5 characteristics of COMEDY

The drama is the gender corresponding to theater and, in this great genre, we find a subgenre that is known as comedy and that is one of the most important in the history of literature. We must not confuse the dramatic genre with the tragedy (a subgenre), two terms that are often used as synonyms today, but which are not at all.

In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to show you the Characteristics of the Dramatic Subgenre of Comedy and Examples so that you can better know what type of theatrical text we are facing.

Before listing the characteristics of comedy it is important that we understand what is it and where does it come from.

Comedy is a dramatic subgenre in which laughter and tangled plots are the main protagonists. Unlike the other subgenre, tragedy, comedy has a happy ending and a plot starring funny and satirical characters.

The definition of comedy is found in the Poeticsof Aristotle and, here, the author indicated that comedy was a exaggerated representation of life and where men were worse than they are in order to make the public laugh. Many of these characters embodied recognizable figures in real life and, therefore, the works had a background

satirical and critical.

If we think of the icon of the theater, we will quickly come to mind two representative faces: the laughing face (representing comedy) and the crying face (representing tragedy). And it is that since Ancient Greece, the theater was divided into these two subgenres and they were the only models that existed at the time. At the end of time, with the irruption of Lope de Vega theater, another subgenus was cultivated that was a hybrid of both traditions: the tragicomedy.

What is the origin of comedy?

To talk about the origin of comedy we have to go back to Ancient Greece and talk, in general, about the origin of the theater. And it is that comedy appeared at the same time as tragedy as two ways of seeing life: one positive and the other negative.

The theater began to be cultivated in ancient Greece as a form that evolved from songs that were performed to the god Dionysus. But the comedy drinks from the influence of dithyramb, a type of Greek composition in which satire and mimicry were used.

Aristophanes was the greatest exponent of the greek comedy and its influence also reached Roman culture, thus perpetuating its production. From rome spread throughout Europe and evolved in multiple forms such as the Italian Commedia dell'Arte or the Golden Age theater in Spain. Today, comedy continues to be a very important dramatic subgenre in our culture.

Now that we know the definition and its origin, we are going to discover which are the main characteristics of comedy in order to know the most prominent elements of this subgenre dramatic. The most important are the following:

1. Exaggerated characters. The characters who star in comedies are taken to the extreme. They usually represent beings who have a vice and who experience ridiculous and funny situations.
2. Archetypes. The characters of the comedy are also usually archetypes, that is, they are the representatives of a common vice in society (for example, greed, mischief, lies, etc.).
3. Objective: laughter. It is clear that one of the characteristics of comedy is to make the viewer laugh. But it is not a gratuitous laugh, but a type of humor that, through laughter, makes us reflect.
4. Social theme. In the vast majority of cases, the comedy is framed within a specific socio-political context. And it is that the characters will make us laugh, but they will also launch a message of denunciation or reflection on the world in which we live. Laughter becomes, therefore, the weapon of social denunciation.
5. Happy ending. It is another of the most prominent and most identifying elements of comedy of the subgenre. And, unlike tragedy, in comedy happy endings abound, thus providing viewers with good energy and a message full of positivity and hope.

The subgenre of comedy is so old and broad that experts have differentiated different types of comedy that respond to elements such as the plot or the characters that star in the work. The classification of comedy that has been carried out differentiates these types:

• Old comedy. It is the original comedy, coming from classic writers such as the aforementioned Aristophanes, but also others such as Cratés or Cratinos.
• Of tangles. It is the type of comedy in which plots and subplots are mixed in a crazy way and where misunderstandings are the main axis of the mess. Lope de Vega is a master of this type.
• Shepherd comedy. It is a type of comedy that is based on the idyllic life of the shepherds in the field. Here the theme usually revolves around love situations that, due to misunderstandings, become complicated and become stories full of humor.
• Satirical comedy. They are works in which the will is to ridicule personalities or entities known to all. The characters are often presented with mockery and enhancing their flaws.
• Physical comedy or slapstick. It is a type of comedy that is based on the different accidents suffered by the protagonist or the characters (blows, falls ...).
• Musical. It is another of the types of comedy that currently exist and in which the characters not only speak and perform, but also sing and dance. There may also be musical tragedies, everything will depend on the elements that the work in question has.

To finish this lesson we are going to discover some examples of comedy that have been seen within the dramatic genre. As we have already commented, it is a very broad subgenre that has been among us for many years, therefore, there are a large number of examples. Here are some of the highlights:

• Lysistrata by Aristophanes

1. The Trickster of Sevilleby Tirso de Molina

1. The importance of being called Ernesto by Oscar Wilde.
2. The imaginary patient by Moliere
3. The merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
4. The dog in the manger by Lope de Vega