Much Ado About NothingWilliam Shakespeare

AQA English Literature – Unit 2 Dramatic GenresWeek 2 of Comedy Lesson 1 and 2

INTRODUCTION!

TASK: In pairs or on your own Using the clip I am about to show you or your own choices of comedies discuss and then answer the following questions on aspects of comedy:

1. What are the common features?2. How are the storylines generally structured?3. What makes the storylines comic?4. What types of comedy do you most enjoy?

Jot down notes and be ready to feedback on all points.

What is comedy?

Remember: We are looking at Dramatic Comedy in this Unit. Whilst modern day stand up-comedy may have some similarities it is a

different genre of comedy essentially.

TASK: In pairs or on your own Using the clip I am about to show you or your own choices of comedies discuss and then answer the following questions on aspects of comedy:

1. What are the common features?2. How are the storylines generally structured?3. What makes the storylines comic?4. What types of comedy do you most enjoy?

Jot down notes and be ready to feedback on all points.

What is comedy?

Remember: We are looking at Dramatic Comedy in this Unit. Whilst modern day stand up-comedy may have some similarities it is a

different genre of comedy essentially.

In short: At the heart of comedy is disorder (so inversion of the normal order of society) which may be funny or threatening. This disorder is overcome and things return to normal.

Beyond the laughter element is the idea that human life and experience are actually are a charade and whenever presented with a point of order humans have a natural ability to act foolish.

The structure can be summed up as exposition, complication and resolution.

• TV shows- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v2EjaujbZQ Alfie• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OutWeyHnc9Y Alfie joke• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxB1gB6K-2A tate• TV shows 2- • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QzcL0J9MWk tv clips• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfl6Lu3xQW0 war

• Films- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OLmxzmID3s clips• Films 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YUaQGEQ8-Q mean girls• Films 3- • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBFVCaLkbXM movies 2007

onwards

Love as the driving force (love makes us foolish and makes us do foolish things)

That whilst there are serious difficulties to be faced, human beings have a tendency to take themselves too seriously

Makes fun of human beings using caricature Human endeavour as pretentious and ludicrous therefore needing to be

exposed as foolish. Expose foolishness of society’s customs & manners or an era’s rules and

laws this is (characters very often hold one opinion about societies rules and customs but then undermine them)

Exaggerations of stereotypes are often used Sometimes characters are placed in bizarre or absurd situations they

can not escape from – reflecting how we sometimes feel – that the order of the world is a veneer and can easily be removed

Seven deadly sins (in particular pride, lust and greed) are all prime targets for satire within comic writing.

Characteristics of Dramatic Comedy

Is there a serious side to

comedy?

Love as the driving force (love makes us foolish and makes us do foolish things)

That whilst there are serious difficulties to be faced, human beings have a tendency to take themselves too seriously

Makes fun of human beings using caricature Human endeavour as pretentious and ludicrous therefore needing to be

exposed as foolish. Expose foolishness of society’s customs & manners or an era’s rules and

laws this is (characters very often hold one opinion about societies rules and customs but then undermine them)

Exaggerations of stereotypes are often used Sometimes characters are placed in bizarre or absurd situations they

can not escape from – reflecting how we sometimes feel – that the order of the world is a veneer and can easily be removed

Seven deadly sins (in particular pride, lust and greed) are all prime targets for satire within comic writing.

Characteristics of Dramatic Comedy

Is there a serious side to

comedy?

Comedy ...no laughing matter

Life does not always go to plan. Comedy understands this and uses these difficulties to show us the folly of human beings

and their behaviour. This is its very serious intent. By laughing at the misfortunes of characters on stage, we contemplate our own weakness and realise we

may do the same.

Within a comedy, there is always an overall movement towards happiness or fulfilment.

Many genres are characterised by a particular shape of action. Most obvious, perhaps, is romantic comedy, which begins in discord and ends in accord […] The plots of many romantic comedies also briefly contain, and all suggest, a time of harmony before the disharmony. The feeling that there is a natural order of things to be returned to … Plays that work towards a happy final synthesis are said to have a comic structure. Mick Wallis and Simon Shepherd: Studying Plays (2010) Beyond laughter and jesting, for both performers and audiences in the theatre, comedy exists as a narrative form or structure. This form is based on the expectation that the delightful temporary disorder of the tale will be resolved with reincorporation into normal society. Penny Gay: The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare’s Comedies (2008)

Stop and think

SOME HEAVY QUESTIONS TO START...

What is heavier, love or hate?

What is better to have, love or wealth?

What is more important, friends or family?

The Beginnings of Dramatic Comedy

In the 5th Century BC. Greek writers (such as Sophocles) wrote a number of comedies that seemed

to establish some rules.

The Greek word Komos

means a revel or

celebration

The Beginnings of Dramatic ComedyF.L. Lucas in Greek Drama for the Modern Reader summarises these Greek rules:1. Some character has a bright but often ridiculous idea2. A chorus, sympathetic or hostile enters (this may be one

character)3. There is a debate about the proposal4. The chorus turns and address the audience directly5. Series of farcical episodes arise6. At the end there is a scene of revelling, such as a feast or

wedding

TASK: In groups, discuss and be ready to feed back.These values are from a long time ago but...

Can any of them be applied to comedies you know well? What connections can you see? Are these statements about comedy still relevant?

The Greek Philosopher

Aristotle ...on Tragedy v Comedy

Tragedy: depicts the downfall of a basically good person through some fatal error or misjudgement, producing suffering and insight on the part of the protagonist and arousing pity and fear on the part of the audience. It and comedy are two of the oldest forms of drama, hence the masks.

The fatal flaw of the tragic hero leads to their downfall.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall presenting the audience with a man of excessive wealth or power, makes his eventual downfall more tragic.

Tragic heroes fall victim to external pressures. Fate, evil spirits and manipulative characters all play a hand in the hero’s downfall.

a story of the rise in fortune of a sympathetic central character.

Imitation of the ordinary man (so not Kings, gods, nobility)

Laughing at ‘the species which is disgraceful’ – we laugh when we witness the disgraceful behaviour of others, behaviour we would not do ourselves but that we might like to do.

Watching comedy must not be ‘painful or destructive’ – whereas watching tragedy is more mentally anguishing.

Comedy, from the Greek komoida:

Roman ComedyThe Romans (now around 50 BC) enjoyed comedy.

They developed the genre but knew they were indebted to the Greeks.

TASK: Look at the following conventions developed by Roman dramatists. How many of them do you see in modern comedies?

Stereotypical characters (e.g. Young lovers, villain, grumpy old man) Sub-plot Unity of place (action takes place in one place) Mistaken identity Comical confusion of words (malapropism) Lovable comic servants Hidden characters Chance encounters and coincidence Asides to the audience Interlocking plots Division into acts and scenes Long lost siblings or rivals returning

Extension Question: Do you think any of the above elements could be applied to any Shakespearian comedies you already know?

Homework:1.On the following slides are key

terms. Match these up to the definitions you have been given on your handout 1.

2.You then need to find examples of at least 3 of the key terms from Much Ado Nothing.

• Antagonist•Bathos•Bawdy•Caricature•Charade•Chorus •Conventions •Disorder•Double entendre•Exposition, complication and resolution

•Farcical•Folly•Humanist•Malapropism•Parody•Protagonist•Pun•Repartee•Revel•Slapstick•Tragi-comedies

Answers for the Key term definitions are on the key

terms of the blog