“Thus the action of the comedy begins in a world represented as a normal world, moves into the green world, goes into a metamorphosis there in which the comic resolution is achieved, and returns to the normal world” (97). Frye concludes that Shakespeare’s comedic works contain elements of both New and Old Comedy forms and is difficult to identify as one particular genre. As in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the play begins in the real world, where the conflict between Lysander and Hermia’s father is introduced (the Oedipus situation), then enters the green world in which the comic resolution is achieved, and then returns again to the real world. Herman Northrop Frye (1912-1991) was a renowned Canadian literary critic who rose to prominence in 1947 with his first book Fearful Symmetry. Although Frye never received a Ph.D, he was named University Professor by the University of Toronto in 1967 as well as Norton Professor by Harvard University in 1974-1975. His contributions helped define literary criticism as a discipline in its own right. Most notably, he is considered one of the most influential literary critics of the 20th century. Named in his honor, The Frye Festival, an annual literary festival, is held annually in Moncton, New Brunswick. Of Frye’s many books, essays and articles, Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays, published in 1957, contains the material for his later essay, “The Argument of
“Thus the action of the comedy begins in a world represented as a normal world, moves into the green world, goes into a metamorphosis there in which the comic resolution is achieved, and returns to the normal world” (97). Frye concludes that Shakespeare’s comedic works contain elements of both New and Old Comedy forms and is difficult to identify as one particular genre. As in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the play begins in the real world, where the conflict between Lysander and Hermia’s father is introduced (the Oedipus situation), then enters the green world in which the comic resolution is achieved, and then returns again to the real world. Herman Northrop Frye (1912-1991) was a renowned Canadian literary critic who rose to prominence in 1947 with his first book Fearful Symmetry. Although Frye never received a Ph.D, he was named University Professor by the University of Toronto in 1967 as well as Norton Professor by Harvard University in 1974-1975. His contributions helped define literary criticism as a discipline in its own right. Most notably, he is considered one of the most influential literary critics of the 20th century. Named in his honor, The Frye Festival, an annual literary festival, is held annually in Moncton, New Brunswick. Of Frye’s many books, essays and articles, Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays, published in 1957, contains the material for his later essay, “The Argument of