Comedy - Revision history

Akeeton at 20:45, 15 October 2006

2006-10-15T20:45:07Z

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	~~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.		'''General Definition'''

	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 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).		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).		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).		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).

Akeeton: /* Works Cited */

2006-10-15T20:38:49Z

Works Cited

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	== Works Cited ==		== Works Cited ==

	*Abrams, M. H., Harpham Geoffrey Galt. "A Glossary of Literary Terms 8th Edition" The Thomson Corporation. 2005		*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		*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"		*Beckson Karl E., Ganz Arthur. "Literary Terms A Dictionary 3rd Edition"Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York, 1975.
	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		*Cuddon, J.A. "The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory Fourth Edition"London: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998

Akeeton: /* Works Cited */

2006-10-15T20:37:41Z

Works Cited

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	== Works Cited ==		== Works Cited ==

	*~~Cuddon~~, J.A. "~~The Penguin Dictionary~~ of Literary Terms ~~and Literary Theory Fourth~~ Edition"		*Abrams, M. H., Harpham Geoffrey Galt. "A Glossary of Literary Terms 8th Edition" The Thomson Corporation. 2005
	~~London: Blackwell Publishers Ltd~~. ~~1998~~

	*~~Abrams~~, ~~M. H., Harpham Geoffrey Galt~~. "~~A Glossary~~ of Literary Terms ~~8th Edition~~"		*Baldick, Chris. "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms" Great Britian: Cox and Wyman Ltd. 1990
	~~The Thomson Corporation~~. ~~2005~~

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

	*~~Baldick~~, ~~Chris~~. "The ~~Concise Oxford~~ Dictionary of Literary Terms" ~~Great Britian~~: ~~Cox and Wyman~~ Ltd. ~~1990~~		*Cuddon, J.A. "The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory Fourth Edition" London: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998


	[[Literary Terms]]		[[Literary Terms]]

	[[Category:Literary Terms]]		[[Category:Literary Terms]]

Akeeton at 16:48, 6 October 2006

2006-10-06T16:48:16Z

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	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.It ~~distinguishes from~~ a problematic, tragic, or serious ~~and is also defined as any comic~~ or ludicrous ~~incident or series of incidents~~.~~(262)~~The term is comedy also includes exaggerated forms of comic entertainment called farce and burlesque.(~~700~~)		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.
	~~Its~~ best form of ~~work is described as~~ humourous entertainment.~~(143)~~

	~~Comedy~~ developed ~~from ancient Greek festivals~~ in ~~honor of Dionysus~~, the ~~god~~ of ~~revelry~~. ~~Greek comedy reached its highest development in the plays of~~ Aristophanes.(~~700~~)		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).

	A		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).




	~~Comedy is a term that is~~ defined ~~in so many ways and credits it is easy to see why it is one of the more difficult terms to define. Abrams and Harpham state,in the most common literature application,~~ a ~~comedy is a fictional~~ work in which ~~the~~ materials are ~~selected and managed primarily in order~~ to ~~invest &~~ amuse ~~us(Abrams,Harpham 39)~~. ~~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).~~

	~~In today's sociey we see it~~ in ~~the farce variety of comedy. Farce is~~ a ~~type of~~ comedy ~~designed to provoke the viewer~~ or ~~audience to a simple hearty laughter or-"belly laughs"(Abrams,Harpham 40)~~. ~~One of~~ the earliest forms of this type of comedy came during the Middle Ages Period, where works such as "Noah" and "The Second Shepherd's Play" were created by Wakefield Cycle. However, comedy has a come a long way from what it ~~has been seen today~~. ~~Greek comedy was from~~ the ~~beginning associated with fertility rites and~~ the ~~worship of Dionysus(Cuddon 148). Aristophanes, a Greek dramatist, created works such as: "Acharnians", "Knights", "Clouds", "Wasps",~~ and ~~"Birds"(Cuddon 148).~~

