The Influence of Commedia dell’arte on Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

Hamlet is yet a tragedy but Shakespeare successfully brings humor through the grim walls of a tragedy and allows the reader to manipulate the scene any way he or she wishes. Humor can be manipulated as well with double meanings and different viewpoints upon what is “funny'; and what is not.

William Shakespeare's Comedies Shakespeare's comedies can be recognized in terms of plot, structure and characters. We can see that Shakespearean comedies follow the same structural pattern, a basic plot on which the play is based. For example, a key feature of all comedies is that they depend upon the resolution of their plots. However, Shakespeare's comedies are distinguishable, as some are classed as comic dramas and others as romantic comedies. In comic drama, there is usually a motif of a place where reality and the unreal merge, the roles of characters are reversed and identities are mistaken or lost.

Comedy lightens the mood, progresses the plot, and provides a necessary reprieve from the suspense of the play. Comedic relief commands a vital role in the William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet. In order to maintain the audience’s interest, an author inserts puns and other comedic vices to enhance their work. Shakespeare constantly introduces characters to allay the strain on the audience from past events in the plot. This comedic relief usually contains a hidden meaning or message that augments the plot.

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.

In conclusion, Samuel Beckett is a realistic dramatist with both a pessimistic and an optimistic point of view, able to write comedies and tragedies as well. He remains an example for many writers when talking about “the theatre of the absurd”.

Exploring different types of comedy I am part of a group working on a devised piece based on the theme of comedy. We have explored different types of comedy and are devising ways of using these in a piece of drama. We were given some stimulus material about commedia dell'arte, this literally means artistic comedy. It started in the later half of the 16th century and this was a period where plays were stylish, classic and cold. So, commedia dell'arte was the complete opposite and soon loud, colourful representations cropped up all over Italy.

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.

Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, a humorous piece of self-reflexive theater that draws upon Shakespeare's Hamlet as the source of the story. The actual device of self-reflexive theater is used so well in Stoppard's play that it reads like the love child of a play and a compelling critical essay. The play is academic yet conversationally phrased and it deepens our understanding of the original play but also criticizes it. The aspect of self-reflexive theater is used to comment on theater itself but also as a presentation of ideas and analysis that had previously had no place on the plot-centric set-up of stage and audience. The essay Rosencrantz and Guildensternare Dead: Theater of Criticism by Normand Berlin draws attention to the fact that Stoppard who was once a drama critic, writes from the critical perspective.

Nick Bottom in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream Roget’s thesaurus defines the word “ass” as “one deficient in judgment and good sense: a fool”. In William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the ass is undeniably tied to the character of Nick Bottom on many different levels. As the play is a comedy, Bottom’s central role is to provide laughter. At the same time, however, through his role as the Ass, he acts as a sort of symbolic center-piece that ties all of the action in the play together. Throughout the play, Shakespeare has various characters making word-plays on the Ass, in relation to Nick Bottom and otherwise.

Similarities in Othello and Volpone Upon reading Shakespeare's l604 tragedy, Othello, the Moor of Venice and Jonson's l606 comedy, Volpone, or The Foxe, a reader will notice both similarities and differences. In both plays, we meet characters of "rare ingenious knavery." Indeed, Iago, Volpone, and Mosca are uncommonly similar in nature. An elaborate "con game" is practiced in each play through intriguing dramatic inventiveness. However, the focus of Shakespeare's tragedy is upon a noble and heroic figure; the focus of Jonson's comedy is upon a monster of depravity, a genius in crime.