To what extent does confusion and disguise contribute to dramatic comedy in Twelfth Night?
To what extent does confusion and disguise contribute to dramatic comedy in Twelfth Night?
Twelfth Night in set in an era of dramatic comedy under going changes, certain themes that used to perfectly acceptable although controversial was now seen to be distasteful and often looked down upon, this was due to the emergence(or rather acknowledgment) of two very different types of comedy: old comedy and new comedy, although neither were genre had a very high status in theatre compared to tragedies. Old comedy was used in theatre for a very long time, from the era of Aristophanes right up until Plautus, and included devices such as satire and bawdiness, often old comedy would be quite cruel to political figure or to those of high status whereas in new comedy often it was the complete opposite. New comedy came about in the era of Plautus and was a lot more refined and civilised compared to old comedy using techniques such as witty banter, farce and irony.
Shakespeare’s comedies combined some elements of old and new comedy yet was still rather sophisticated compared to new comedy playwrights like Plautus and Menander although often his tragedies contained more laughs than his comedies. Dramatic comedy of the time still used devices such as sexism, bawdiness and romance to show the misfortunes of others, but it also incorporated disguise and carnivalesque features. Not all of Shakespeare’s comedies were as classic, relatable comedies as theatre was now more commercial and less community based yet unlike Aristophanes he made the witty banter fun and light and theatre became more refined yet relatable to those attending.
Due to this Twelfth NIght contains features from both old and new comedy(cross dressing and disguise as well as light bawdiness) which was quite common for Shakespeare’s plays at the time. Twelfth Night is a good example of a comedy of the time due to its very farce like events and use of confusion. William Shakespeare’s use of love triangle is
Twelfth Night in set in an era of dramatic comedy under going changes, certain themes that used to perfectly acceptable although controversial was now seen to be distasteful and often looked down upon, this was due to the emergence(or rather acknowledgment) of two very different types of comedy: old comedy and new comedy, although neither were genre had a very high status in theatre compared to tragedies. Old comedy was used in theatre for a very long time, from the era of Aristophanes right up until Plautus, and included devices such as satire and bawdiness, often old comedy would be quite cruel to political figure or to those of high status whereas in new comedy often it was the complete opposite. New comedy came about in the era of Plautus and was a lot more refined and civilised compared to old comedy using techniques such as witty banter, farce and irony.
Shakespeare’s comedies combined some elements of old and new comedy yet was still rather sophisticated compared to new comedy playwrights like Plautus and Menander although often his tragedies contained more laughs than his comedies. Dramatic comedy of the time still used devices such as sexism, bawdiness and romance to show the misfortunes of others, but it also incorporated disguise and carnivalesque features. Not all of Shakespeare’s comedies were as classic, relatable comedies as theatre was now more commercial and less community based yet unlike Aristophanes he made the witty banter fun and light and theatre became more refined yet relatable to those attending.
Due to this Twelfth NIght contains features from both old and new comedy(cross dressing and disguise as well as light bawdiness) which was quite common for Shakespeare’s plays at the time. Twelfth Night is a good example of a comedy of the time due to its very farce like events and use of confusion. William Shakespeare’s use of love triangle is