	~~Comedy has many types of itself: farce, romantic, satiric, and comedy of manners. Romantic Comedy was developed by Elizabaethan dramatists represent a love affair~~ that ~~involves a beautiful & engaging heroine(Abrams,Harpham 39). Althought the course of this love does~~ not ~~run smoothly it overcoms all~~ the ~~difficulties to end~~ in ~~a happy union(Abrams,Harpham 39).~~
	~~Satiric Comedy ridicules political plicies or philisophical doctines or else attacks devations from~~ the ~~accepted social order (Abrams,Harpham 39)~~. ~~They do this by making ridiculous violators of its standards of morals~~ or ~~manners(Abrams~~,~~Harpham 39). The early master of this was Aristophanes(Abrams,Harpham 39). Comedy of Manners orginated~~ in ~~he new comed of the Greek Menander & developed by Roman dramatists Platus & Terrence~~ in ~~the third & Vicissitudes of young lovers~~(Abrams~~,Harpham 39). This also included what became the stock characters of much later comedy, such as the clever servant, old & stodsy parents, and the wealthy rival(Abrams,Harpham 39~~).





	== Works Cited ==		== Works Cited ==

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	Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York, 1975.		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]]		[[Literary Terms]]

	[[Category:Literary Terms]]		[[Category:Literary Terms]]

Mjhill: /* Works Cited */

2006-02-24T01:04:21Z

Works Cited

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:04, 23 February 2006
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	A		A




			Comedy is a term that is defined in so many ways and credits it is easy to see why it is one of the more difficult terms to define. Abrams and Harpham state,in the most common literature application, a comedy is a fictional work in which the materials are selected and managed primarily in order to invest & amuse us(Abrams,Harpham 39). 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).

			In today's sociey we see it in the farce variety of comedy. Farce is a type of comedy designed to provoke the viewer or audience to a simple hearty laughter or-"belly laughs"(Abrams,Harpham 40). One of the earliest forms of this type of comedy came during the Middle Ages Period, where works such as "Noah" and "The Second Shepherd's Play" were created by Wakefield Cycle. However, comedy has a come a long way from what it has been seen today. Greek comedy was from the beginning associated with fertility rites and the worship of Dionysus(Cuddon 148). Aristophanes, a Greek dramatist, created works such as: "Acharnians", "Knights", "Clouds", "Wasps", and "Birds"(Cuddon 148).

			Comedy has many types of itself: farce, romantic, satiric, and comedy of manners. Romantic Comedy was developed by Elizabaethan dramatists represent a love affair that involves a beautiful & engaging heroine(Abrams,Harpham 39). Althought the course of this love does not run smoothly it overcoms all the difficulties to end in a happy union(Abrams,Harpham 39).
			Satiric Comedy ridicules political plicies or philisophical doctines or else attacks devations from the accepted social order (Abrams,Harpham 39). They do this by making ridiculous violators of its standards of morals or manners(Abrams,Harpham 39). The early master of this was Aristophanes(Abrams,Harpham 39). Comedy of Manners orginated in he new comed of the Greek Menander & developed by Roman dramatists Platus & Terrence in the third & Vicissitudes of young lovers(Abrams,Harpham 39). This also included what became the stock characters of much later comedy, such as the clever servant, old & stodsy parents, and the wealthy rival(Abrams,Harpham 39).

Mjhill: /* Works Cited */

2006-02-24T00:17:31Z

Works Cited

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:17, 23 February 2006
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	Comedy developed from ancient Greek festivals in honor of Dionysus, the god of revelry. Greek comedy reached its highest development in the plays of Aristophanes.(700)		Comedy developed from ancient Greek festivals in honor of Dionysus, the god of revelry. Greek comedy reached its highest development in the plays of Aristophanes.(700)



			A

Mjhill: /* Works Cited */

2006-02-24T00:16:31Z

Works Cited

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:16, 23 February 2006
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	== Works Cited ==		== Works Cited ==

	*~~Mish C.Frederick~~, ~~Novak L~~. ~~Madeline, Perrault J~~. ~~Stephen~~		*Cuddon, J.A. "The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory Fourth Edition"
	"The ~~Merriam-Webster~~ Dictionary".~~(2004).~~		London: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998

