“Soul of the age!
The applause, delight, the wonder of our
stage!
My Shakespeare, rise; I will not lodge
thee by Chaucer or Spenser,
Thou art a monument, without a tomb,
And art alive still, while thy book doth
live,
And we have wits to read , and praise to
give.”
Ben Jonson
Human life is both a tragedy and a
comedy. Tears and smiles, sighs and shouts of joy, marriage and funerals go
side by side. Tragedy and comedy are the twin sisters of the same mother called
“LIFE”. Goethe says, “Human life is a tale, told in
tears with smile.”
WHAT IS A COMEDY?
·
Aristotle defines comedy:
“Comedy is an imitation of men worse than the average… not
productive of pain or harm to others.”
·
Horace Walpole also writes:
“Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for
those who think.”
1. Comedy is a
play which ends with a happy note.
2. Comedy
deals with light or trivial subject matter.
3. It arouses
humour and laughter.
4. It aims at
reforming the follies or weaknesses of mankind.
5. It appeals
our intelligence.
SHAKESPEARE’S CONCEPT OF
ROMANTIC COMEDY:
The above views expressed about
comedy are generally not applicable to the Shakespearean comedy.
·
Shakespeare’s romantic comedy does not make an
appeal so much to our intelligence as to the heart of man.
·
Its primary aim is neither satire nor correction of
the evils of the society. Its aim is just to give pure pleasure and joy.
·
Unlike classical comedies, Shakespeare’s romantic
comedies do not follow the unity of time, place and action.
Shakespeare has his own norms of
writing romantic comedies. Let’s examine the chief characteristics of
Shakespearean Romantic Comedy:
FEATURES OF ROMANTIC
COMEDY OF SHAKESPEARE:
1. Fanciful World of Imagination
2. Element of Realism
3. Element of Humour
4. Subject Matter of Love
5. Light Mood
6. Music and Songs
Shakespeare’scomedies such as ‘As You Like It’, ‘The Twelfth Night’ and
‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ have their scenes of actions located in a far,
distant land, far from the hurry of modern life. They are staged in a remote
and fanciful world of imagination. In his romantic comedies, we come across
some fairy land, magical woods and so on. In short, the places in his romantic
comedies are the creation of imaginative fertile brain of the dramatist which
we never see on the earth.
The background and atmosphere of Shakespearean romantic comedies is
highly imaginative and fanciful. However, “Life keeps hovering over it and
enter into it.” It is Shakespeare’s unique quality that he combines the real
and unreal in his comedies. The romantic world of fairy land has life like
characters like merchants Antonio and Shylock, real lovers like Portia and
Bassanio, Helena and Demetrius. They face the same real problems that we face
in our real life. “The path of true love never did run smooth.” This lines
applies to the characters of Shakespeare’s comedies and to us in our real life
too. The mischeveous characters like Puck as found in ‘A Midsummer Night’s
Dream’ are also found in our neighbourhood. The love triangles presented by
Shakespeare is found in our life too. So, we can say that there is a touch of
realism in his comedies.
3.
ELEMENT OF HUMOUR:
Humour is the soul of Shakespearean Romantic Comedy. While watching the
play, the audience cannot control their laughter. Shakespeare’s humour is
harmless, he does not laugh at anyone. He does not aim at reforming the social
evils as we generally see in other comedies. His funny clown characters like
Puck and Bottom have become immortal in English literature.
4.
SUBJECT MATTER OF LOVE:
Shakespeare’s romantic comedy is primarily the comedy of love. Love is
the life blood of all his comedies. The plots of his comedies are those of love
intrigues. Here, the lover meet, depart, fight, hate each other and then
compromise and marry at the end. ‘The merchant of Venice’ deals with the love story
of Bassanio and Portia. ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ present the love story of
Helena and Demetrius, Hermia and Lysander, Oberon and Titania.
5.
MUSIC AND SONGS:
In Shakespeare’s comedies, music
and songs predominate. The tone of his romantic comedies is lyrical. There are
six melodious songs in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.
“Over hill, over dale
Through bush and brior
Flood and fire.”
What a melodious music is displayed
in this song! Each line and stanza of the songs can well be sung with music.
CONCLUSION:
Thus, we may sum up by saying that
the Romantic Comedy of Shakespeare is altogether different from other comedies
of English literature. It creates gentle, innocent humour and laughter. It does
not harm anyone and does not aim at reforming the society. It is full of
realism and imagination. Here, love is the central subject matter and music and
songs make his comedies more appealing and interesting.
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