During the 1700s, England’s plays and literature went through a period referred to as Restoration Drama. Throughout the period, there were quite a few playwrights, such as Dryden, Sheridan, and Congreve, and a few different types of drama introduced to the audiences. Dramas included Heroic and three types of comedies, which will be explicated within the essay. It was just before the 18th century that the comedies were becoming more popular with English audiences. Famous playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan wrote his The School for Scandal at this time. The School for Scandal follows the idea of Laughing Comedy with its witty dialogue and the hypocritical characters. Sheridan was quite clever while writing this play by making it somewhat satirical …show more content…
Sheridan turns “satire of Restoration drama to gentle didacticism” (“Laughing Comedy”), which means the play was less focused on satire and more educational. Instead of Sheridan mocking the ways of the English, which he did a little, he focused more on subtly educating his audience. In 1777, Sheridan had just become the manager of Drury Lane, a production company, and realized that there was a high demand for a new play (“The School” 831), which is when he decided to craft The School for Scandal. Although the Comedy of Manners and Laughing Comedy are closely related, The School for Scandal is in fact a Laughing Comedy because of its witty dialogue. The use of witty dialogue was the true reason for its success at Drury Lane and not because of its construction of drama (“Laughing Comedy”); plus, it follows Laughing Comedy standards because “comic dialogue is staged before a range of characters, some of whom find it entertaining and others find it appalling and immoral” (Thompson …show more content…
Lady Sneerwell is a woman who tries to ruin the lives of others because her reputation was ruined in her youth; the audience can interpret this when she states, “I confess I have since known no pleasure equal to the reducing others to the level of my own injured reptutaion” (Act I, Scene I Lines 43-5), which she is saying she is not happy unless others are unhappy like her. Along with Sneerwell, the character of Snake is present. Snake is her close friend and gopher; Snake basically works for Sneerwell by finding out the gossip around town and reporting it to her. Joseph Surface, a man who is quite deceitful, is also another character with a major flaw. Other characters include Sir Benjamin Backbit, who is also a town gossip and slanderer, and Mrs. Candour, another town gossip, and Sir Peter, who is a man that appears to be gullible, and his wife Lady Teazle, who is obsessed with being fashionable. There are also a few other characters within the play that have minor flaws. However, the ones mentioned above are the major flawed characters of the
created the play as a comedy, showing how the world might be in the times of the
Levine’s first chapter presents evidence that 19th century Americans of all social classes enjoyed Shakespeare as an integral part of their culture and entertainment. Shakespeare’s works were familiar enough to the populace that a variety of parodies were written and performed for large crowds that displayed their engagement with the works by applause, vegetable-throwing, interruptions, and commands to the actors. Shakespeare’s plays were performed in frontier communities and in cities, in churches and theatres and make-shift stages, attended by people of all classes. He describes the integration of Shakespeare into the Americans’ language and imagination, and explains Shakespeare’s popularity on the basis of its compatibility with 19th century Americans’ oral rhetorical style and their ability to see their own culture’s emphasis on individualism and morality reflected in Shakespeare’s characters and stories.
Comedy and tragedy would not seem to mix well, as they have opposite conclusions of happiness or sadness. To have comic and tragic plots within one play, then, can be argued as being too distinct to be coherent. In The Insatiate Countess, however, it is the differences between the tragic plot of the countess, Isabella, and the comic plot of Abigail and Thais, that strengthen the play’s message supporting loyalty in friendship.
Beaumont's failed comedy, 'The Knight of the Burning Pestle', is a unique play that seeks to satirise and burlesque the theatrical and social domain. Crucial to this satire is the collision of two concurrent plots that vie for the audience’s attention. These collisions allow the audience to see opposing ideologies in contrast through the dramatic effect of the breakdown in the boundaries of theatre. It is arguable that this play encourages one to question hierarchy and tradition through exploration of ideology, disputed genres, and Rafe's potential rebellion.