	*~~Field Enterprises Educational Corporation~~		*Abrams, M. H., Harpham Geoffrey Galt. "A Glossary of Literary Terms 8th Edition"
	~~"The World Book Encylopedia Volume 4 Ci-Cz".(1974)~~.		The Thomson Corporation. 2005

	*Marckwardt H. ~~Albert~~, ~~Cassidy G~~. ~~Frederic, McMillan G. James~~ "~~Webster Comprehensive Dictionary International~~ Edition ~~A-Z~~".~~(1998).~~

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

Mjhill: Comedic Humor

2006-02-14T14:20:01Z

Comedic Humor

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:20, 14 February 2006
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	Comedy developed from ancient Greek festivals in honor of Dionysus, the god of revelry. Greek comedy reached its highest development in the plays of Aristophanes.(700)		Comedy developed from ancient Greek festivals in honor of Dionysus, the god of revelry. Greek comedy reached its highest development in the plays of Aristophanes.(700)

	~~Mish C.Frederick Novak L. Madeline Perrault J. Stephen~~
	~~The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2004)~~

	~~Field Enterprises Educational Corporation~~
	~~The World Book Encylopedia Volume 4 Ci-Cz (1974)~~

	Marckwardt H. Albert, Cassidy G. Frederic, McMillan G. James Webster Comprehensive Dictionary International Edition A-Z(1998)		== Works Cited ==

			*Mish C.Frederick, Novak L. Madeline, Perrault J. Stephen
			"The Merriam-Webster Dictionary".(2004).

			*Field Enterprises Educational Corporation
			"The World Book Encylopedia Volume 4 Ci-Cz".(1974).

			*Marckwardt H. Albert, Cassidy G. Frederic, McMillan G. James "Webster Comprehensive Dictionary International Edition A-Z".(1998).

Mjhill: /* Some Views on Comedy */

2006-02-14T14:14:52Z

Some Views on Comedy

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	~~== Some Views on~~ Comedy ==		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.It distinguishes from a problematic, tragic, or serious and is also defined as any comic or ludicrous incident or series of incidents.(262)The term is comedy also includes exaggerated forms of comic entertainment called farce and burlesque.(700)
			Its best form of work is described as humourous entertainment.(143)

	* This is the difference that marks tragedy from ~~comedy: comedy is inclined to imitate persons below the level~~ of ~~our world, [[tragedy]] persons above it. . . . Comedy is, as I have said~~, ~~an imitation of lower types; though it does not include~~ the ~~full range of badness, nevertheless to be ridiculous is a kind~~ of ~~deformity~~. The causes of laughter are errors and deformities that do not pain or injure us; the comic mask, for instance, is deformed and distorted but not painfully so. . . . The next best [[plot]], which is said by some people to be the best, is the [[tragedy]] with a double plot like the <i>[[Odyssey]]</i>, ending in ~~one way for~~ the ~~better people and in the opposite way for the worse. But it is the weakness~~ of ~~the theatrical performances that gives priority to this kind, when poets write what the audience would like to happen, they are in leading strings~~. This is not the pleasure proper to [[tragedy]], but rather to comedy, where the greatest enemies in the [[fable]] make friends and go off at the end, and nobody is killed by anyone. —Aristotle, ''The Poetics''		Comedy developed from ancient Greek festivals in honor of Dionysus, the god of revelry. Greek comedy reached its highest development in the plays of Aristophanes.(700)

	* Comedy is [[poetry]] that transmutes a sad beginning into a happy ending. ~~—Vincent De Beauvais,~~ (~~13th Century~~)		Mish C.Frederick Novak L. Madeline Perrault J. Stephen
			The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2004)

	* But our comedients think there is no delight without laughter, which is very wrong, for though laughter may come with delight, yet cometh it not of delight, as though delight should be the cause of laughter; but well may one thing breed both together. Nay, rather in themselves they have, as it were, a kind of contrariety: for delight we scarcely do but in things that have a conveniency to ourselves or to the general nature; laughter alone ever cometh of things most disproportioned to ourselves and nature. Delight hath a joy in it, either permanent or present. Laughter only a scornful tickling. —Sir Philip Sidney, “The Defense of Poesy” (~~1595~~)		Field Enterprises Educational Corporation
			The World Book Encylopedia Volume 4 Ci-Cz (1974)

