Abstract
There are two main problems which face the student and lover of comedy right at the outset. The first is that there has been over the centuries a steady tone in the statements of critical theorists — frequently accompanied by an unspoken agreement in the minds of their readers — implying that dramatic comedy is tragedy’s poor sister, an inferior, unserious and essentially trivial form.
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References
L. C. Knights, ‘Notes on Comedy’, in P. Lauter (ed.), Theories of Comedy (New York: Doubleday, 1964), p. 432.
Stanley Wells (ed.), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1967), p. 24.
Northrop Frye, ‘The Argument of Comedy’, in D. A. Robertson, Jr (ed.), English Institute Essays1948 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1949), pp. 58–73.
G. Gregory Smith in J. A. Barish (ed.), Jonson’s ‘Volpone’: A Selection of Critical Essays (London: Macmillan, 1972), p. 54.
S. Musgrove, ‘Tragical Mirth: King Lear and Volpone’, in Barish, ibid., pp. 118–32.
Cited by W. Sypher (ed.), Comedy (New York: Doubleday, 1956), pp. 63–4.
Gāmini Salgādo, English Drama: A Critical Introduction (London: Edward Arnold, 1980), p. 143. Salgādo regards this as a prejudiced, stereotyped view.
Copyright information
© 1983 G. J. Watson
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Watson, G.J. (1983). Comedy and Satire: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘Volpone’, and Later Developments in Comedy. In: Drama. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-17121-7_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-17121-7_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
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