Common Features of a Shakespeare Comedy - 1745 Words

Common Features of a Shakespeare Comedy What makes a Shakespeare comedy identifiable if the genre is not distinct from the Shakespeare tragedies and histories? This is an ongoing area of debate, but many believe that the comedies share certain characteristics, as described below: * Comedy through language: Shakespeare communicated his comedy through language and his comedy plays are peppered with clever word play, metaphors and insults. 1. Love: The theme of love is prevalent in every Shakespeare comedy. Often, we are presented with sets of lovers who, through the course of the play, overcome the obstacles in their relationship and unite. Love in Shakespearean comedy is stronger than the inertia of custom, the power of evil, or†¦show more content†¦5. Shakespeares earliest comedies are similar to existing plays, reflecting his inexperience. The Comedy of Errors—thought by many scholars to be his first drama, though the dating of Shakespeares early works is extremely difficult—is built on a play by th e ancient Roman dramatist Plautus. Characteristically, Shakespeare enriched his source, but with material from another play by Plautus. The Subplot of The Taming of the Shrew was taken from a popular play of a generation earlier, and the main plot was well known in folklore, though the combination was ingeniously devised. The Two Gentlemen of Verona likewise deals with familiar literary material, treating it in the manner of John Lyly, the most successful comedy writer when Shakespeare began his career. 6. However, the young playwright soon found the confidence to experiment, and in Loves Labours Lost, the Dream, and the Merchant, he created a group of unusual works that surely startled Elizabethan playgoers, though pleasurably, we may presume. In the first he created his own main plot and used a distinctively English variation on the Italian Commedia Dell’Arte traditions for a sub-plot. He thus produced a splendid array of comic situations. The plays abundant topical humor wasShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeares Twelfth Night Essay1146 Words   |  5 Pagesany literary work assist the responder in understanding the text, as prior knowledge and past experience are used by composers to construct certain expectations due to characteristics that are recognised. Shakespeare, in his play Twelfth Night uses the Romantic comedy genre and its conventions of strong themes of love and a series of obstacles and misunderstandings concluded with a harmonious union of the lovers to explore gender issues, particularly those of women inRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream1357 Words   |  6 Pagesdisplaced from their positions within a social hierarchy, thus making the supernatural an integral part of Shakespeare’s comedy. 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Throughout these two stories, three primary female charactersRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Twelfth Night1507 Words   |  7 PagesTwelfth Night is a dramatic comedy which revolves around the classic Shakespearean traits of comedy, which are difficult to categorise but generally identifiable in that they often contain dazzling word play, irony, and a greater emphasis on situations than characters. While in many ways the play is a celebration of social upheaval through its characters, the play is very much characteristic to typical conventions seen in Shakespeare’s comedies when it’s identifying features are considered. By exploringRead MoreLove and Marriage in Renaissance Literature1228 Words   |  5 Pagesthe heritage was shared between them. Besides, the widows had a large common law right which became very well protected in the 16th century. So the financial need to marry was present, it meant that the alliance was a possibility to increase the families richness. However, a certain link between marriage and love began to appear in the Renaissance period, with the great William Shakespeare, for example. Indeed Shakespeare created lovers whose main concern was not what they would inherit, butRead MoreOld Comedy vs. New Comedy1142 Words   |  5 PagesComedies were performed in the Great Dionysia just like tragedies; also comedies were entered in contests in other festival, known as the Lesser Dionysia, and it was celebrated in the winter. Comedies combined poetry with coarse language. For example they featured buffoonery, slapstick, obscenity, and horseplay. The comedy actors dressed in weird costumes that had paddled bellies or rumps for outrageous effects. â€Å"The comic playwrights made their own plots and they focused on important mattersRead MoreLove and Marriage in Renaissance Literature Essay973 Words   |  4 Pageswas shared between them. Besides, the widows had a large common law right which became very well protected in the 16th century. So the financial need to marry was present, it meant that the alliance was a possibility to increase the families richness. However, a certain link between marriage and love began to appear in the Renaissance period, with the great William Shakespeare, for example. Indeed Shakespeare created lovers whose main concern was not what they would