In I Henry IV and II Henry IV, William Shakespeare brings together drama and comedy to create two of the most compelling history plays ever written. Many of Shakespeare's other works are nearly absolute in their adherence to either the comic or tragic traditions, but in the two Henry IV plays Shakespeare combines comedy and drama in ways that seem to bring a certain realism to his characters, and thus the plays. The present essay is an examination of the various and significant effects that Shakespeare's comedic scenes have on I Henry IV and II Henry IV. The Diversity of Society
Tragedy, irony and modernism are only a few interpretations of the valued play The Taming of the Shrew by the respected writer William Shakespeare. However, one of the most intriguing and popular of these analyses is comedy. Shakespeare is recognized for writing several plays with comedic genres, a few of which include Much Ado About Nothing and The Comedy of Errors. Comedy, being a complex genre, is composed of many different concepts. This particular play can be interpreted as a Shakespearian comedy, a screwball comedy, a farce, or slapstick.
"This play we must call a comedy, tho' some of the incidents and discourses are more in a tragic strain; and that of the accusation of Hero is too shocking for either tragedy or comedy" (Charles Gildon 1714)
Wilders, John. "The Problem Comedies." In Wells, Stanley, ed. Shakespeare: Select Bibliographical Guides. London: Oxford UP, 1973.
Shakespeare’s works are some of the finest examples of Tragedy and Comedy from the English cannon of literature. The reason that his works are so poignant and reflective is his use of both emotions in order to progress the other. In his interpretation of Troilus and Cressida the traditional story of tragic love and loss are peppered with irony and satire in order to address topical issues of Gender roles, Government action/inaction, and hero worship through juxtaposition and humor.
Satire is a broad genre that many writers, particularly those writing in or about the Victorian time period, like to use in their works. Satire is often used to criticize society, and attempt to bring attention to the social or political issues the writer sees. One Victorian-era writer who uses satire a lot in his works is Oscar Wilde. Wilde used satire to get across his distain for traditional gender and marriage roles, and utilizes this in his play The Importance of Being Earnest. Meanwhile, another author who does the same is that of Virginia Woolf, who’s last novel, Between the Acts, uses satire through the techniques of parody and irony to get across her criticism on gender roles. Overall, both writers use satire in a unique and relevant way to get across their distain for gender roles in a Victorian society.
A satirical comedy is an attempt to ridicule a certain aspect of government, religion, or another aspect of society to bring about change through the use of comedy to lighten the blow. Tartuffe is a prime example of a satirical comedy. Molière used this play to point out one of the biggest flaws of organized religion during his time, religious hypocrisy. Although he may not have directly intended it to be about the Catholic Church, it was interpreted by them as such so they made the king ban it for a period of time. By making it into a play, Molière was able to reach a larger audience. People tend to enjoy plays more so due to their quick, lively nature. Plays are always changing, and they are stories being brought to life. A reader may not be interested by a short story or novella, but a play could be the very thing to draw in their attention. Molière was able to reach more people by making this into a play, therefore making the problem of religious hypocrisy more widely
Otis Wheeler describes how the surge in sentimental dramas was a direct reaction to the coarse comedies of the Restoration wherein man was depicted as ridiculous and nonsensical. In contrast “the drama of sensibility” was a display of the infinite promise of man. In this way the beginnings of the Cult of Sensibility is inextricably linked to the birth of Romanticism, yet where Romanticism preferred the superfluous and exaggerated the Cult of Sensibility preferred the delicate, softer emotions that would bring people together in harmony. As such it is fair to say that although these two styles were borne of a similar distaste for the neoclassical, they developed into very different types of drama. Romanticism created antagonistic protagonists, such as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights.
The name most associated with excellence in theatre is William Shakespeare. His plays, more than any other playwright, resonate through the ages. It may be safe to say that he has influenced more actors, directors, and playwrights than any thespian in the history of the stage. But what were his influences? During the Middle Ages theatre was dominated by morality, miracle, and mystery plays that were often staged by the church as a means to teach the illiterate masses about Christianity. It wasn’t until the early sixteenth century that Greek tragedy experienced a revival, in turn, inspiring a generation of renaissance playwrights.
are still in place in today's society. The play is a comedy but to a
Wilders, John. "The Problem Comedies." In Wells, Stanley, ed. Shakespeare: Select Bibliographical Guides. London: Oxford UP, 1973.