person Sitting in Darkness”, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is satire, which can provide society a method to bond over uncomfortable topics, and facilitate the ability to sustain that bond through an easier way to create discussion.

Every human is made up of different qualities and characteristics which make us unique, but there are certain connections that bring us together especially when we try to achieve our destiny or dream. Selfishness and obsession are two important descriptions of what connects us as humans. Everyone is selfish in some way, whether it is dramatic or subtle. Being selfish will eventually lead to obsession which is harmful to ourselves and others we associate with.

The play commences with a prank. Men take hold of a beggar, named Christopher Sly and dress him up in fancy apparel. The beggar is then transported to the residence of a nobleman, where he is attended by servants. The nobleman and his court convince the beggar that he is in reality a wealthy man. He was only under the impression that he was a beggar, because he was temporarily crazed. The beggar is then presented with his rich and stunning wife, who is in fact a page dolled up as a woman. The beggar believes that the men are telling him the truth. He falls for the prank. He sits down with his wife, to watch a play that was written for

their quest to create and reach total perfection, which is contrary to all that humanity stands for in itself. His

As Karith Foster states, humor does more that just tell jokes. The jokes go deeper and “works.. beneath the surface” (Foster). These jokes have a reason for not being well accepted; they are issues, problems and obstacles within the society that need to be fixed. These issues need to be solved but not talking about them is not the way. By using humor as a way of talking about these issues, “someone is addressing, rather than shying away from, one of these taboo issues” (Foster).

Somebody I knew and loved once said to me, “Love isn't perfect. It isn't a fairytale or a storybook, and it doesn't always come easy. Love is overcoming obstacles, facing challenges, fighting to be together, holding on and never letting go. Love is work, but most of all, love is realizing that every hour, every minute, every second of it was worth it because you did it.....together.” is this quote true or does it hold a special meaning inside?

Despite this there are some interesting anecdotal evidence that humor was used as a means to express wit and learning. Consider French writer Voltaire or even in relatively modem times Oscar Wilde and his extremely witty characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray. These writers used wit and humor to influence people, to stir emotions in their readers and their conversing abilities were fresh and exciting. Humor typically has an element of shock and awe and readers or listeners are shaken beyond their limits of self-control to burst into laughter. Uncontrollable laughter as related to humor was against the strict moral laws of Plato. Even Aristotle seemed to believe in some restrictions on humorous conversation. Humor was suited to a clown in restricted scenarios and serious self-respecting men and women did

In Volpone and Twelfth Night both Shakespeare and Jonson use disguise to make the audience laugh, but also to explore more serious themes. Such as gender issues within Shakespeare and Jonson with exploring greed and how it can destroy you. The playwrights make the audience laugh by using a range of different methods such as interaction with the audience throughout the plays. The writers’ purposes right at the beginning are to explore the theme of greed through humour, and explore the roles people hide behind. As Francois de La Rochefoucauld says; ‘We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves’ this suggests that mankind are so practised in disguise that the blur between reality and falsehood becomes invisible even to themselves. The audience’s expectation of the plays is to be engaged with them and for them to feel superior to the characters within the play; thus if the characters make fools of themselves they will laugh. Disguise is also something the audience wants to see. What the audience also wants is a sense of dramatic irony. This is used throughout - thus making the audience to feel as if they have the upper hand, they know more than the actual characters themselves.

According to the Oxford dictionary “Humor,” is defined as: The quality of being amustic or comic, especially as expressed in literature or speech, but what truly makes something funny? Comedy has been around for hundreds of years; as it is being examined four concrete theories have been developed to understand the idea of comedy: Superiority, Relief, incongruity, and Benign Violation theory.

Husband and wife may be bound in marriage, but certainly not in opinion. No matter the strength of the relationship, every couple experiences a lovers’ quarrel. These arguments may be over minor details or major decisions. Ultimately, couples resolve their conflicts, and unite together again. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a comedy, by William Shakespeare, Oberon’s and Titania’s relationship is not perfect, but the conflicts they overcome makes their relationship stronger. Oberon and Titania give insight to the strength gained from resolving the flaws of a relationship.