Shakespeare, Tragedy and Comedy.pptx

Tragedy and Comedy in
Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet
Hamlet
Twelfth Night
The Merchant of Venice
WHITE SPACES - Culture, literature and languages

The Structure of Tragedy
• The play begins harmoniously,
although the audience are often
warned of impending disaster
• The sense of happiness increases
until it reaches the climax
• This moment of extreme happiness
is quickly followed by a moment of
crisis when everything starts to
change
• The situation declines until it
reaches the final catastrophe which
often involves death and isolation

The Tragic Hero
• The hero / heroine comes from the
upper echelons of society
• Hostile destiny seems to be
controlling his / her life
• He / She has a fatal character flaw
which precipitates the downfall
• He / She is psychologically complex,
multi-faceted
• Monologue and soliloquy are used to
reveal feelings and depth of character
• His / her speeches use heightened
and figurative language

Romeo and Juliet 1
• We know the play will be a
tragedy because the Prologue
tells us this clearly
• This device raises the level of
tension from the beginning of
the play and is only relieved by
intermittent episodes of
comedy
• The Nurse is the principal
comic character in the play, but
Romeo’s friends also provide
comic relief, although one of
them will be killed

Romeo and Juliet 2
• Romeo and Juliet are from two
opposing families, who hate each
other with a passion
• They fall in love with each at first
sight, thus setting the scene for the
tragedy that will unfold
• The play progresses through a
series of secret meetings, the fear
of being discovered, to the
marriage of Romeo and Juliet by a
Friar, the only person who knows
what is going on

Romeo and Juliet 3
• The marriage is the high point
of happiness for the couple,
but the audience knows that
they are doomed
• A series of misunderstandings
and undelivered letters lead to
the climax of the play
• The actor who reads the
Prologue also reads the final
speech, closing the circle round
the tragic couple

Hamlet: A Revenge Tragedy
• Hamlet is a special kind of tragedy
referred to as a ‘revenge tragedy’
• In revenge tragedy, a ghost or spirit
often provides the motive for
revenge
• Disguise and deception play an
important role
• Madness and feigned madness also
feature
• The hero must carry out the
revenge but he delays and hesitates

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark 1
• Hamlet is one of the most complex
characters in Shakespearean tragedy
• We are never sure if he is pretending
to be mad, or is in fact mad, in order
to take revenge for his father’s murder
• The audience knows that his father, the
king, has been murdered because his
father’s ghost tells Hamlet
• There is therefore an element of the
supernatural in the play

• The powerful themes of
revenge, love and hate are
present throughout the play
• There is one brief comic scene
to lighten the tension, but it is
set in a graveyard, so could be
called black comedy
• The character of Polonius,
Ophelia’s father, is to some
degree amusing, but he will be
among the many victims of the
plot

• The play contains one of the most
famous monologues in English
literature:
To be or not to be: that is the
question…..
It has been interpreted in many
different ways and is the turning point
of the play, when Hamlet knows what
he must do
The action proceeds irrevocably to its
tragic, even cataclysmic, end, with all
the major characters dead

Hamlet – The Final Scene
• King Claudius plots with Laertes, brother
of Ophelia, who has gone mad after
Hamlet kills her father Polonius and
drowned herself
• Laertes challenges Hamlet to a duel:
Laertes’ rapier has poison on it, but in
case it goes wrong, Claudius has
prepared a cup of poisoned wine for
Hamlet
• It ends with Claudius, Queen Gertrude,
Laertes and Hamlet dead: Hamlet is
revenged on Claudius but at a terrible
cost

The Structure and Characters
of Comedy
• In the introduction the audience
shares the problems and
misfortunes of the characters
• As the play develops,
complications are added until the
situation seems impossible to
solve
• In the closing scenes, the
problems begin to unravel until
the denouement, when all is
sorted
• There is a happy ending, often
with more than one marriage and
songs
• The characters are often ‘flat’ –
types or caricatures

Types of Humour
Comedies make use of
different types of humour
Verbal humour (puns, paradox,
melodrama, hyperbole, … in the
characters’ words)
Behavioural humour (humour
in the characters’ behaviour)
Situational humour (humour
which arises from incredible or
improbable situations on stage)

Twelfth Night 1
• “Twelfth Night” contains comic
elements that appeal both to
modern and sixteenth-century
audiences
• Mistaken identity, cross-
dressing, riotous drunken
behaviour and satire go hand in
hand with grief and unrequited
love
• The elements of grief and
unrequited love are resolved
happily for those concerned

Twelfth Night 2
• During Shakespeare’s time, women were not
allowed to act
• Viola would therefore have been played by a
boy, which makes the transformation of Viola
into Cesario even more farcical
• The Lady Olivia falls in love with Cesario, which
leads to many problems
• It has been said that Shakespeare was making
fun of the prohibition against women actors

Twelfth Night 3
• A sub-plot interweaves with the main plot
and concerns Olivia’s uncle, Sir Toby Belch
and his friend Sir Andrew Aguecheek
• Olivia’s steward Malvolio is angry with
them for being drunk and Maria, Olivia’s
maid, takes revenge on him for being
arrogant and humourless
• Malvolio is not a sympathetic character,
but does not deserve being humiliated,
and he leaves the stage in anger

The Merchant of Venice 1
• The play contains
elements of comedy
but also of tragedy
• Shylock is
psychologically complex
and delivers a powerful
monologue worthy of a
tragic hero
• While in one of the
most comic scenes, the
wealthy Portia is
courted by princes. She
thinks they are
ridiculous and makes
fun of them

• Bassanio needs money to court
Portia but his friend Antonio has
no ready money available to
lend him
• Antonio borrows money from
the Merchant Shylock but the
latter also demands ‘insurance’
on his loan – a pound of
Antonio’s flesh if he is not repaid
• Antonio agrees, sure of his
finances but then discovers he is
ruined

• When Antonio is confronted with the
possibility he may have to lose a pound
of his flesh, the mood darkens
• Portia cross-dresses as a male lawyer
and saves Antonio
• The comedy in the tense scene at court
rests on Portia’s interpretation of ‘a
pound of flesh’, and on the fact that her
own husband, Bassanio, does not
recognise her
• Portia takes advantage of this to test
her husband: she is one of
Shakespeare’s strongest women

. In the ending of “The Merchant of Venice” , Shylock is forced to become a Christian
. There was a great deal of anti-semitism in Europe at the time Shakespeare was writing
. Shakespeare gives Shylock speeches which speak out against the mistreatment of Jews

Shakespeare, Tragedy and Comedy.pptx

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