Essays on Comedy

Samuel Beckett described his Waiting for Godot as a tragicomedy. To what extent is this is an accurate description? Would you say there is more tragedy than comedy or a mixture of both? Through the use of many linguistic, structural and comic features, Samuel Beckett’s …

“Comedy of menace” was a term first used to describe Harold Pinter’s plays by the drama critic Irving Wardle. He borrowed the term from the subtitle of one of David Campton’s plays, The Lunatic View: A Comedy of Menace. A comedy is a humorous play …

tragedy is defined as beginning with a problem that affects everyone, i. e. the whole town or all the characters involved, the tragic hero must solve this problem and this results in his banishment or death [run-on sentence]. A comedy is defined as also beginning …

In the short story, Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl uses the literary devices of dramatic irony, foreshadowing, and imagery to depict a dark comedy by grasping the idea of a tragedy becoming humorous. There are multiple uses and examples of irony throughout this …

About the author William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born into the family of a prosperous tradesman in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. While in his mid-teens, he was forced to leave school because his family fell into a period of poverty, so that he had only a rudimentary education. …

Forms of speech and intonation are extremely important to capture the attention of the audience, whether it is in writing or spoken aloud. In literature, the author uses some literary devices to entice the reader and extract some sort of reaction from him or her. …

Set in the 17th century, Moliere’s Drama, Le Tartuffe is a satirical representation of religious hypocrisy. Its comedy drives the play in a direction where the audience can not only be entertained but understand the morals which are portrayed. It is important to realise the …

The performance ‘Hoods’ by Barking Gecko Theatre Co. is a play about two young children, Jessie and Kyle, who create video game style situations to pass the time as they are left in the car by their mother. This play was performed at Thornlie Senior …

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 …

Freedom for women in the patriarchal society, in which the play is set, appears controlled and constrained in ‘Much Ado About Nothing (MAAN)’. Shakespeare employs the rebellious spirit of Beatrice in his comedy to subvert the social orthodoxy of the Elizabethan era. Hero falls victim …

Love’s Last Shift by Cooley Sibber has something for everybody and therefore it is hailed as the opportunistic work. Its ‘virtues’ are many and it caters to the needs of audience of all types. It highlights the conflicts of the gender roles. It appeals to …

According to Herman E Daly, Globalization serves the villous of a single, cosmopolitan, integrated global economy. This definition focuses on the cross border movement of goods, services and resources (financial and human) impacting on the domestic and global assets and employment. Globalization, thus focuses on …

In Tartuffe, Moliere’s use’s plot to defend and oppose characters that symbolize and ridicule habitual behavior’s that was imposed during the neo-classical time period. His work, known as a comedy of manners, consists of flat characters, with few and similar traits and that always restore some …

The Meaning of Love through the works of Dante Lighter Devon Strand-Brown “O all ye whose intellects are sound, Look now and see the meaning that is hidden Beneath the veil that covers my strange verses:” (Inferno 9:61) Dante Lighter is indisputably the most famous …

The Importance Of Being Earnest “Women’s roles are often tokenistic in dramatic comedy” To what extent do you believe this to be the case in relation to the play you have been studying? In dramatic comedy it can often be said that women’s roles are …

Dario Fo- Can’t Pay? Won’t pay! Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay! Is based on Dario Fo’s “Non Si Paga? Non Si Paga! “, a political work that he wrote to highlight the dilemma of ordinary Italian workers during the economic crisis of the 1970s. It is …

John Dryden was England’s most outstanding and controversial writer for the later part of the seventeenth century, dominating the literary world as a skilled and versatile dramatist, a pioneer of literary criticism, and a respected writer of the Restoration period. With Dryden’s great literary and …

1. The original Macbeth takes place in the 11th century Scotland, while Scotland, PA takes place in the American 1970s. Thousands of historical events and many generations set these two time periods apart. Yet, while the time span seems immense, noting really changed in human …

Humor is all about a person making an amusing observation that in result creates laughter and provides entertainment for the audience. In the book titled Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton, the author makes a statement that the role of humor in society is to …

How does Bennet use dramatic comedy to offer criticism of contemporary attitudes to education in The History Boys? In this essay I am going to explain how Alan Bennet uses dramatic comedy to criticise the contemporary attitudes towards education in the History Boys. The contemporary …

The Misanthrope Moliere’s play The Misanthrope is a comedy that represents social satire, satirizing the conventions of the society which Moliere lived in and observed. Perhaps the character of Alceste best demonstrates the elements of comedy and tragedy that co-exist in Moliere’s play. Alceste, after …

The History Boys Essay 13. “Brilliantly funny…. but by the end, tears are as near as laughter. ” To what extent can we read The History boys as comedy? One of the key factors that makes the History Boys such an iconic play is its …

People of all ages and cultures respond to humour. Riddles and jokes have been told for centuries to make light of situations and to make people laugh. Humour is the tendency of particular experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. People are able to be …

Evaluating Sitcoms – Bewitched Bewitched is a situation comedy, produced in the year 1964 and set in America. The main characters include Samantha and Darrin Stephens. The program Bewitched conveys the premise to not make assumptions about someone instantly – because there may be more …

Ms. Moskowitz wants to give her readers a sense of her perspective and her style as she begins this restaurant review. Her opening paragraph shows that she seems to have a casual, common-sense approach to her reviews unlike some stuffy, formal food critics. She also …

Dave Chappelle’s comedy has made numerous aspects of American race relations and racial stereotypes subject to ridicule in a manner that has both united and divided. On one hand, his name became synonymous with comedy for the younger generations; on the other, his values caused …

The main purpose of farce is to make people laugh, so as a result the laughter connects people and becomes a means of agreement among them. Ratajczakowa distinguishes five types of texts according to their level of comedy and association with farce or comedy: The …

“Twelfth Night” is a romantic comedy with true love at its heart. The play does have occasional dark undertones but generally the genuine love and the misunderstanding make it a comic play. It was written originally for the Twelfth Night celebrations after Christmas in 1602. …

Background of the Study From past to present, entertainment stage would never die, because every people always need some kind of refreshment after they work or when they feel bored, for example they can go to the amusement park or recreation on the weekend, and …

The quote listed in the title comes from 2009 box-office hit The Hangover. The events that incite Mr. Chow (played by Ken Jeong) to say laughing “it’s funny because he’s fat” feature Alan Garner (played by Zach Galifianakis) charging at Mr. Chow, who is stomping …