How does humor factor into a tragedy? Shakespeare knew the answer to this question and acted upon it quite frequently. Shakespeare has been known to write comedies and tragedies both but this does not qualify him at to not incorporate a little of each into each other. In the work of Hamlet there are many occasions where Shakespeare uses it for different effects. The main reason for the presence of humor within a tragedy is to keep the reader interested. Shakespeare uses many forms of humor including but not limiting wit, pun's, and casual jokes. In the work of Hamlet, Hamlet is usually the character that Shakespeare chooses to bring out the humor in anything. He becomes a very diverse character in this sense considering he can make a joke out of dead people and even people he kills. Rather a charming person in the face of unpleasant events.

To be able to understand humor, we must accept that we cannot understand all of it. Why something is funny is only determined by the reader and him or herself alone. The smile is the natural expression of the satisfaction that attends the success of any striving. Hamlet often finds humorous occasions especially after he has done so

Sick humor is a kind of comedy that allows the character to become more comfortable with his company. Before the play had started, there is a moment when Hamlet is particularly nasty to Ophelia. He asks her if he could lay in her lap and during the Elizabethan time, this most commonly meant to have some sort of sexual encounter with another woman. This causes Ophelia to reply "no my lord." Hamlet is just trying to make things better with this play of words. She thinks him to be mad and Hamlet is really trying to convince her that he is not. He knew what he was saying he just meant for Hamlet to lie his head in her lap during the play.

Two of the most odd and certainly comic people in the work of Hamlet, are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Both of these people are considered to be friends of Hamlet by the Queen when in actuality they are not at all. Irony being another form of humor takes roll with these two as they are sent with a death warrant for Hamlet while Hamlet some how knows this he replaces the warrant with one for the death of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. They call the play of Hamlet "the tragedy of multiplicity" for a good reason considering the state of friendship that also changes very often.

mething that affects another character. He takes the "inside joke" to the limits and smiles upon the defeat of his enemies. This is especially true with the relationship between him and his father-by-marriage. Hamlet puts on the play so that he may have a reassurance that his true father was wrongfully killed by his uncle Claudius. Once the play had ended so abruptly Hamlet smiles upon the dismay of Claudius knowing that he has finally found the source of revenge. This is not so much humor in a good since but rather a cynical wit of Hamlet. Because of this sort of wit, Hamlet is considered to be a mentally sick person but Hamlet is however sane in his actions.

It is still a held tradition of our culture that tragedy is nobler than comedy and tears more characteristic of mankind than laughter (Horrace preface). Ophelia is one who is emotionally unstable and sheds tears upon her own tragedy with her relationship

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Approximate Word count = 1453
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)