Comedy

Aristotle specified two types of drama—comedy and tragedy. While his idea of a tragedy has permanent significance, comedy has often tended to develop new dimensions unknown to him.

Aristotle's comedy was a type of drama, which represented men as worse than the average. Aristophanes of Greece represented even Socrates in his comedy The Clouds', as ridiculous, by making his new ideas laughter provoking to the men of his age. Such a comedy is essentially satiric, and in this sense, Roman author like Plautus and Terence as also Cornelius of France wrote comedies to satirise the faults of their age. While this idea is applicable to the French comedy of the 17th century or the English Comedy of the 18th century, it is certainly not applicable to Shakespeare's comedy. The great dramatist used this mode of creating laughter only as a mode of creation of humour of Romantic Comedy and not of satire.

The difference between these two types may be briefly indicated in this way: Classical comedy has a central purpose-the establishment of a norm, by ridiculing anything that deviates from it. The object of Romantic comedy, on the other hand, is a diversi­fication of life. We enjoy the romantic loves of Orlando and Rosalind, the fantastic wit of Touchstone, the melancholic 'Humour' of Jacques in 'as you like it' heartily. Even though these deviate from the normal, we never lose our sympathy for them; when we laugh, it is with them not at their cost.

At one time, a happy ending was considered essential for every comedy. The play has to end with the reconciliation of loves of adventure or misadventure, and a general assurance that all is good that ends well. But modern comedy depends not upon external action but atmosphere and internal development.

Greater stress is laid upon the fantasies of the human mind under the stress of a given situation. We do not laugh but feel rather bewildered, though amused. It stands somewhat on a mental ground between comedy proper and tragedy. The type has deviated in more recent times into the bizaarre and the grotesque as in some plays of Gay or Brecht that seek to expose its queer absurdities. Tired of the drab commonness in human situations, modern audiences seem to find a relish in these absurd plays. The playwright sees life and nature through a distorted medium, reflecting the twists and turns of his own mind.

Two other types of comedy are the farce and the burlesque. Prof. Jessica is of opinion that the farce is an independent genere. Actually, the farce has developed from interludes, its sole purpose being to entertain the audience. The farce is thus a comic scene on a low key, providing rollicking fun through creation of absurd situations. The evolution of character through interaction of plot comprising events and character is not to be expected in a farce. In the farce, the audience is expected to take for granted an impossible situation, and then enjoy all the absurdities that follow from it. The burlesque, on the other hand, is mere caricature. The distortion is motivated and the motive is open to criticism. These belong to a lower category of art and have only a local or contemporary appeal.