Concetti Chiave
- Comedy originated from the ancient Greek comos and satyr plays, which provided comic relief after tragedies.
- English comedy traces its roots to medieval Miracle Plays, which, despite biblical themes, included humorous characters and scenarios.
- The comedy of manners, prevalent in the 17th and 18th centuries, satirizes social groups and is noted for its wit and mild satire.
- Sentimental comedy emerged in the 17th century, blending moral lessons with entertainment, influencing modern social consciousness drama.
- Dark comedy, seen in Shakespeare's works, explores the bitter aspects of humor, influencing later dramatists like Ibsen and Shaw.
Origins of Comedy
A comedy is a play which has a pleasant, amusing atmosphere and a happy ending. It can be satirical, because satire and comedy are related.
It begins with the ancient Greek comos ( a revel, a merry and noisy celebration) and the satyr plays, crudely comic plays which used to be performed after a tragedy, as a kind of comic relief.
The true origin of English comedy is to be found in the medieval Miracle Plays which, in spite of being based on Biblical stories, presented amusing characters and events.
Five main Is the most popular, because it contains a pleasant mixture of is normally mentioned in connection with Shakespeare’s contemporary
Comedy of manners
Costume Comedy
The definition comedy of manners is particularly applied to 17th and 18th century dramatists like William Congreve and Richard Brinsley Sheridan. In the late 19th century Oscar Wilde excelled in this genre, which makes fun of social groups and their fashionable manners, and is characterized by verbal wit and mild satire.
Sentimental comedy
In the 17th century a sentimental comedy expressed moral sentiments. In the 20th many writers felt that comedy should be morally instructive as well as entertaining, and this caused a rebirth of the sentimental comedy, under new names like “the drama of the social consciousness” and so on.
Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida could be said to introduce the idea of dark comedy: when compared with romantic comedies like A Midsummer Night’s Dream they appear to be bitter and, in a way, unpleasant. They represent the darker side of comedy, a side which can be seen in later plays by dramatists like the Norwegian Henrik Ibsen (1828 – 1906) and George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), and which is especially noticed in the modern English theatre.
Domande da interrogazione
- What are the origins of comedy as a theatrical genre?
Comedy originated from the ancient Greek comos, a merry celebration, and satyr plays, which were performed as comic relief after tragedies. The true origin of English comedy is traced back to medieval Miracle Plays, which, despite their Biblical basis, included amusing characters and events.
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