Comedy

Plays we read in the comedy portion of class include A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, and the "tragic-comedy", The Tempest. All of these works by Shakespeare share many similarities as well as differences. Some of the same techniques, language, and themes Shakespeare uses in each are similar in each work as well.

Passage/Language Comparison
Much of the language in each play is very similar, specifically exchanges between the lovers. The conversations between Kate and Petruchio and Lysander and Hermia as well as Demetrius and Helena are almost identical depending on each couple's feelings. Insults between Kate and Petruchio are similar to insults between Lysander and Hermia and Demetrius and Helena when the potion is affecting them to not love one another. For example, the passage below is an exchange between Demetrius and Helena in Act 2 Scene 1 of A Midsummer Night's Dream followed by a passage from Act 2 Scene 1 of The Taming of the Shrew between Pertruchio and Kate.

DEMETRIUS
Do I entice you? do I speak you fair?
Or, rather, do I not in plainest truth
Tell you, I do not, nor I cannot love you?

HELENA
And even for that do I love you the more.
I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius,
The more you beat me, I will fawn on you:
Use me but as your spaniel, spurn me, strike me,
Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave,
Unworthy as I am, to follow you.
What worser place can I beg in your love, --
And yet a place of high respect with me, --
Than to be used as you use your dog?

DEMETRIUS
Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit;
For I am sick when I do look on thee.

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KATHARINA
I chafe you, if I tarry: let me go.

PETRUCHIO
No, not a whit: I find you passing gentle.
'Twas told me you were rough and coy and sullen,
And now I find report a very liar;
For thou are pleasant, gamesome, passing courteous,
But slow in speech, yet sweet as spring-time flowers:
Thou canst not frown, thou canst not look askance,
Nor bite the lip, as angry wenches will,
Nor hast thou pleasure to be cross in talk,
But thou with mildness entertain'st thy wooers,
With gentle conference, soft and affable.
Why does the world report that Kate doth limp?
O slanderous world! Kate like the hazel-twig
Is straight and slender and as brown in hue
As hazel nuts and sweeter than the kernels.
O, let me see thee walk: thou dost not halt.

KATHARINA
Go, fool, and whom thou keep'st command.

These passages are very similar to each other. The attitude both Demetrius and Kate have to Helena and Pertruchio is almost identical. Both view them as nuisances and just want them to go away, constantly throwing insult after insult upon them and resisting them as much as possible. This does not affect Helena or Pertruchio; instead they stay persistent in expressing their love for the other no matter what horrible things they are being told or called. This language is apparent throughout each of the plays -- both filled with extreme insults and complete expressions and love to add onto the elements of contrast and serious yet comical outlook on love.

In addition to insults in A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare uses insults as well in The Tempest. Extreme insults are used upon many others, especially Caliban, and exchanged between the men on the ship and island. These insults serve a slightly different purpose. They still add comedy to the play, but they also show characteristics such as immaturity, hostility, and ignorance. The characters in these three plays are all shown as "stupid", juvenile, or too serious by the way they speak and express themselves.

Genre/Topic/Theme Comparison
A device that I found was extremely apparent in each work was the use of opposites. Each work has at least one pair of opposites: Helena and Hermia and Titania and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Pertruchio and Lucentio and Kate and Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew, and Ariel and Caliban in The Tempest.

In A Midsummer Night's Dream, the two most apparent opposites are Helena and Hermia. While Hermia is beautiful, tall, and loved by both Lysander and Demetrius, Helena is barely noticed by others because she is not as lovely and appealing as Hermia. Hermia has two men to choose from, and Helena cannot get the man she loves, Demetrius, to fall in love with her. This gives Helena envy on Hermia. At the end of the story, all is well and each women has their desired lover, but this is only by magic and the opposites between Helena and Hermia are still there. Another more comical opposite is Titania, Queen of the Fairies, and Bottom. Bottom is a craftsmen who acts like he possesses intelligence and poise while really he does not. This is shown quite literally by the transformation of Bottom to an ass. Titania, beautiful and fair, is completely opposite to the grotesque ass headed Bottom, yet she falls in love with him because of the love potion. This is the oddest and most unrealistic couple imaginable, yet the event occurs anyway. The use of opposites in this play adds to it comically and to contrast the characters, showing extraordinary events, especially when it comes to love and romance.

