Use Of Comedy Conventions In Elizabethan Theatre
Jessica Rud
Mr. Evans
English 102
14 November 2012
Conventions to Humor the Audience In comedies, the audience is aware of certain conventions that must be displayed to make the show or the play a comedy. Conventions are widely used techniques in art and literature. Comedy conventions have changed since the Elizabethan times to modern day. In Elizabethan times, a happy ending is a device that brings emotion to the audience after all the humor. In modern sitcoms, a technique called satire is used to make fun of the society as well as actually display how the social manners are constantly changing. Most of the time, a comedy’s purpose is just to humor the audience. The Seinfeld episodes are commonly known as a modern comedy of manners. The situations in the Seinfeld episodes are ordinary while the characters are extraordinary, and they strive to employ social manners in order to advance their social status (McConnell). The main characters are often debating on the …show more content…
A farce “has no purpose but to generate laughter in the audience” (Boyce). Both comedies are basically about nothing, and “nothing does happen in most of the episodes” except for quarreling, confusion, and extraordinary concurrences (McConnell). The audience expects a farce to be unrealistic and have physical humor rather than wit (Boyce). In Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors play, both Dromios and the Antipholouses are mistaken by their identity a numerous amount of times, which causes great confusion. The whole family reunites at the end of the play. In the Seinfeld episodes, Jerry is reunited with his uncle, and they have a misunderstanding between each other. The reunion of long-separated people is a common plot component in a farce, as well as mistaken identity. It is not a coincidence that both the Seinfeld episodes and the Shakespeare comedy are a farce because “farce has been widely popular from ancient times to present”
Mr. Evans
English 102
14 November 2012
Conventions to Humor the Audience In comedies, the audience is aware of certain conventions that must be displayed to make the show or the play a comedy. Conventions are widely used techniques in art and literature. Comedy conventions have changed since the Elizabethan times to modern day. In Elizabethan times, a happy ending is a device that brings emotion to the audience after all the humor. In modern sitcoms, a technique called satire is used to make fun of the society as well as actually display how the social manners are constantly changing. Most of the time, a comedy’s purpose is just to humor the audience. The Seinfeld episodes are commonly known as a modern comedy of manners. The situations in the Seinfeld episodes are ordinary while the characters are extraordinary, and they strive to employ social manners in order to advance their social status (McConnell). The main characters are often debating on the …show more content…
A farce “has no purpose but to generate laughter in the audience” (Boyce). Both comedies are basically about nothing, and “nothing does happen in most of the episodes” except for quarreling, confusion, and extraordinary concurrences (McConnell). The audience expects a farce to be unrealistic and have physical humor rather than wit (Boyce). In Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors play, both Dromios and the Antipholouses are mistaken by their identity a numerous amount of times, which causes great confusion. The whole family reunites at the end of the play. In the Seinfeld episodes, Jerry is reunited with his uncle, and they have a misunderstanding between each other. The reunion of long-separated people is a common plot component in a farce, as well as mistaken identity. It is not a coincidence that both the Seinfeld episodes and the Shakespeare comedy are a farce because “farce has been widely popular from ancient times to present”