Death Knocks was written by Woody Allen, an author, an actor and a filmmaker. (Allen 1971, p.1052)The play Death Knocks comically transformed death, by its use of puns, which according to the theory of incongruity stated by Monro are funny (n.d, p.91). According to Freud’s definition of comedy “a person appears comic to us if, in comparison to ourselves makes too great an expenditure on his bodily functions and too little on his mental ones (n.d, p.752). But, also according to Meeker and Langer who state that comedy is use as a strategy of survival and to celebrate life (Meeker 1997, p.15; Langer p.762). Normally death is something tragic and not comical but because death in this play is portrayed by a person who delivers pun, it makes it
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Freud states “a person appears comic to us if, in comparison to ourselves makes too great an expenditure on his bodily functions and too little on his mental ones (n.d, p.752). This means when someone uses more physical energy or does more work than is needed to accomplish a task when in comparison to ourselves, we would then find this comical. Death is most often defined as a serious issue, not something we would usually make fun of. However, this is exactly what happens in Death Knocks; death is portrayed as a very clumsy character, named Death. For example Death’s entrance through the window; he climbs up the drainpipe. This leads to sequence of events; his heel gets caught in a vine and is hanging upside down, which leads to his cape tearing and he then falls to the ground. And when he finally manages to make it to the window he trips and falls into the room (Allen 1971, p 1052-1053). If you were to analysis Death’s entrance according to Freud, it would be viewed as comical because Death uses too much physical energy to come through a window, a very simplistic task. In comparison to someone else who tried they may not have trip coming through a window or got their heel caught in vines because the more intelligent solution would have been to come through the door. Though he states he wanted a more dramatic entrance he ended up getting a more comical …show more content…
We die having no say in the matter. The reason why we wish to bargain with death is because we want live or more so we do not want to die. In Deaths Knocks, we see this clearly. According to Meeker (1997) comedy is a “strategy for survival” (p.15). Since, we are aware of our mortality and the cruelty of life, Langer states we need comedy to be able to cherish life. That comedy is “an art form that arises naturally when people gather to celebrate life” (p.762). Though Nat and Death are not together to celebrate life but death, Nat still bargains with Death to gain an extra day of living (Allen 1971, p. 1054). So, Nat bargaining for his life is his way of cherishing, and in a way celebrating life. Which, both Meeker and Langer believe is comic because it is a tool we use to survive, thus continuing live. In brief, death is comically transformed when Nat bargains for his life, which is his strategy for survival and his way of showing he cherishes life, which according to Meeker and Langer is
Freud states “a person appears comic to us if, in comparison to ourselves makes too great an expenditure on his bodily functions and too little on his mental ones (n.d, p.752). This means when someone uses more physical energy or does more work than is needed to accomplish a task when in comparison to ourselves, we would then find this comical. Death is most often defined as a serious issue, not something we would usually make fun of. However, this is exactly what happens in Death Knocks; death is portrayed as a very clumsy character, named Death. For example Death’s entrance through the window; he climbs up the drainpipe. This leads to sequence of events; his heel gets caught in a vine and is hanging upside down, which leads to his cape tearing and he then falls to the ground. And when he finally manages to make it to the window he trips and falls into the room (Allen 1971, p 1052-1053). If you were to analysis Death’s entrance according to Freud, it would be viewed as comical because Death uses too much physical energy to come through a window, a very simplistic task. In comparison to someone else who tried they may not have trip coming through a window or got their heel caught in vines because the more intelligent solution would have been to come through the door. Though he states he wanted a more dramatic entrance he ended up getting a more comical …show more content…
We die having no say in the matter. The reason why we wish to bargain with death is because we want live or more so we do not want to die. In Deaths Knocks, we see this clearly. According to Meeker (1997) comedy is a “strategy for survival” (p.15). Since, we are aware of our mortality and the cruelty of life, Langer states we need comedy to be able to cherish life. That comedy is “an art form that arises naturally when people gather to celebrate life” (p.762). Though Nat and Death are not together to celebrate life but death, Nat still bargains with Death to gain an extra day of living (Allen 1971, p. 1054). So, Nat bargaining for his life is his way of cherishing, and in a way celebrating life. Which, both Meeker and Langer believe is comic because it is a tool we use to survive, thus continuing live. In brief, death is comically transformed when Nat bargains for his life, which is his strategy for survival and his way of showing he cherishes life, which according to Meeker and Langer is