Aristophanes: The Tragic Development Of Comedy
The comedic development:
When one thinks comedy, the first impression that comes to mind may be a bundle of gags and pranks, or clever wording and bizarre situations that bring joy and laughter to its audience, or its victims (mostly). Deriving from Ancient Greece, comedy was first recognised as a genre when many playwrights started to satire political situations, which not only attracted masses of people but also influenced their views on political figures. As time passed on, so did comedy pass on from one generation to another, developing and ultimately becoming a form of art in and of itself. Soon comedians would take to the stage as professionals in comedy. Then came the development of the camera, which set up a whole new stage for modern …show more content…
playwrights to explore. Comedy was no longer people on the stage acting silly. It was an entire environment of silliness and over-the-top situations and characters that brought comedy to the average homestead. Comedy could now be in any situation, and thus people felt the need to categorise it, as they always do.
But before we look at the wonderful sub genres of comedy, let's have a deeper look into its development.
Ancient laughs:
Ancient Greeks, some of the most accomplished mathematicians, philosophers and, most importantly, comedians.
Before the playwright Aristophanes arrived, Greek plays involving comedy had a terrible tendency to include a lot of obscene actions (Nick Hern Books, 1996). This wasn't as badly frowned upon by the ancient society as in today's standard, thus allowing many Greeks to overlook the bad for the good: the fun. While obscene, they were still quite humorous and had a positive effect on the viewers. Many playwrights thereafter would base their work on these plays, Aristophanes being one of the most famous, having scripted 40 plays (Nick Hern Books, 1996). But it wasn't Aristophanes that had changed comedy, he merely instigated the idea of change, and a well known philosopher developed that …show more content…
change.
Aristotle had taken to studying comedic plays for his works on Poetics, whereby he analysed that comedy didn't need vulgar actions, which was the general idea of the public at the time. He deemed that comedy was to be seen as the uplifting of a down-trodden character. To him, comedic plays was a good, idealistic involvement to society as it left onlookers in a joyous state which, to him, should have been the ultimate goal of any activity (Comford, 1934).
It was to Aristotle's belief that comedy was one of the original four genres (the other three being epic poetry, lyrical poetry and tragedies).
Analysing comedy even further, he deemed that comedy was divided into three primary sub genres: farces, satires and romantic comedies.
Plato had contradictory beliefs, teaching that comedy involves losing one's rational control and learning capabilities and as such had motivated the populace not to give in to the violent reaction their bodies produce (also known as laughter) and that comedy should be avoided (Comford, 1934).
While Plato may have had his reasons to avoid comedy (much like my mathematics teachers – which provokes an eerily similar impression) the masses had no trouble disregarding his mundane teachings for the comedic arts.
Comedy endured through the ages, stemming from the Ancient Greeks to the Sanskrit dramas, but it wasn't until comedy found its way into Elizabethan England, where the term comedy had an entirely different meaning in the Shakespearean theatres.
Modernising
Comedy:
When Shakespeare had settled his signature in the art of the stage he also settled a vast influence on the theatrical culture, coining him the nickname 'father of the English language'. As his plays changed the way theatre was approached, so did comedy shift from its original definition, which may have been influenced by Aristotle's descriptions of comedy. In this era comedy was no longer viewed as satirical or a farce, but that the tale ended with the hero living happily (ever after).
In an era of Macbeth and Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, comedy was an excuse to tell a tale of light hearted fun and for a long time it would stay that way. It wasn't until the 19th century that comedy would see another change to its structure.
During the early years of 19th century England, a form of entertainment arose in masses. Pantomimes, which made large use of slapstick comedy, now took to the stage. The first mainstream clown was a pantomime actor and many more such plays were found on the stage of a music hall theatre (Richards, 2014). It was in these halls that famous characters like Stan Laurel, Dan Leno and the famous Charlie Chaplin found their way towards stardom (McCabe, 1975).
When cinema and the radio had started mass production, comedians could soon traverse the outstretches of the large world we live in to spread joy and laughter to the entire world. Chaplin became one of the most famous people in history as a result, but with this modernisation came another change in comedy.
The punch line:
With modernisation connecting the world, comedy could spread among the different cultures. Mixing and mingling, many artists and comedians found new ways to present comedy and soon it was divided and categorised, an attempt made so the world could organise comedy in its many forms. Aristotle had originally claimed comedy was divided into three sub-genres: farce, romantic comedy and satires. Today, comedy has transformed into so much more, stemming from comedy of the manners, to parodies and spoofs (which in honesty wasn't much different from the ancient satires). Some examples below explain how these comedies differ, but still achieve the same goal: making us laugh.
