Comedy Used in Dramatic Theater

Comedy used in Dramatic Theater

Sam Felsher

Traditional theatre, began with the ancient Greeks. They divided it into two different sections, comedy and tragedy. In this division plays that were tragic typically ended with the death or destruction of any character. The endings of comedy were more focused on the success of the lives of characters and they usually ended on good terms. By the time of Shakespeare, play writers began to blur the line between comedy and drama and it then became one type of genre. Authors began to write plays that mixed both comedy and tragedy. This continued throughout that time period and is still used today in movies and books.

Comedy has been around for centuries. It's defined as a humorous element of life or literature and was used, a lot of times, in dramatic theater. In many situations play writers used comedy as a way to lighten a heavy scene. They would often go from a dramatic moment to a comedic one throughout the play. To please the different types of audiences play writers often used different types of comedy. There was low comedy which was directed towards the lower class of people, and there was also high comedy which was aimed for the higher class of people that attended. Many of the low comedy jokes had to do with things such as sex or alcohol while the high comedy jokes were more intellectual. In some ways it can be looked at by todays standards. When a parent takes a child to a kids movie its obvious that the adult will laugh at things that a child wouldn't and vice versus. The director uses different types of humor to attract many different audiences just like play writers did during the this time.

Shakespeare, as one of the most famous authors of this time period, combined the best traits of Elizabethan drama with classical sources, and of course adding in his imagination and wit. He is an excellent example of an author that loved to use this technique. In his plays he consistently shows the balance of comedic scenes as well as tragic ones. Most of his comedies often include a tragic conflict throughout. For example, like Romeo and Juliet's struggle for love, or the struggle for power in The Tempest. Although these plays have such major conflict Shakespeare is able to find the comedy in each one . In most of his plays he puts a greater emphasis on the situation rather than on the characters themselves so the audience doesn't have a huge connection to the characters. By doing this he's able to have the characters experience misfortune but also make it laughable for those watching.

Today writers are able to provide us with the benefit of movies. A movie is a different form of theater that is mostly used in our century. Although the presentation of these plays are different from those in the 16th century, authors are still able to incorporate the same ideas of comedy. When people

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