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Fight Club Chapter 7

2006-11-07T01:43:33Z

Akeeton:

Chapter seven describes how Tyler meets Marla. The nararrator wakes up one morning to find condoms floating in the toilet and Tyler's door closed. He remembers dreaming about being with Marla all night which reflects his inner desires to actually be with her. The next few paragraphs go into describing the dilapidated condition of the house whenever it rains like it had the night before. The descriptions are all negative and unattractive such as the wood swelling, the wallpaper sagging and pealing, and the power having to be turned off. This also may reflect how the nararator is really feeling.

Palahniuk next goes into explaining what the nararator reads in The Readers Digest magazine article where "the organs in the human body talk about themselves in the first person: I am Jane's uterus. I am Joe's prostate (Sipiora 49)." Tyler enters the kitchen where his roommate sits and spills the beans about the activities the night before between himself and Marla.

The nararator recalls the events of the day before. He had called Marla to discuss splitting the support group meetings. Upon answering in slow motion, she tells him that she is attempting suicide but only as a ploy for attention and would like it if he would like to come over and watch. He declines her offer by placing the receiver off of the hook to allow her to continue her ramblings. Tyler happens to walk by the receiver, picks it up to listen and finds himself in the hotel room of Marla Singer. Throughout this part of the chapter, the nararator keeps referring to himself as parts of Joe's body that reflect anger (such as Joe's flared nostrils).

Tyler then further explains how Marla ended up at their house on Paper Street. The police were called to aid Marla and her suicide attempts but Tyler arrives in just enough time to escape them with her. They catch a cab and arrive at Tyler's house. When Tyler wakes up that morning, Marla is nowhere to be found. To hide his feelings but still voice his unhappy opinion of the matter, the nararator says "Marla Singer doesn't need a lover, she needs a case worker (Sipiora 53)." He again assures Tyler that he has no problem with his involvment with Marla which once again appears to be an obvious lie.

Works Cited

Palahniuk, Chuck. Fight Club. New York, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1996.

Fight Club Chapter 7

2006-11-07T01:40:38Z

Akeeton:

Fight Club Chapter 7

2006-11-07T01:23:47Z

Akeeton:

Fight Club

2006-11-06T18:52:23Z

Akeeton: Marla Singer: feminist criticism

[[Image:FightClub.jpg|thumb|The cover of Chuck Palahniuk's ''Fight Club'']]
A 1996 [[novel]] by [[Chuck Palahniuk]], and a 1999 [[film]] by [[David Fincher]].

== Study Guide ==
<table width="60%">
<tr valign="top"><td>
* [[Fight Club Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 5|Chapter 5]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 6|Chapter 6]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 7|Chapter 7]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 8|Chapter 8]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 9|Chapter 9]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 10|Chapter 10]]
</td>
<td>
* [[Fight Club Chapter 11|Chapter 11]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 12|Chapter 12]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 13|Chapter 13]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 14|Chapter 14]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 15|Chapter 15]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 16|Chapter 16]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 17|Chapter 17]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 18|Chapter 18]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 19|Chapter 19]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 20|Chapter 20]]
</td>
<td>
* [[Fight Club Chapter 21|Chapter 21]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 22|Chapter 22]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 23|Chapter 23]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 24|Chapter 24]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 25|Chapter 25]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 26|Chapter 26]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 27|Chapter 27]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 28|Chapter 28]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 29|Chapter 29]]
* [[Fight Club Chapter 30|Chapter 30]]
</td></tr></table>

== Characters ==
=== The Narrator ===
The protagonist of the story who suffers from insomnia and has a split personality. Because of his insomnia, he starts attending support groups to see what real suffering is like. After a while of attending them, he meets Tyler Durden and forms Fight Club. This begins to be his new support group. We never find out his name in the story. We only know his other personality, Tyler.

=== Tyler Durden ===
He is the narrators devious side of his personality. He is the one who technically made the way for the Fight Club when he said to the narrator "hit me as hard as you can." The narrator wanted to be more like Tyler even though the are the same person.

