How Shakespear Creats Humor in A Midsummer

A detailed Summary of How Shakespear Creats Humor in A Midsummer

To create humor in drama, one must either make witty

wordplay, create an amusing situation, or use physical

comedy. Often jokes may be incorporated into a play, or a

comic situation may result in a series of complicated

antics. The tradition for some of these comic devices has

been carried over for hundreds of years, dating back to

Shakespeare in the 1600's. In his play, A Midsummer Night's

Dream, Shakespeare creates humor through three diverse

devices: oxymoron's, malapropisms and mistaken identities.

All result in a farcical mix of comic situations.

Wordplay, such as the use of oxymorons, is an abundant

source of humor in Shakespeare. The word oxymoron comes

from the Greek meaning "pointedly foolish." Pointedly

foolish certainly applies to the mechanicals, whose

ignorance provides the root of all their comedy in the play.

For example, Quince refers to the play of Pyramus and Thisbe

as "the most lamentable comedy." (Iii 9) This does not make

much sense, since we would hardly express sorrow over a

comedy. However, as it turns out, the pathetic production

they eventually put on is so bad it actually is lamentable.

When Bottom says: "I'll speak in a monstrous little voice,"

reversal of situations are comic and the complexity of one

these devices creates one of the classic and brilliant

instead of too little. There is also dramatic irony because

Wordplay is not the only type of humor generated in

engaged to wed against Hermia's will. They all end up

exasperation is ironic, because now she has too much love

Approximate Word count = 908
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

join now Save Paper

Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

"Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
Jack M.
"With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
Brian P.
"I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
Sara J.
"I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
Rachel W.
"I love this site!!!"
Marie N.