Use of Humor in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

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.

William Shakespeare's plays come in many forms. There are histories, tragedies, comedies and tragic comedies. Among the most popular are the comedies which are full of laughter, irony, satire and wordplay. Many times the question is asked: what makes a play a comedy instead of a tragedy. Shakespeare's comedies often use puns, metaphors and insults to provoke 'thoughtful laughter'.

Although heartrending and disastrous in nature and conclusion, Romeo and Juliet is filled with humor brought to the reader with a variety of literary devices. This is very evident throughout the play because William Shakespeare, through the immense use of puns and sarcasm, creates comedic effects in tragic plays such as Romeo and Juliet. Creating and establishing humour has a very important role in plays for it prepares the reader or audience for the tragic events that will occur later on in the story. Just one of the many literary devices being used are puns. Puns are a play on words and language that are used with intent to create humour.

Shakespeare is loved for his story lines, but he is respected for the characters he has created. It is ironic how in Romeo and Juliet characters such as Capulet, Romeo, and Friar Laurence are made out to be wise but in actuality make bad judgment. It is also ironic that Mercutio is depicted as a childish youth when really he is the character with the most insight. Shakespeare uses Mercutio’s insight as a contrast to every other character to show how ridiculous the other characters actually are. If you pay attention to the plots and story lines, this play is a love story.

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.

Shakespeare uses irony to great effect in his many plays, specifically dramatic irony, and some cosmic irony, in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. But why does he use it? What is he trying to achieve or portray? It varies throughout the play, but there are general trends as the story develops. In the beginning we see that it is almost comical uses.

Interest and Tension in William Shakespeare's Act One of Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare was a famous and successful play writer who lived in the Elizabethan times. Some of his most memorable and famous plays were Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Twelth Night and Hamlet. He was successful because he was able to entertain a whole range of people from groundlings to royalty. He used a technique that would grab the attention of anyone, his dialogue. He would use different genres like comedy, romance, action and violence, so it would appeal to all ages and genders.

Mercutio, though he is one of the most influential characters of Romeo and Juliet, still plays the 'second fiddle' to Romeo and maybe even Juliet (as it might be suggested by the title). However his intelligence, wit and charisma have a huge part to play in the outcome of the play. This means that it could be argued that Mercutio is as important as he thinks he is. Mercutio is perhaps the most cynical and poised characters in the history of stage plays. His insolence and irresponsible bawdiness make him a brilliantly effective figure on stage.

A Portrayal of Humor Within the Tragedy of Hamlet How does humor factor into a tragedy? Shakespeare knew the answer to this question and acted upon it quite frequently. Shakespeare has been known to write comedies and tragedies both but this does not qualify him at to not incorporate a little of each into each other. In the work of Hamlet there are many occasions where Shakespeare uses it for different effects. The main reason for the presence of humor within a tragedy is to keep the reader interested.

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. Tragedy and comedy stand out mainly by the fact that one of these genres makes people cry and the other makes them laugh. The boundary between the two is not always easy to distinguish, since a play can be considered as a comedy without being funny, simply because it has a happy ending. The issue here is to contrast these two genres to better draw the border between them. The comedy featured ordinary characters and thus allowed people to laugh at their pains and ironic situations.