=== Marla Singer ===
The narrator meets her at the support groups he was attending. He beings to hate her for being a tourist. He could not let himself go when there was another faker there. She ends up being Tyler (and the narrator's) lover.

By analyzing the character of Marla Singer, it is important to look at her part in this novel through the eyes of a feminist critic. She is the only female character and can be seen as a very different character when compared with all of the other male ones throughout the book. She is portrayed and treated differently as a female and as an outsider of the group of men who make up fight club. With this role, she is given a submissive and somewhat blind perspective by the other characters. She is the one who is most intimately involved with the nararrator and with Tyler but seems to be the one that they both treat with the least amount of respect.

The entire Fight Club is based upon a patriarchal society. All of the men involved are men who were raised by women. None of them had a father figure to look up to and all of them lack the father that they needed when the time came to ask what they should do next. This may attribute to their over masculinity when fight club was in session. The testicular cancer group was a major sign of the lacking of masculinity prevalent in this book. Big Bob was once a very manly and muscular body builder that prided himself on the ability to be strong. He got testicular cancer, lost his manhood, and grew breasts. This shows the negative aspect attributed to being female. Though it is understandable that Big Bob doesn't want to be feminine, especially not physically, there is still a negative aspect surrounding the femal gender altogether.

Marla is shunned and treated with little or no respect throughout the novel up until the end. The nararrator and herself have a competition in the beginning as to who is allowed what groups. Once Fight Club starts, the nararrator feels pride in the fact that Fight Club really does exclude her due to her gender. From then on she is kept in the dark about what is going on and is not allowed to know anything about this group that allows only men. She is only called on by Tyler for the majority of the book so that he can get laid and the nararrator views her as an annoyance that invades his home. The female character in this novel is shunned, avoided, and is seen as irritating.

Towards the end of the novel, near the nararrator's breaking point, he begins to appreciate Marla. He is beginning to realize that Tyler isn't a real person at all and that he is just an alternate personality that comes into play when he falls asleep. Upon this realization he calls upon Marla and feels the need to be with her in order to stay awake. He fears that the members of Fight Club are now out to kill her and suddenly gains the urge to be her protector. His new meaning for staying alive is now not all about himself but about Marla and keeping her safe. His annoyance becomes his reason for living. In the end, the female critic would say that the gender prejudice had disappeared and that Marla was eventually given the respect that she deserved.

== Major Themes ==
=== The Feminization of Men ===

=== Redefining or Rediscovering Masculinity ===

=== The Numbing Effects of Modern Life ===

=== The Oedipus Complex ===

The Oedipus Complex –
Based from a greek legend [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus Read about it] king of Thebes, the son of Laius and Jocasta, and the father by Jocasta of Eteocles, Polynices, Antigone, and Ismeme: as was prophesied at his birth, he unwittingly killed his father and married his mother and, in penance, blinded himself and went into exile.

The unresolved desire of a child for sexual gratification through the parent of the opposite sex, esp. the desire of a son for his mother. This involves, first, identification with and, later, hatred for the parent of the same sex, who is considered by the child as a rival.

1.A child's positive libidinal feelings toward the parent of the opposite sex and hostile or jealous feelings toward the parent of the same sex that develop usually between the ages of three and six and that may be a source of adult personality disorder when unresolved used especially of the male child.
2. The unresolved oedipal feelings persisting into adult life.

