Fawlty Towers Vs Commedia

A detailed Summary of Fawlty Towers Vs Commedia

The aim of this essay is to examine the drama elements used in "Faulty Towers" and to compare and contrast this British comedy with the Italian street theatre, Commedia Dell 'arte.

"Faulty Towers" episode "Kipper and the Corpse" uses many of the same comical devices as Commedia. This drama is based in a hotel and focuses on the misfortunes of the owners and the staff as they try to run this business.

There are four main characters in the 1970's British comedy. These characters include Basil Fawlty who is the owner of the Hotel. Basil has constant mood swings and is quite money hungry.

Cybil Fawlty is Basil's wife and she nags Basil a lot and always has something to winge about. Basil and Cybil's relationship is comical as it not the ultimate marriage.

There are two servants, Polly and Manuel. Polly is a maid who is intellectual and humorous. Polly often assists Basil to get out of trouble.

Manuel is the Bus Boy who is Spanish and can't speak English fluently. Manuel often misunderstands people. For instance, one of the guests asks for a bowl o

Commedia uses stock characters and is a form of theatre for the common man.

Manuel is very short and this creates humour.

Although these two comedies were created many era's apart they are both very similar.

There is higher status shown toward the female characters in "Faulty Towers."

Sexual Innuendo is also part of Commedia. Columbina expresses this element alot through her movement. She is always playing with her hair and moves her body in a rather sexual way especially in her hips.

"Faulty Towers" is a more modern drama produced for the television audience whereas Commedia was produced for the Live street theatre medium.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 712
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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