The Taming of the Shrew features two main sets of opposites: Pertruchio and Lucentio and Bianca and Kate. Bianca is loved by many, while Kate is loved by none. Kate is seen as a "shrew", a woman that no man would want to associate himself with in contrast to her beautiul, loving, and gentle younger sister Bianca. Their father has made a rule that Bianca cannot be married until Kate is, which creates a great deal of tension between the two. Lucentio meets Bianca and instantly falls in love with her. He is genuine and true and wants to marry her solely for the motive of true love. On the other hand, Pertruchio falls in love with Kate because he is told no one will marry her. His main motive is not love; it is to improve his wealth and social status. It would seem as though Bianca and Lucentio would have a better marriage compared to Kate and Pertruchio, but it is opposite in the end of the play. When the two men call their wives, Kate comes instantly while Bianca refuses. This shows the audience that Kate and Pertruchio have the better marriage. These opposites in the play show how marriage is sometimes used for social and economic status and lessens the importance of true love, in contrast to A Midsummer Night's Dream in which love the most important thing to the four lovers.

The pair of opposites we meet in The Tempest are Ariel and Caliban. Both are servants to Prospero on the island, but they are treated extremely differently. Ariel is loyal to Prospero, promised freedom for deeds which gives him an overall goal to work toward, assimilates with humans, and interferes in other's business. On the otherhand, Caliban is nasty and rebellious and bitter towards Prospero, has no goal, doesn't want to conform, and keeps to himself. In addition to these differences, Ariel is a fairy, viewed as magical and fun, while Caliban is seen as a hideous monster. This contrast gives an outlook on society during this time. It shows Caliban as the lowest class unworthy of even human treatment and Ariel as someone who has overcome obstacles to get what he wants. It also shows that virtually everyone is enslaved by something in life.

Personal Reflection/Comparison
I enjoyed all three of these plays very much. They all had similar yet different things to bring to the table and entertain the audience. Being comedies, they all had comic relief with several different techniques. The opposites discussed previously were used, physical comedy such as Bottom turning into an ass or Kate hitting people, extreme insults paired with full expressions of love, plays within a play, and one of the biggest sources of comedy: the fools. In all three of the plays, there were fools that were mocked and gave the audience someone to make fun of. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Bottom was a huge fool. Being turned into an ass, mistaking words for other meanings, messing up his lines in the play, and many other acts of his fed the audience's laughter. He added so much comedy to the play just by saying ridiculous things and being a ridiculous character. Sly was the fool in The Taming of the Shrew. A poor beggar dressed up and told he was a king just to be made fun of was funny enough. Once he actually believed that he was a person of importance it added so much more to his stupidity. He believed all of the things he was told just to feel special, which makes him an instant idiot. Stephano is also a fool in The Tempest. Once he agrees to wrong Prospero, he thinks he owns Caliban and believes he is powerful. In reality, he is just a butler. All of the fools in the plays have a distorted view of themselves while the audience sees the real characters. The fools made each play very comical and an enjoyable read. The magic used also made the plays even more entertaining.

Not only did all of the plays have great comical aspects, but they all had very important themes and life lessons. My favorite message was from The Tempest. The men from the ship are all stuck on the island because of a storm. Prospero and Miranda have been stuck on the island for years. Ferdinand has to undergo tests from Prospero in order to win Miranda's hand in marriage. Ariel has to work for Prospero to gain freedom. All the characters are faced with problems and obstacles that they have to face and overcome. Most of the characters get what they want at the end and things end happily. This gives the message that even though everyone in life is faced with problems and obstacles, you have to work through it and "weather the storm" to get what you want in the end. This to me was a great message that applies to life no matter what time period, whether it be Shakespeare's time or the 21st century.

All of these plays were extremely entertaining and fun to read. They are all filled with mixtures of comedy, seriousness, love, magic, and important life lessons. Judging by the three plays we read, I have to say I really enjoy Shakespearean comedy.