“The child’s sexual researches, on which limits are imposed by his physical development, lead to no satisfactory conclusion; hence such later complaints as ‘I can’t accomplish anything’.”(Freud 15) “The tie of affection, which binds the child as a rule to the parent of the opposite sex, succumbs to disappointment, to a vain expectation of satisfaction or to jealousy over the birth of a new baby-unmistakable proof or the infidelity of the object of the child’s affections.”(Freud 15) “His own attempt to make a bay himself, carried out with tragic seriousness, fails shamefully.”(Freud 15) “The lessening amount of affection he receives, the increasing demands of education, hard words and an occasional punishment-these show him at last the full extent to which he has been scorned.”(Freud 15) “These are a few typical and constantly recurring instances of the ways in which the love characteristic of the age of childhood is brought to a conclusion.”(Freud 15)

==== The Oedipus Myth: The Mother ====
Aristotle once had an idea that thinking and knowledge are the driving forces in human life, and through the well-known myth of Oedipus, a tyrant of Thebes, he tries to reveal these forces are also found at the myth's semantic base. The first and oldest component of the myth is the story of the Sphinx, initially presented as one of the "storm demons," symbolizing disaster and plague, and naming her a "sacred disease" (Rudnytsky 96). The combination of the two myths of the Sphinx and Oedipus was at first understood as a symbolic representation of the purely physical conflicts between the sun and storm clouds. Consequently, changes in social conditions catalyzed a change in the interpretation, so eventually the story developed and became enriched into a myth tracing the daily or yearly career of the sun, which was believed to kill his father (the night) and marry his mother (the dawn) (Rudnytsky 98).

In respects to religion, the Sphinx can be interpreted as Mother Earth - its gradual metamorphosis from an environment of hostile natural forces and diseases into one of earth, life and Mother Nature. Freud pointed out that figures of this kind are the religious equivalent of the "phallic mother" symbolized in cults by objects such as a totem. In her many guises the goddess represents all the aspects which a mother shows to her child. She is an intercessor with the father-god, embodiment of beauty as well as the origin of all things (Rudnytsky 107).

== Major Symbols ==
=== The Rules of Fight Club===

1st RULE: You do not talk about FIGHT CLUB.

2nd RULE: You DO NOT talk about FIGHT CLUB.

3rd RULE: If someone says "stop" or goes limp, taps out the fight is over.

4th RULE: Only two guys to a fight.

5th RULE: One fight at a time.

6th RULE: No shirts, no shoes.

7th RULE: Fights will go on as long as they have to.

8th RULE: If this is your first night at FIGHT CLUB, you HAVE to fight.

=== Jack ===

At one point in the novel, the narrator comes across magazine articles that are supposedly written by body organs in the first person. For example, "I am Jack's medulla oblongata. Without me, Jack could not perform any of his autonomic funtions." Throughout the rest of the story, in both the novel and the film, the narrator uses this line to express his thoughts, emotions and feelings - I am Jack's raging bile duct. I am Jack's complete lack of surprise. I am Jack's wasted life.

== ''Fight Club'' in Contemporary Culture ==
[This section should include links to cultural items that ''Fight Club'' has influenced.]

== Influences ==
=== F. Scott Fitzgerald's ''The Great Gatsby'' ===

[More to be added.]

== ''Fight Club'' the film ==
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0137523/quotes Memorable quotations from the film]
* [http://www.foxmovies.com/fightclub/ Official Film Site]

== Additional Resources ==
[This section should include items of interest that have ''not been cited'' but that might be of further use for researchers.]

== Works Cited ==
[All works cited should be in correct MLA format and include in-text parenthetical citations.]

*Palahniuk, Chuck. ''Fight Club.'' New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1966.

*Freud, Sigmund. ''Beyond the pleasure principle.'' New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 1961.

*Rudnytsky, Peter. ''Freud and Forbidden Knowledge.'' New York: New York University Press, 1994. 96-110.

*Palahniuk,Chuck. ''Fight CLub.'' New York. 1996.

*Friday, Krister. "A Generation of Men Without History": Fight Club, Masculinity, and the Historical Symptom. Post Modern Culture. Vol.13, Number3. May 2003.

