The Human Comedy

In some instances, Shakespeare 's play 'Twelfth Night ' could be seen as a romantic comedy due to the common themes of despair and infatuation that the audience find to be amusing. The play 's main focus is romantic love, and the many aspects of comedy derive from seeing characters pining after one another. However, the play itself could be seen as a satire due to the stereotypical vision of love that is created. Shakespeare often mocks the idealistic image of love by demonstrating emotions as…

Satire VS Ancient Greek Satire: Political Satire originated in the 4th century BCE in Greece, in what was known as the Aristophanic Comedy. Aristophanes was a playwright of ancient Athens who used comedy to mock and explicitly criticize the governmental system at the time. His powers of ridicule were feared and acknowledged by politicians of the time. Aristophanes’ comedy was peculiarly democratic in a period where democracy was in stages of instability in Ancient Greece. Also, his plays and…

Peter Ustinov, an English actor, had once said that “comedy is simply a funny way of being serious” (goodreads.com). Comedy is often utilized as a sort of crutch and platform to highlight issues- be it people’s problems, the insane global climate, or to express the absurdity of it all. Great comedians always have a point to make, and George Carlin makes a point to castigate the custom of offering help after the death of someone and the concept of human rights. In George Carlin’s special, “It’s…

When it comes to comedy movies, what names pop to your head? Jim Carrey in Liar Liar (1997), Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun (1988), Will Ferrell in Anchorman (2004)? Or maybe if you have a more "sophisticated" taste, Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977) or Coen Brothers' The Big Lebowski (1998)? All of these Hollywood films are fun and memorable in their own way, but there is a younger lad coming from the moores of England who has altered the understanding of comedy in cinema. In this paper, I am…

holding a chair in the philosophy department at the University of Manitoba. He writes in his essay, The Simpsons, Hyper-Irony, and the Meaning of Life, about how all comedy has a similar pattern of quotationalism and hyper-irony. He does this to inform the reader of the rise of pop-culture parodies, and how this has affected comedy in history. In Matheson’s essay, he argues that hyper-irony undercuts the moral agenda throughout the plot and the development of the characters. He does this by…

known by his stage name as Molière, and Henrik Johan Ibsen (1828-1906). Molière was born on January 15th in Paris, France and is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature. I have chosen Molière as one of my two playwrights because I believe that one of the ways to ‘save society’ is through comedy. Ibsen was born on the March 20th in Skien, Norway. He is often referred to as ‘the father’ of realism and is one of the founders of modernism in theatre. Ibsen is the…

At the Blue Creek Festival, they roamed the streets in period piece costumes with gothic undertones. The fare for the day was striped socks, bowler hats, exaggerated shoes, stilt walking French aristocrats, a cartoon cannon filled with a potential human projectile, a sweet faced vampire atop an ornately ordained motorized carriage. The costumes are museum quality art pieces with countless details that you would have to see for yourself. In 1999 Mike and Dan formed Handsome Little Devils and…

Comedy is a form of entertainment that has been alive since the Ancient Greeks started it and generations have loved it. Today, this is still true, which is why comedians are placed high in our society. They create movies, life lavish lives, and are idolized due to the power of laughter. Although some subjects that are discussed should not be brought up, comedians are extremely important to today’s society due to the health benefits of laughter, strengthening of relationships, and awareness of…

To me, comedy is a funny story, joke, or sentence that makes me laugh out loud and that allows me to forget all my problems and miseries. I find the American sitcom “Friends” to be very funny. In each episode of the sitcom that ran for ten seasons, starting in 1994 and ending in 2004, the 6 friends: Rachel, Ross, Joey, Chandler, Phoebe, and Monica encountered different problems and situations that they solved in their own unique way. Watching comedy is like taking a break, having a good laugh,…

responsibilities,… and there is no way out of it that people are sinking into depression. People find a way to release those pressures through different types of entertainment, such as: cinema, comedy shows, music, sports, games and the list goes on and on. But the most effective way to entertain is through humor, the art of comedy, because trying to be happy is a good way to stop worrying.…