	* Mrs. ~~Suzanne Langer~~, ~~in her brilliant and suggestive book ''Feeling and Form'' has called comedy the image of life triumphing over chance~~. She declares that the essence of comedy is that it embodies in symbolic form our sense of happiness in feeling that we can meet and master the changes and chances of life as it confronts us. This seems to be to provide a good description of what we mean by “pure comedy,~~” as distinct from the corrective or satirical comedy of Jonson~~. The great symbol of pure comedy is marriage by which the world is renewed and its endings are always instinct with a sense of fresh beginnings. Its rhythm is the rhythm of the life of mankind, which goes on and renews itself as the life of nature does. The rhythm of [[tragedy]], on the other hand, in the rhythm of the individual life which comes to a close, and its great symbol is death. —Helen Gardner, “As You Like It” (~~1959~~)		Marckwardt H. Albert, Cassidy G. Frederic, McMillan G. James Webster Comprehensive Dictionary International Edition A-Z(1998)

	* The action comedy is based on some deviation from normality in incident, [[character]], or thought. The deviation, however, must not pose a serious threat to the well-being of the normal, and a comic (or “in fun”) mood must be maintained. There is no subject, however, trivial or important, which cannot be treated in comedy, provided that it is placed in a framework which exploits its incongruities. —Oscar G. Brockett, ''The Theatre'' (1964)

	* Broadly speaking, there are in the Renaissance two comic traditions, which may be called “critical comedy” (or “bitter comedy”) and “romantic comedy” (or “sweet comedy”). The former claims, in Hamlet’s words, that the “purpose of playing . . . is to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn, her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure” or as Sidney phrased it, “comedy is an initiation of the common errors of our life, which he representeth in the most ridiculous and scornful sort that may be; cause it aims to hold a mirror up to the audience, its <i>[[dramatis personae]]</i> are usually urban citizens — jealous husbands, foolish merchants, and the like. These are ultimately punished, at times merely by exposure, at time by imprisonment and fines or some such thing. The second kind of comedy, romantic comedy, seeks less to correct than to delight with scenes of pleasant behavior. It does not hold a mirror to the audience; rather it leads the audience into an elegant drama world where charming gentlefolk live a timeless existence. —Albert Gilman, “As You Like It” (1971)

	* One way of distinguishing between comedy and [[tragedy]] is summarized in Horace Walpole’s aphorism, “This World is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel.” Life seen thoughtfully, with considerable detachment, viewed as it were, is an amusing pageant, and the comic writer gives us something of this view. With Puck we look at the antics in the forest, smile tolerantly, and say with a godlike perspective, “Lord what fools these mortals be!” But in [[tragedy]] we are to a greater degree engaged; the tragic dramatist manages to make us in large measure identify ourselves with the hero, feel his plight as if it were our own, and value his feelings as he values them, so that with Othello we must say “The Pity of it.” Yeats noticed this when he said, “Nor when the tragic reverie is at its height do we say, ‘how well that man is realized, I should know him were I to meet him in the street,’ for it is always ourselves that we see upon the [tragic] stage.”<br />One consequence of this distinction between [[tragedy]] and comedy, between looking-at and feeling-with, is that the comic plot is usually more intricate than the tragic plot, and less plausible. The comic plot continues to trip up its characters, bringing them into numerous situations that allow them to display their folly over and over again. The complex comic plot is often arbitrary, full of the workings of Fortune and Chance, and we delight at each new unexpected or unlikely happening. In [[tragedy]], Fate or Necessity rules, there is the consistency and inevitability, the “remorseless working of things,” that has already been mentioned. —Sylvan Bamet, “Comedy and tragedy” (1971)

	~~----~~

	[[Literary Terms]]		[[Literary Terms]]

	[[Category:Literary Terms]]		[[Category:Literary Terms]]

Glucas at 15:19, 10 November 2004

2004-11-10T15:19:01Z

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	[[Literary Terms]]		[[Literary Terms]]

			[[Category:Literary Terms]]