[[Category:Literature]] [[Category:Study Guide]]

Comedy

2006-10-15T20:45:07Z

Akeeton:

'''General Definition'''

Comedy is a term used to describe a play or performing art which generally ends in a happy ending. Webster's Dictionary Comedy describes a drama or any work with a happy ending. All materials integrated into a this form of literary work are included in effort to amuse an audience. It starts with a problematic, tragic, or serious situation or ludicrous event and uses humor to show how characters within the work overcome such obstacles. The term comedy also includes exaggerated forms of comic entertainment called farce and burlesque. Other forms of comedy are farce, romantic, satiric, or comedy of manners (Abrams 39). It can best be described as a form of humourous entertainment.

'''Types of Comedy'''

Farce comedy was designed to provoke the audience to experience a simple hearty laughter-or "belly laughs" (Abrams,Harpham 40). Romantic comedy developed during the Elizabaethan Age. The courses of such loves rarely run smoothly in these works but all is overcome in the end with a happy union (Abrams,Harpham 39). Satiric Comedy ridicules political policies or philisophical doctines or sometimes attacks deviations from the accepted social order (Abrams,Harpham 39). They do this by making ridiculous violations of standard morals or manners(Abrams,Harpham 39). Aristophanes used this as his preferred style (Abrams,Harpham 39). Comedy of Manners was developed by Roman dramatists Platus & Terrence (Abrams,Harpham 39).

'''Comedy in History'''

Comedy developed from ancient Greek festivals in honor of Dionysus, the god of revelry. It was then associated with fertility rites and the worship of the gods(Cuddon 148).Greek comedy reached its highest development in the plays a dramatist named Aristophanes. His works contained the elements of mockery and mischeif to create amusement for his audiences. He created works such as "Acharnians", "Knights", "Clouds", "Wasps", and "Birds" (Cuddon 148).Roman comedies regularly dealt with youthful love. Shakespeare's preferred style was romantic comedy as well (Baldick 40). Since the original development of comedy it has always been associated with drama (except in the Middle Ages) (Cuddon 149).

'''What Others Have to Say About Comedy'''

Comedy is a term that is defined in so many ways that it is easy to see why it is one of the more difficult terms to define. Aristotle distinguished it from tragedy by saying that it deals in an amusing way with ordinary characters facing hard times in everyday situations (Cuddon 149). Comedy usually concerns petty human failings rather than the insurmountable catastrophies that are found in works of tragedy. Beckson and Ganz suggest comedy is any literary work, but especially a play, less exalted and less serious than tragedy, commonly having a happy ending (Ganz,Beckson 43). Vincent de Beauvis describes comedy as a poem changing a sad beginning into a happy ending(Cuddon 148).

'''To Sum Up'''

Most commonly comedy can be defined as a work of fiction in which all materials used are to amuse an audience. Before the happy ending, characters in a comedy must face misfortunes or disasters that they must overcome. Rather than feeling concern for these characters we usually feel confident that the situation will not get any worse than it already is. We feel the intended humor behind the calamity and we always seem to know that such obstacles will not prevent the character's triumph in the end. The term comedy is mostly just used for plays or for motion picture films, but it is also used in prose fiction as well as in narrative poetry (Abrams 38-40).

== Works Cited ==

*Abrams, M. H., Harpham Geoffrey Galt. "A Glossary of Literary Terms 8th Edition"The Thomson Corporation. 2005

*Baldick, Chris. "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms"Great Britian: Cox and Wyman Ltd. 1990

*Beckson Karl E., Ganz Arthur. "Literary Terms A Dictionary 3rd Edition"Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York, 1975.

*Cuddon, J.A. "The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory Fourth Edition"London: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998

[[Literary Terms]]

[[Category:Literary Terms]]

Comedy

2006-10-15T20:38:49Z

Akeeton: /* Works Cited */

Comedy is a term used to describe a play or performing art which generally ends in a happy ending. Webster's Dictionary Comedy describes a drama or any work with a happy ending. All materials integrated into a this form of literary work are included in effort to amuse an audience. It starts with a problematic, tragic, or serious situation or ludicrous event and uses humor to show how characters within the work overcome such obstacles. The term comedy also includes exaggerated forms of comic entertainment called farce and burlesque. Other forms of comedy are farce, romantic, satiric, or comedy of manners (Abrams 39). It can best be described as a form of humourous entertainment.

