The Characteristics of Shakespeare comedies
Shakespeare wrote many different forms of literary wor
ks and one of them is comedy. At the end of his professional life he had written four famous comedie
s which were later called his "romances". Shakespeare's comedies were not primarily love stories but
they all included a love plot. His romances all had the happy ending of a comedy, but in a way they
hinted on violence (Prentice Hall Literature). His focus and emphasis was clearly towards the struc
ture and language of his comedies, which made his comedies quite distinct from others. The ideas and
concepts also made his comedies designated, as we experienced it in one of his most famous comedy A
Midsummer Night's Dream.
The structure of Shakespeare comedies is common in all his c
omic drama. The play goes through three phases. In the first stage there is order and discipline. Th
en it goes through a situation where there is chaos and disorder. Finally in the third stage order i
s restored again and the play ends in a festive ending. In the beginning of A Midsummer Nights Dream
we see that Theseus has entire control over the people in Athens and he is getting ready to wed Hyp
polita, queen of the amazons. Then quickly the whole situation changes when Lysander and Hermia flee
into the forest and complications start to build up. The play ends with a joyful ending, when dayli
ght has returned, the duke and duchess and the four lovers are united in the bonds of marriage and t
hey are entertaining themselves with dance and music. Their world of love has come to its proper ord
er.
The language was evidently the main reason why Shakespeare's comedies were more am
using than other comedies of his time. He used many techniques to illustrate humor, and sometimes we
have to know the inner meanings to find it comical. The play of words or puns were very popular in
the comedies of Shakespeare. Quince makes a good pun when he mentions the French crown. It is a pun
because it could have more than one meaning, it could mean gold coins or also baldness which is oft
en caused by treatments of STD. Another good example of a pun is what Lysander says to Hermia "For l
ying so, Hermia, I do not lie". This example shows how good Shakespeare was at playing around with w
ords as he uses the word lie in two different ways. Lie could mean both lying down or not telling th
e truth. Some of these puns show a lot of facetiousness and wit. Lysander says to Demetrius "You hav
e her father's love. Do you marry him" implying that Demetrius might be attractive to males. The obs
cene jokes also play a great part in making the play comical. What is particularly absorbing is that
most of these unclean jokes are unintended. The actors mean something else, but we get the wrong me
ssage. When the actors say "I kiss the walls hole" or "Cursed be thy stones" they literally mean it,
while our mind searches for hidden meanings. Oxymoron and ironies give an additional meaning for th
e reader. Titania who has fallen in love with an ass says "Thou art as wise, as thou art beautiful"
when we know that an ass is neither beautiful nor intelligent. Another thing that makes the comedy h
umorous is the way Shakespeare shows stupidity among the characters. He uses different ways, like ma
lapropism, exaggerated alliteration, mispronunciation and also bad punctuation. In the play we could
easily distinguish the people who were not well educated through the mistakes they made when talkin
g and acting. The craftsmen very often used wrong but similar words unintentionally which changed th
e meaning of what they were trying to say. They might use a big word and try to sound clever, when t
hey actually sounded stupid. Using alliteration in a speech normally sounds penetrating and intellig
ent but when it is exaggerated like, "Whereat, with blade, with bloody blameful blade, he bravely br
oached his boiling bloody breast", it sounds awkward and pointless. Mispronunciations like perfet in
stead of perfect and bad punctuation like "We do not come, as minding to content you, our true inten
t is." makes the characters sound silly and the play rather funny. At the end when the workers were
acting the Play Piramus and Thisbe we see how low their knowledge of acting was. Theseus says to the
fellow members of the audience that since the wall is a person, it should curse back at Pyramus. He
meant it as a joke, but Bottom without knowing where the proper parameters of the stage are, steps
out of character and addresses Theseus directly, explaining that the wall shouldn't speak, because t
he line is actually Thisby's cue to come on stage. Some of the ideas and concepts that we have encou
ntered in the past are also found in Shakespeare comedies. The idea of love triangle is very importa
nt in A Midsummer Night's Dream. The love triangle formed conflicts and complications which develope
d into the main plot. Many characters became involved into the love triangle, and with the help of P
uck the situation became more intense and sometimes very amusing. Another concept that we see in the
play is the reversal of role between male and female: Helena chasing Demetrius, when it is usually
the male chasing the female. Helena's role transforms from a passive feminine one to an active, asse
rtive masculine one. Flute who is a male had to dress up and act like a female when he was Thisbe in
the play. Also Pyramus was described of having cherry lips and white cheeks, which is actually an i
