Tragic comedy

The genre of comedy, throughout the history of dramatic art has always served to not only entertain audiences, but to make them aware of their own individual flaws, or flaws that exist in society. (Weitz, E.) Comedy has no precise definition, and its boundaries are broad. One function of comedy however has remained the same - to hold up a mirror to the society of the time but through pleasure, inviting audiences to reflect and also providing amusement. Set in the late nineteenth century, the play

Wichita State University put on a production of Beatrice and Benedict from October thirteenth to the sixteenth twenty sixteen directed by Carol Feiertag. The production was based on William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and was performed as an opera. The opera was full of bright colors and elaborate sets to represent the time of the play. The overall production helped enhance features of the play making the experience more enjoyable for the audience. The set, comedic tones, and seeing

Twelfth Night "Twelfth Night is a comedy of light and shade. Its characters are not unreservedly happy and the events are not unreservedly humorous." Discuss. As a comedy, Twelfth Night is obviously intending to not only entertain its audience but also point out problems in society. It is imperative to entire merit of the play not to be realistic but to allow for empathy. Therefor to have a comedy of complete lightheartedness there would be no balance

An author’s utilization of humor can either speak to their attachment to surface level content or their keen ability to convey deep thought through entertainment. While there is a plethora of examples for both cases, there are a few cases where the line is not so easily seen. These cases, while rare, give the reader the task of discovering on which side of the fence the author’s intentions lie. Without effective dissection, these works can be mislabeled as dark and their true purpose could be lost

‘Ultimately, Malvolio is a comic character’ To what extent do you agree with this statement?  Comedy is entertainment consisting of jokes and satire, in order to make an audience laugh. In my opinion, Malvolio is a comic character. A comic character would need characteristics to do with comedy. For example, in Malvolio’s case, he shows that he is an arrogant character, almost villainous, and because of Marias plot he can be seen getting what he deserves, and a villainous character getting their

The ghosts who shout out urgently in the pages of More’s Supplication were dread that they are being overlooked, the ghosts are swung to obscurity by cynics and reassigned to Hell in the compositions of the victorious Protestants, and the ghosts are progressively marked as the fictions of the brain. Theses do not altogether disappear in the later sixteenth century, instead, they turn up onstage (Greenblatt 151). As the main Renaissance English writers, William Shakespeare completely participates

between 1598 and 1599, on the surface Much Ado About Nothing is simply a comedy that portrays various instances of love. However, it is much more than that; Much Ado brings to light the harsh cultural morals of the era in which it was written. Underneath the comedic nature of the play, Shakespeare examines the sociality gendered double standards, and how they affected his female characters. I plan to explore how others view the comedy, Much Ado About Nothing, specifically in relation to how they perceived

Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a widely known romantic comedy that was first published in 1623. Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s finest works and it tends to have an affinity to modern romantic comedy films and stories. The play has love triangles, unrequited love, lies and deceit, playful comedic relief, and obstacles that interfere with characters’ goals. Many of Shakespeare’s plays were turned into film adaptations and many were used very loosely as source material. Hamlet had Lion King (very

‘Shakespeare uses comedy to express ideas that challenge the norms of society.’ Discuss in relevance to Much Ado about Nothing Elizabethan society was deeply unequal. Although a woman was on the throne, women were not considered equal to men and were often treated like property rather than people. The class system was also unfair; a large proportion of the population lived in poverty while the rich flaunted their extreme wealth. Shakespeare was arguably the most popular playwright of his time and

Shakespeare’s earliest comedies, and it shares many essential characteristics with his other romantic comedies, such as Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. These characteristics include light-hearted and slapstick humor, disguises and deception, and a happy ending in which most of the characters come out satisfied. The light-heartedness of these romantic comedies contrasts sharply with the darker humor and deeper characterization of Shakespeare’s later plays, both comic and tragic. The youthfulness