Farce comedy was designed to provoke the audience to experience a simple hearty laughter-or "belly laughs" (Abrams,Harpham 40). Romantic comedy developed during the Elizabaethan Age. The courses of such loves rarely run smoothly in these works but all is overcome in the end with a happy union (Abrams,Harpham 39). Satiric Comedy ridicules political policies or philisophical doctines or sometimes attacks deviations from the accepted social order (Abrams,Harpham 39). They do this by making ridiculous violations of standard morals or manners(Abrams,Harpham 39). Aristophanes used this as his preferred style (Abrams,Harpham 39). Comedy of Manners was developed by Roman dramatists Platus & Terrence (Abrams,Harpham 39).

Comedy developed from ancient Greek festivals in honor of Dionysus, the god of revelry. It was then associated with fertility rites and the worship of the gods(Cuddon 148).Greek comedy reached its highest development in the plays a dramatist named Aristophanes. His works contained the elements of mockery and mischeif to create amusement for his audiences. He created works such as "Acharnians", "Knights", "Clouds", "Wasps", and "Birds" (Cuddon 148).Roman comedies regularly dealt with youthful love. Shakespeare's preferred style was romantic comedy as well (Baldick 40). Since the original development of comedy it has always been associated with drama (except in the Middle Ages) (Cuddon 149).

Comedy is a term that is defined in so many ways that it is easy to see why it is one of the more difficult terms to define. Aristotle distinguished it from tragedy by saying that it deals in an amusing way with ordinary characters facing hard times in everyday situations (Cuddon 149). Comedy usually concerns petty human failings rather than the insurmountable catastrophies that are found in works of tragedy. Beckson and Ganz suggest comedy is any literary work, but especially a play, less exalted and less serious than tragedy, commonly having a happy ending (Ganz,Beckson 43). Vincent de Beauvis describes comedy as a poem changing a sad beginning into a happy ending(Cuddon 148).

Most commonly comedy can be defined as a work of fiction in which all materials used are to amuse an audience. Before the happy ending, characters in a comedy must face misfortunes or disasters that they must overcome. Rather than feeling concern for these characters we usually feel confident that the situation will not get any worse than it already is. We feel the intended humor behind the calamity and we always seem to know that such obstacles will not prevent the character's triumph in the end. The term comedy is mostly just used for plays or for motion picture films, but it is also used in prose fiction as well as in narrative poetry (Abrams 38-40).

== Works Cited ==

*Abrams, M. H., Harpham Geoffrey Galt. "A Glossary of Literary Terms 8th Edition"The Thomson Corporation. 2005

*Baldick, Chris. "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms"Great Britian: Cox and Wyman Ltd. 1990

*Beckson Karl E., Ganz Arthur. "Literary Terms A Dictionary 3rd Edition"Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York, 1975.

*Cuddon, J.A. "The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory Fourth Edition"London: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998

[[Literary Terms]]

[[Category:Literary Terms]]

Comedy

2006-10-15T20:37:41Z

Akeeton: /* Works Cited */

Comedy is a term used to describe a play or performing art which generally ends in a happy ending. Webster's Dictionary Comedy describes a drama or any work with a happy ending. All materials integrated into a this form of literary work are included in effort to amuse an audience. It starts with a problematic, tragic, or serious situation or ludicrous event and uses humor to show how characters within the work overcome such obstacles. The term comedy also includes exaggerated forms of comic entertainment called farce and burlesque. Other forms of comedy are farce, romantic, satiric, or comedy of manners (Abrams 39). It can best be described as a form of humourous entertainment.

