Comedies & the Comedic Ladder Much Ado about Nothing Unit
Answer the following questions. What is your definition of comedy? What makes you laugh? Why is it funny? What are some funny things you have heard, seen, watched lately? What is the purpose of comedy? Is there anything we should not make fun of? Why?
“Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.” --Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Roots of Comedy Greeks and Romans—plays with happy endings Satyr plays (obscene) Aristotle’s pattern Low/base characters Seeks insignificant aims: thwarted love, eccentric behavior, corruption in high places fueled by misunderstanding, mistakes in identity, errors in judgment Elements of supernatural All end happily Similar plots to tragedy Base=lacking proper social or moral values; often offensive; lowest in social class Similar to tragedy---affairs go wrong, truth is discovered or covered up, hero saves the day, the villain is overcome and balance is restored Tragedy moves toward despair or death Comic climax: a catastophoe, or turning point, introduces a sudden revelation in which a key fact or identity or even is planned to characters and audience at the same time. Shakespeare’s comedies end with marriage Middle Ages: add satire (higher level)
The Comedic Ladder
The Bottom Rung: Low Comedy Animalistic Dirty jokes, dirty gestures, sex, elimination (fart jokes) Exaggeration with focus on physical Slapstick, pratfalls, loud noises, physical mishaps, collisions The Three Stooges
Farce Man is Fate’s puppet Coincidences, mistimings, mistaken identities Everyone gets a happy ending Bringing Up Baby
Comedy of Manners Focus on the amorous intrigues of the upper class or popular clique vs. those of the lower class, outsiders, “wannabes” Emphasis on language: puns, malapropisms, paradoxes, witticisms, clever speeches, insults, word play Individuals are destroyed through the use of wit Use office clip from netflix
Comedy of Ideas Characters argue about or are representations of ideas Politics, religion, sex, traditions, institutions, customs Satire Ideas are destroyed by wit Monty Python and the Holy Grail
How comedy affects us Based on irony (incongruity, reversals) Allows us to see things differently Characters are simplified Allows audience to recognize the need for change
Fool Audience is allowed to feel superior Must also be sympathetic Does not see his faults Fool-rigid, blind stupidity, repetitive, consistent, predictable, unchanging
Six elements required for something to be humorous Must appeal to intellect rather than emotions Must be mechanical Must be inherently human (reminds us of humanity) Must be a set of established norms familiar to the audience Situations, actions, and dialogue must be inconsistent or unsuitable to the surroundings Must be perceived by the audience as harmless or painless
Other ideas Society can make jokes about itself, but outsiders cannot Usually ends in marriage (order from chaos) Servant or vehicle for change