Literature - Comedy Conventions

Literature - Comedy Conventions

1. COMMON FEATURES

   • Tends to be a victim
   • Needs to be a context to the joke - it doesn't necessarily last
   • Conflict between two forces

2. COMIC STORY LINES

   • Satire
     • Exaggerates the truth in news or society and makes figures of authority look ridiculous
   • Cringe
     • Laughing at embarrassing situations relating to the victim, feeling thankful you're not in the situation

3. COMIC APPEAL

   • Older people laughing at young people doing something silly
   • Younger people typically enjoy slapstick, but not exclusively

4. ORIGINS

   • Originated in the 5th Century BC in Greek theatre
     • High status characters were often ridiculed
     • GREEK THEATRE STEP-BY-STEP;
       • 1). Some character has a bright idea to help the world (e.g. stopping a war by organising a sexual strike or flying to heaven on a dung beetle
         • 2). A chorus enters (they are either sympathetic or hostile)
           • 3). There follows a debate over the proposal
             • 4). The chorus turns and addresses the audience directly
               • 5). The series of farcical episodes arises from putting the ideas into practice
                 • 6). The scene ends with revels such as a wedding feast or pagan ceremony
   • COMPONENTS OF ROMAN COMEDY
     • Stereotypical characters
     • A sub-plot
     • A unity of place (action occurs in the same place)
     • Mistaken identity
     • Games with language / misuse of words
       • FANCY WORD: misuse of words = malapropism
     • A love of comic servants
     • Hidden characters
     • The importance of chance encounters and meetings
     • The use of everyday speech - asides to the audience and overhearing as dramatic techniques
     • Interlocking plots
     • Division of comedy into acts and scenes
     • Long-lost siblings or rivalries

5. SHAKESPEARE'S COMEDIES

   • Times of seasonal celebration
     • A Midsummer Night's Dream
       • Longest day of the year
       • Both of these and A Winter's Tale are all related to festivals in the Pagan calendar, for example, the Summer and Winter Solstices
     • Twelfth Night
       • Christmas celebration