Farce comedy was designed to provoke the audience to experience a simple hearty laughter-or "belly laughs" (Abrams,Harpham 40). Romantic comedy developed during the Elizabaethan Age. The courses of such loves rarely run smoothly in these works but all is overcome in the end with a happy union (Abrams,Harpham 39). Satiric Comedy ridicules political policies or philisophical doctines or sometimes attacks deviations from the accepted social order (Abrams,Harpham 39). They do this by making ridiculous violations of standard morals or manners(Abrams,Harpham 39). Aristophanes used this as his preferred style (Abrams,Harpham 39). Comedy of Manners was developed by Roman dramatists Platus & Terrence (Abrams,Harpham 39).

Comedy developed from ancient Greek festivals in honor of Dionysus, the god of revelry. It was then associated with fertility rites and the worship of the gods(Cuddon 148).Greek comedy reached its highest development in the plays a dramatist named Aristophanes. His works contained the elements of mockery and mischeif to create amusement for his audiences. He created works such as "Acharnians", "Knights", "Clouds", "Wasps", and "Birds" (Cuddon 148).Roman comedies regularly dealt with youthful love. Shakespeare's preferred style was romantic comedy as well (Baldick 40). Since the original development of comedy it has always been associated with drama (except in the Middle Ages) (Cuddon 149).

Comedy is a term that is defined in so many ways that it is easy to see why it is one of the more difficult terms to define. Aristotle distinguished it from tragedy by saying that it deals in an amusing way with ordinary characters facing hard times in everyday situations (Cuddon 149). Comedy usually concerns petty human failings rather than the insurmountable catastrophies that are found in works of tragedy. Beckson and Ganz suggest comedy is any literary work, but especially a play, less exalted and less serious than tragedy, commonly having a happy ending (Ganz,Beckson 43). Vincent de Beauvis describes comedy as a poem changing a sad beginning into a happy ending(Cuddon 148).

Most commonly comedy can be defined as a work of fiction in which all materials used are to amuse an audience. Before the happy ending, characters in a comedy must face misfortunes or disasters that they must overcome. Rather than feeling concern for these characters we usually feel confident that the situation will not get any worse than it already is. We feel the intended humor behind the calamity and we always seem to know that such obstacles will not prevent the character's triumph in the end. The term comedy is mostly just used for plays or for motion picture films, but it is also used in prose fiction as well as in narrative poetry (Abrams 38-40).

== Works Cited ==

*Abrams, M. H., Harpham Geoffrey Galt. "A Glossary of Literary Terms 8th Edition" The Thomson Corporation. 2005

*Baldick, Chris. "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms" Great Britian: Cox and Wyman Ltd. 1990

*Beckson Karl E., Ganz Arthur. "Literary Terms A Dictionary 3rd Edition"
Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York, 1975.

*Cuddon, J.A. "The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory Fourth Edition" London: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998

[[Literary Terms]]

[[Category:Literary Terms]]

Comedy

2006-10-06T16:48:16Z

Akeeton:

Comedy is a term used to describe a play or performing art which generally ends in a happy ending. Webster's Dictionary Comedy describes a drama or any work with a happy ending. All materials integrated into a this form of literary work are included in effort to amuse an audience. It starts with a problematic, tragic, or serious situation or ludicrous event and uses humor to show how characters within the work overcome such obstacles. The term comedy also includes exaggerated forms of comic entertainment called farce and burlesque. Other forms of comedy are farce, romantic, satiric, or comedy of manners (Abrams 39). It can best be described as a form of humourous entertainment.

Farce comedy was designed to provoke the audience to experience a simple hearty laughter-or "belly laughs" (Abrams,Harpham 40). Romantic comedy developed during the Elizabaethan Age. The courses of such loves rarely run smoothly in these works but all is overcome in the end with a happy union (Abrams,Harpham 39). Satiric Comedy ridicules political policies or philisophical doctines or sometimes attacks deviations from the accepted social order (Abrams,Harpham 39). They do this by making ridiculous violations of standard morals or manners(Abrams,Harpham 39). Aristophanes used this as his preferred style (Abrams,Harpham 39). Comedy of Manners was developed by Roman dramatists Platus & Terrence (Abrams,Harpham 39).