deal description of a female. The idea of waking and dreaming was also very comical, since they were
actually experiencing it all. All the Athenians, plus Bottom and Titania fell asleep sometimes duri
ng the play and they all woke up to have themselves or their situation changed. After waking from th
eir final sleep, the lovers were amazed to see each other there and felt that their experiences wer
e just dreams. All the fairy adventures that took place during the moonlit night seemed just dreamli
ke hallucinations. The ancient idea of metamorphosis is also expressed in Shakespeare's comedy. Peop
le are changing their understanding their feelings and their images throughout the play. With the lo
ve juice of cupid both Demetrius and Lysander learned to change the receiver of their affection. We
see in the play that love can turn people around, and sometimes make asses of them. Bottom transform
ing into an ass was a good example of metamorphosis. The structure, the language, the ideas and conc
epts are all important parts of a Shakespeare comedy and with these apparent characteristics it is q
uite easy to distinguish a Shakespeare play from another.characteristics shakespeare comedies shakes
peare wrote many different forms literary works them comedy professional life written four famous co
medies which were later called romances shakespeare comedies were primarily love stories they includ
ed love plot romances happy ending comedy they hinted violence prentice hall literature focus emphas
is clearly towards structure language which made quite distinct from others ideas concepts also made
designated experienced most famous comedy midsummer night dream structure common comic drama play g
oes through three phases first stage there order discipline then goes through situation where there
chaos disorder finally third stage order restored again play ends festive ending beginning midsummer
nights dream that theseus entire control over people athens getting ready hyppolita queen amazons t
hen quickly whole situation changes when lysander hermia flee into forest complications start build
play ends with joyful ending when daylight returned duke duchess four lovers united bonds marriage t
hey entertaining themselves with dance music their world love come proper order language evidently m
ain reason were more amusing than other time used many techniques illustrate humor sometimes have kn
ow inner meanings find comical words puns very popular quince makes good when mentions french crown
because could have more than meaning could mean gold coins also baldness which often caused treatmen
ts another good example what lysander says hermia lying hermia this example shows good playing aroun
d with words uses word different ways could mean both lying down telling truth some these puns show
facetiousness lysander says demetrius have father marry implying that demetrius might attractive mal
es obscene jokes also great part making comical what particularly absorbing that most these unclean
jokes unintended actors mean something else wrong message actors kiss walls hole cursed stones liter
ally while mind searches hidden meanings oxymoron ironies give additional meaning reader titania fal
len says thou wise thou beautiful know neither beautiful intelligent another thing makes humorous sh
ows stupidity among characters uses different ways like malapropism exaggerated alliteration mispron
unciation punctuation easily distinguish people well educated through mistakes made talking acting c
raftsmen very often used wrong similar words unintentionally changed meaning what trying might word
sound clever actually sounded stupid using alliteration speech normally sounds penetrating intellige
nt exaggerated like whereat blade bloody blameful blade bravely broached boiling bloody breast sound
s awkward pointless mispronunciations like perfet instead perfect punctuation come minding content t
rue intent makes characters sound silly rather funny workers acting piramus thisbe their knowledge a
cting theseus fellow members audience since wall person should curse back pyramus meant joke bottom
without knowing where proper parameters stage steps character addresses theseus directly explaining
wall shouldn speak because line actually thisby come some ideas concepts encountered past found idea
triangle very important midsummer night dream triangle formed conflicts complications developed int
o main plot many characters became involved into triangle help puck situation became more intense so
metimes amusing another concept reversal role between male female helena chasing demetrius usually m
ale chasing female helena role transforms from passive feminine active assertive masculine flute mal
e dress female thisbe pyramus described having cherry lips white cheeks actually ideal description i
dea waking dreaming comical since experiencing athenians plus bottom titania fell asleep sometimes d
uring woke themselves their changed after waking from final sleep lovers amazed each other there fel
t experiences just dreams fairy adventures took place during moonlit night seemed just dreamlike hal
lucinations ancient idea metamorphosis expressed people changing understanding feelings images throu
ghout juice cupid both learned change receiver affection turn around make asses them bottom transfor
ming example metamorphosis structure language ideas concepts important parts these apparent characte
ristics quite easy distinguishEssay, essays, termpaper, term paper, termpapers, term papers, book re
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