Hamlet

The main reason for the presence of humor within a tragedy is to keep the reader interested. Shakespeare uses many forms of humor including but not limiting wit, pun’s, and casual jokes. In the work of Hamlet, Hamlet is usually the character that Shakespeare chooses to bring out the humor in anything. He becomes a very diverse character in this sense considering he can make a joke out of dead people and even people he kills. Rather a charming person in the face of unpleasant events.

Comedy is necessary to break the unbearable tension in tragedies like Hamlet. Many of the humorous scenes precede tragic events in the play which allows the audience to feel temporary relief in the presence of this comedy. It is also important to note the entertainment that comes with the comedy in the play. Shakespeare’s audience wanted to have both high and low comedy presented to them. With a variety of characters ranging from simple minded to near genius Shakespeare was able to deliver the audience what they wanted.

Comedy and tragedy are two totally opposing genres but both have been very successful during the Elizabethan period. Several plays were written to help people to be instructed in a general way and to purge their emotions through the laughing in comedy or the crying in the tragedy. Among the writers of tragic plays, there was Shakespeare with one of his most famous play The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Regarding comedy, John Lyly takes the myth of Endymion in his courtly comedy Endymion, the Man in the Moon. Starting from these two plays this essay will look at the boundaries that allow defining and distinguishing between tragedy and comedy as well as their importance at the time.

How does the use of comic relief best contrast the tragedy of Hamlet? In great works of literature a comic relief is used as contrast to a serious scene to intensify the overall tragic nature of the play or to relieve tension. As illustrated in Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, intense scenes are joined with character’s banter and vacuous actions as to add a comic relief. In Hamlet, Polonius acts as a comic relief by his dull and windy personality, Hamlet uses his intelligence and his negativity toward the king and queen to create humor, while on the other hand Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are a comic relief by their senseless actions and naïve natures. Polonius, Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are all used as a comic relief to increase the ultimate tragic nature of the play.

Not only does Shakespeare use cosmic irony in this play, he makes the characters, especially Romeo again, put their faith in the gods who then appear to betray him with a list of unlucky coincidences that help lead to his downfall. The use of irony has a great effect on the plot and characters in Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare managed to use dramatic irony for various purposes throughout the play that drastically help the build up of conflict, tension, and emotions. His use of cosmic irony after the protagonists put faith in fate adds a cruel twist into the story that helps to enrich the play and develop the characters. It is amazing how he manages to merge it all into the play.

Mercutio is clearly punning on the word “grave”. Showing that, even in death he’s still making jokes. The reader will find this as something that i... ... middle of paper ... ...rms of high dignity, but alike in lacking dignity. Here, Shakespeare uses situational irony to add humor to the play. Which helps to increase the readers interest in the play, and totally make the play better.

They also work to parody the main plot and at the same time aid foreshadow Faustus’ downfall later on in the play. Both of these effects add to and improve the dramatic quality of 'Dr Faustus'. They add another dimension to the play and prevent it from being purely a grim and flat tragedy; without these central scenes, the play may not be as interesting and may be lacking in dramatic quality. The central scenes add another level to Faustus’ character, showing the audience how his behaviour and attitude to life have changed giving us a break from the overall tragedy of the play. They also contribute to plot development in that they help further the play’s themes.

6... ... middle of paper ... ...r the reader. The comedy helps break the story up a bit and gives the reader a mental breather from some of the complications in the play. While the reader is given a mental breather from the seriousness of the play they also are fed some of Hamlet's inner thought about the people he is interacting with. Hamlet is able to directly tell the other person exactly what he feels of them and by using humor, sneak it past them in most cases. Works Cited and Consulted: Bloom, Harold.

Polonius’s language is used to further his character: his authority in Court (almost Claudius’ equal) contrasts with his rambling language to exacerbate his foolishness and almost guarantee his later destruction. Therefore, Shakespeare’s use of language not only creates tension, suspense, interest, diversity, and mood, but his imagery exaggerates the feelings already created by the rest of his text. Thus, though it could be said that his plot, variety, characterisation or any number of the different mechanisms that he used to create his tales earns him the title of ‘great’, in the first two acts of Hamlet, it is his language and imagery that makes Shakespeare a truly original playwright. Works Cited: Shakespeare, William. Hamlet.

The language Shakespeare uses in this play allows him to craft and intertwine the two emotions together, along with the form of the play changing from prose to verse in certain scenes to emphasise them. As the play continues the audience definitely experiences both emotions, and Shakespeare carefully mirrors one with the other so that they are both used in an equal and balanced amount which allows the audience to see the comedy for what it is: a blend of pain and pleasure. Shakespeare has included many aspects of comedy in The Taming of the Shrew and has incorporated both pain and pleasure into this comedic tale. The use of cruelty is the cause of some of the pain experienced in this comedy. One of the most effective uses of cruelty in the play is when Petruchio, through sleep and food depravation, forces Katherina into submission towards him.