Comedy developed from ancient Greek festivals in honor of Dionysus, the god of revelry. It was then associated with fertility rites and the worship of the gods(Cuddon 148).Greek comedy reached its highest development in the plays a dramatist named Aristophanes. His works contained the elements of mockery and mischeif to create amusement for his audiences. He created works such as "Acharnians", "Knights", "Clouds", "Wasps", and "Birds" (Cuddon 148).Roman comedies regularly dealt with youthful love. Shakespeare's preferred style was romantic comedy as well (Baldick 40). Since the original development of comedy it has always been associated with drama (except in the Middle Ages) (Cuddon 149).

Comedy is a term that is defined in so many ways that it is easy to see why it is one of the more difficult terms to define. Aristotle distinguished it from tragedy by saying that it deals in an amusing way with ordinary characters facing hard times in everyday situations (Cuddon 149). Comedy usually concerns petty human failings rather than the insurmountable catastrophies that are found in works of tragedy. Beckson and Ganz suggest comedy is any literary work, but especially a play, less exalted and less serious than tragedy, commonly having a happy ending (Ganz,Beckson 43). Vincent de Beauvis describes comedy as a poem changing a sad beginning into a happy ending(Cuddon 148).

Most commonly comedy can be defined as a work of fiction in which all materials used are to amuse an audience. Before the happy ending, characters in a comedy must face misfortunes or disasters that they must overcome. Rather than feeling concern for these characters we usually feel confident that the situation will not get any worse than it already is. We feel the intended humor behind the calamity and we always seem to know that such obstacles will not prevent the character's triumph in the end. The term comedy is mostly just used for plays or for motion picture films, but it is also used in prose fiction as well as in narrative poetry (Abrams 38-40).

== Works Cited ==

*Cuddon, J.A. "The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory Fourth Edition"
London: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998

*Abrams, M. H., Harpham Geoffrey Galt. "A Glossary of Literary Terms 8th Edition"
The Thomson Corporation. 2005

*Beckson Karl E., Ganz Arthur. "Literary Terms A Dictionary 3rd Edition"
Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York, 1975.

*Baldick, Chris. "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms" Great Britian: Cox and Wyman Ltd. 1990

[[Literary Terms]]

[[Category:Literary Terms]]

User talk:Akeeton

2006-09-24T21:36:14Z

Akeeton:

'''Comedy'''

Most commonly comedy can be defined as a work of fiction in which all materials used are to amuse an audience. Before the happy ending, characters in a comedy must face misfortunes or disasters that they must overcome. Rather than feeling concern for these characters we usually feel confident that the situation will not get any worse than it already is, we feel the intended humor behind the calamity and we always seem to know that such obstacles will not prevent the character's triumph in the end. The term comedy is mostly just used for plays or for motion picture films, but it is also used in prose fiction as well as in narrative poetry. Comedy can be any of the following types: romantic, satiric, a comedy of manners or farce (Abrams 38-40).

Comedy originated in Greece and came from the myth of Dionysus. The term has since then been associated with drama (except in the Middle Ages). Roman comedies mostly dealt with youthful love. Aristotle distinguished it from tragedy by saying that it deals in an amusing way with ordinary characters facing hard times in everyday situations (Cuddon 148-149).

In other words, a comedy is any type of literary composition whose cheif objective is to amuse and audience. Comedies mostly deal with everyday life and usually concern petty human failings rather than dealing with the insurmountable catastrophies found in tragedies. These happy and amusing stories are usually ended with happiness for it's characters. Comedy has had many famous authors from Aristophanes, who dealt with mischeif and mockery, to Shakespeare with his romantic comedies (Baldick 40).

'''Works Cited'''

Cuddon, J.A. "The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory Fourth Edition"
London: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998

Abrams, M.H. "A Glossary of Literary Terms Eighth Edition" The Thompson Corporation. 2005

Baldick, Chris. "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms" Great Britian: Cox and Wyman Ltd. 1990