Comedy of manners:
Comedy of manners is a sub-genre of comedy which satirises the aspects or behaviour of social groups. It Is composed of witty dialogue and an unnecessarily elaborate plot. Often the humour revolves around stereotypes and a stock character, a character that is repetitively used in literary traditions, that delivers the witty humour (Nettleton, 1949).
The form finds its roots from the Roman empire, where it is considered the first form of comedy of the manner was acted out on stage by Roman lyrical poet Horace. His play revolved around a man wanting a guest to leave but being too polite not to ask him, thus the host uses wit the make an attempt to get the message across.
It has also been recorded in the plays of the Ancient Greek playwright, Menander. His plays involved elaborate plots as well as stock characters that were inspirations to the Roman playwrights Plautus and Terence.
It has also been speculated that Shakespeare's play Ado Much Nothing was the first comedy of manners in England. In later times the genre found its grandiloquence in the Restoration period. It was called Restoration comedy at the time, but the idea of wit and social behaviour was still the primary focus of the plays. It wasn't until the Renaissance that the genre found its, arguably, most famous entries in the works of French playwright, Molière, who wrote the plays L'École des femmes (The School for Wives, 1662) and Le Misanthrope (The Misanthrope, 1666).
In modern days the genre is often one of the many elements a single film can incorporate. Films involving the genre prominently are films like Legally Blonde (2001) and Lost in Translation (2003)
Fish out of water comedy:
The fish out of water genre revolves around a character being thrown out of their normal environment and into a new and unusual one. The are confronted by difficult challenges that causes them to react in comedic ways, but in most cases accept the changes and make peace with the new environment.
A delightfully famous example would be Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007), wherein Mr. Bean (played by Rowan Atkinson) finds himself travelling through France, but unable to grasp the fundamentals of foreign culture.
Fantasy Comedy:
Fantasy comedy often revolves around a fantasy setting. Usually satirising fantasy conventions such as the valiant hero who is instead depicted as a scared fool or spoofs popular entries in fantasy such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. This isn't entirely limited to such fantasy settings, but most likely retains elements of magic or supernatural abilities.
From my own speculations I'd say the genre developed soon after fantasy books became successful in the industry, most likely provoking witty authors to satirise the tall tales, which inevitably produced such films as Shrek (2001) and Your Highness (2011) where fantasy characters and elements are set in a fantasy, but the conventions are portrayed humorously.
An example of a fantasy comedy without an actual fantasy setting but with the magical element is Night at the Museum (2006).
When one thinks comedy, the first impression that comes to mind may be a bundle of gags and pranks, or clever wording and bizarre situations that bring joy and laughter to its audience, or its victims (mostly). Deriving from Ancient Greece, comedy was first recognised as a genre when many playwrights started to satire political situations, which not only attracted masses of people but also influenced their views on political figures. As time passed on, so did comedy pass on from one generation to another, developing and ultimately becoming a form of art in and of itself. Soon comedians would take to the stage as professionals in comedy. Then came the development of the camera, which set up a whole new stage for modern …show more content…
playwrights to explore. Comedy was no longer people on the stage acting silly. It was an entire environment of silliness and over-the-top situations and characters that brought comedy to the average homestead. Comedy could now be in any situation, and thus people felt the need to categorise it, as they always do.
But before we look at the wonderful sub genres of comedy, let's have a deeper look into its development.
Ancient laughs:
Ancient Greeks, some of the most accomplished mathematicians, philosophers and, most importantly, comedians.
Before the playwright Aristophanes arrived, Greek plays involving comedy had a terrible tendency to include a lot of obscene actions (Nick Hern Books, 1996). This wasn't as badly frowned upon by the ancient society as in today's standard, thus allowing many Greeks to overlook the bad for the good: the fun. While obscene, they were still quite humorous and had a positive effect on the viewers. Many playwrights thereafter would base their work on these plays, Aristophanes being one of the most famous, having scripted 40 plays (Nick Hern Books, 1996). But it wasn't Aristophanes that had changed comedy, he merely instigated the idea of change, and a well known philosopher developed that …show more content…
change.
Aristotle had taken to studying comedic plays for his works on Poetics, whereby he analysed that comedy didn't need vulgar actions, which was the general idea of the public at the time. He deemed that comedy was to be seen as the uplifting of a down-trodden character. To him, comedic plays was a good, idealistic involvement to society as it left onlookers in a joyous state which, to him, should have been the ultimate goal of any activity (Comford, 1934).
It was to Aristotle's belief that comedy was one of the original four genres (the other three being epic poetry, lyrical poetry and tragedies).
Analysing comedy even further, he deemed that comedy was divided into three primary sub genres: farces, satires and romantic comedies.
