Shakespeare Comedy

Traditionally, William Shakespeare’s plays have been classified into 3 groups such as comedies, tragedies and histories. Some of the critics disagree for a 4 th group known as the romance. Comedy in the period of Elizabethan was entirely different from the current comedy.

The comedy written by Shakespeare ends on a happy ending including marriage for all those characters who are not married and a style and tone that is more cheerful as compared to other plays of Shakespeare. Examples in the comedies of Shakespeare consist of association to a ‘green world’ both external and internal quarrels and a strain between Dionysian and Apollonian values.

The comedies of Shakespeare also likely to have the following:-

• Mistaken identities
• Unification and separation
• Recurrent use of puns
• A clever servant
• An effort of young lovers to conquer troubles which is frequently obtainable by elders
• Interconnecting and multiple plots
• Delicate tensions within a family

Many of the comedies of Shakespeare like All’s Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure have a remarkable tone with a complicated combination of tragedy and humour which has directed them to be grouped as tragicomedies and problem plays.

It is not apparent whether the irregular nature of these comedies is the result of a liability on the part of Shakespeare, a defective perceptive of the society and humour of Elizabethan or an intentional effort by him to puzzled expectations and mix styles.

Comedies of Shakespeare

As You Like It

This comedy of Shakespeare is an idyllic comedy which is written in the year 1599 and early 1600. The play was placed in a duchy at French but most of the acts take place in the Forest of Arden .

The Comedy of Errors

This comedy was written in the year 1592 to 1594 by William Shakespeare. This is one of his shortest plays and most ridiculous as the humor is obtained from the wordplay and puns and a large portion arrives from mistaken identity and slapstick. The Comedy of Errors is unique for examining the traditional harmonies.

Measure for Measure

This play was written in the year 1603. This play is considered to be the problem play of the writer as it cannot be simply grouped as comedy or tragedy.

The Merchant of Venice

This play of Shakespeare was written in the year 1594 to 1597 and considered to be the best play among all of them. It is a best known comedy recognized for its description of the Jew Shylock who has elevated the queries of anti-semitism.