SHAKESPEARE'S COMEDIES PLAYS

 In Shakespearean comedy, forces of chaos seem to contribute to a larger harmony; the promiscuity of unregulated sexual desire leads to a prospect of constancy and marriage.  This is the reason why Shakespeare’s Comedy Plays always include marriage in the end.  Shakespeare was very familiar with classical Greek comedy.  The Grecian “Old Comedy” was generally satirical and frequently political in nature, containing within it an abundance of sexual innuendos.  He also includes the comedy styles of Commedia dell’arte.  He uses the stock characters akin to Commedia dell’arte such as the foolish old man, the devious bravado, or military officers full of false bravado.  Shakespeare took the best comedic traits of various styles of Comedy and applied them to his 18 comedies.

 John Garrett (London 1959).  In an essay entitled "The Basis of Shakespearian Comedy," Professor Nevill Coghill…. pointed out that there were two conceptions of comedy current in the sixteenth century, both going back to grammarians of the fourth century, but radically opposed to each other. By the one definition, a comedy was a story beginning in sadness and ending in happiness. By the other it was, in Sidney’s words, "an imitation of common errors of out life" represented "in the most ridiculous and scornful sort that may be; so that it is impossible that any beholder can be content to be such a one." Shakespeare, he declared, accepted the first; Johnson, the second….

A further sub genre of the comedy is the tragicomedy - a serious play with a happy ending. For example, Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale could be considered a tragicomedy because it reaches a tragic climax but ends with a happy conclusion. Here is a list of Shakespearean comedies:

A further subgenre of the comedy is the tragicomedy - a serious play with a happy ending. For example, Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale could be considered a tragicomedy because it reaches a tragic climax but e

The plot is very important in Shakespeare's comedies. They are often very convoluted, twisted and confusing, and extremely hard to follow. Another characteristic of Shakespearean comedy is the themes of love and friendship, played within a courtly society. Songs often sung by a jester or a fool parallel the events of the plot. Also, foil and stock characters are often inserted into the plot.

Love provides the main ingredient for the plot. If the lovers are unmarried when the play opens, they either have not met or there is some obstacle in the way of their love. Examples of the obstacles these lovers go through are familiar to every reader of Shakespeare: the slanderous tongues which nearly wreck love in Much Ado About Nothing; the father insistent upon his daughter marrying his choice, as in A Midsummer Nights Dream; or the expulsion of the rightful Duke's daughter in As You Like It.

Shakespeare uses many predictable patterns in his plays. The hero rarely appears in the opening lines; however, we hear about him from other characters. The hero does not normally make an entrance for a few lines, at least, if not a whole scene. The hero is also virtuous and strong, but he always possesses a character flaw.

In the comedy itself, Shakespeare assumes that we know the basic plot, and he jumps right into it with little or no explanation. Foreshadowing and foreboding are put in the play early and can be heard throughout the drama. Many Shakespearean comedies have five acts. The climax of the play is always during the third act.

nds with a happy conclusion. Here is a list of Shakespearean comedies: 

• All's Well That Ends Well
• As You Like It
• The Comedy of Errors
• Cymbeline
• Love's Labour's Lost
• Measure for Measure
• The Merchant of Venice
• The Merry Wives of Windsor
• A Midsummer Night's Dream
• Much Ado About Nothing
• Pericles Prince of Tyre
• Taming of the Shrew
• The Tempest
• Twelfth Night
• The Two Gentlemen of Verona
• The Winter's Tale