Plato had contradictory beliefs, teaching that comedy involves losing one's rational control and learning capabilities and as such had motivated the populace not to give in to the violent reaction their bodies produce (also known as laughter) and that comedy should be avoided (Comford, 1934).
While Plato may have had his reasons to avoid comedy (much like my mathematics teachers – which provokes an eerily similar impression) the masses had no trouble disregarding his mundane teachings for the comedic arts.
Comedy endured through the ages, stemming from the Ancient Greeks to the Sanskrit dramas, but it wasn't until comedy found its way into Elizabethan England, where the term comedy had an entirely different meaning in the Shakespearean theatres.
Modernising
Comedy:
When Shakespeare had settled his signature in the art of the stage he also settled a vast influence on the theatrical culture, coining him the nickname 'father of the English language'. As his plays changed the way theatre was approached, so did comedy shift from its original definition, which may have been influenced by Aristotle's descriptions of comedy. In this era comedy was no longer viewed as satirical or a farce, but that the tale ended with the hero living happily (ever after).
In an era of Macbeth and Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, comedy was an excuse to tell a tale of light hearted fun and for a long time it would stay that way. It wasn't until the 19th century that comedy would see another change to its structure.
During the early years of 19th century England, a form of entertainment arose in masses. Pantomimes, which made large use of slapstick comedy, now took to the stage. The first mainstream clown was a pantomime actor and many more such plays were found on the stage of a music hall theatre (Richards, 2014). It was in these halls that famous characters like Stan Laurel, Dan Leno and the famous Charlie Chaplin found their way towards stardom (McCabe, 1975).
When cinema and the radio had started mass production, comedians could soon traverse the outstretches of the large world we live in to spread joy and laughter to the entire world. Chaplin became one of the most famous people in history as a result, but with this modernisation came another change in comedy.
The punch line:
With modernisation connecting the world, comedy could spread among the different cultures. Mixing and mingling, many artists and comedians found new ways to present comedy and soon it was divided and categorised, an attempt made so the world could organise comedy in its many forms. Aristotle had originally claimed comedy was divided into three sub-genres: farce, romantic comedy and satires. Today, comedy has transformed into so much more, stemming from comedy of the manners, to parodies and spoofs (which in honesty wasn't much different from the ancient satires). Some examples below explain how these comedies differ, but still achieve the same goal: making us laugh.
Comedy of manners:
Comedy of manners is a sub-genre of comedy which satirises the aspects or behaviour of social groups. It Is composed of witty dialogue and an unnecessarily elaborate plot. Often the humour revolves around stereotypes and a stock character, a character that is repetitively used in literary traditions, that delivers the witty humour (Nettleton, 1949).
The form finds its roots from the Roman empire, where it is considered the first form of comedy of the manner was acted out on stage by Roman lyrical poet Horace. His play revolved around a man wanting a guest to leave but being too polite not to ask him, thus the host uses wit the make an attempt to get the message across.
It has also been recorded in the plays of the Ancient Greek playwright, Menander. His plays involved elaborate plots as well as stock characters that were inspirations to the Roman playwrights Plautus and Terence.
It has also been speculated that Shakespeare's play Ado Much Nothing was the first comedy of manners in England. In later times the genre found its grandiloquence in the Restoration period. It was called Restoration comedy at the time, but the idea of wit and social behaviour was still the primary focus of the plays. It wasn't until the Renaissance that the genre found its, arguably, most famous entries in the works of French playwright, Molière, who wrote the plays L'École des femmes (The School for Wives, 1662) and Le Misanthrope (The Misanthrope, 1666).
In modern days the genre is often one of the many elements a single film can incorporate. Films involving the genre prominently are films like Legally Blonde (2001) and Lost in Translation (2003)
Fish out of water comedy:
The fish out of water genre revolves around a character being thrown out of their normal environment and into a new and unusual one. The are confronted by difficult challenges that causes them to react in comedic ways, but in most cases accept the changes and make peace with the new environment.
A delightfully famous example would be Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007), wherein Mr. Bean (played by Rowan Atkinson) finds himself travelling through France, but unable to grasp the fundamentals of foreign culture.
Fantasy Comedy:
Fantasy comedy often revolves around a fantasy setting. Usually satirising fantasy conventions such as the valiant hero who is instead depicted as a scared fool or spoofs popular entries in fantasy such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. This isn't entirely limited to such fantasy settings, but most likely retains elements of magic or supernatural abilities.
From my own speculations I'd say the genre developed soon after fantasy books became successful in the industry, most likely provoking witty authors to satirise the tall tales, which inevitably produced such films as Shrek (2001) and Your Highness (2011) where fantasy characters and elements are set in a fantasy, but the conventions are portrayed humorously.
An example of a fantasy comedy without an actual fantasy setting but with the magical element is Night at the Museum (2006).