A presentation on Comedy. Comedy is literary a type of dramatic work that is amusing, most have cheerful ending. It lives by the laughter of the audience, but it may become literature by some grace of form that carries the laughter from one generation to another.​ Aristotle explained – Comedy is a concern with events and persons of less importance, and appealing to the sense of ludicrous

1. COMEDY
MALIAT AMINA FAIROOZ
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
EASTERN UNIVERSITY

2. OVERVIEW
What Is comedy?
Origin of comedy
Elements of comedy
Types of comedy
Examples

3. What is comedy?
Comedy is literary a type of dramatic work that is
amusing, most have cheerful ending. It lives by the
laughter of the audience, but it may become literature
by some grace of form that carries the laughter from
one generation to another.
A comedy is defined as a dramatic work that is written
for the purpose to amuse or entertain the audience
Aristotle explained – Comedy is a concern with events
and persons of less importance, and appealing to the sense
of ludicrous.

4. Origin of
Comedy
According to Aristotle, ancient comedy
originated with the Komos. Then the word
“comedy” came into modern usages through the
Latin word Comoedia and Italian Commedia.
During the Middle Ages the term comedy
became synonymous with satire and later with
humor. After the Latin traditions of the 12th
century, the term comedy gained more general
meaning in Medieval literature.

5. Elements of
Comedy
Substance: It is text, words, sentences, phrases,
or dialogues that are used in comedy.
Expression and Communication: It is the communicative
ability of the actors and the persons in question.
Originality: It means the nature of jokes and content.
Timing and Rhythm: It is the situation and the use of
jokes and fun to suit the purpose.
Setting: It means where you perform and how you perform
in a specific situation.

6. Types of
Comedy

7. Comedy of
Manners
A comedy of manner is a type of comedy that
satirically portrays the manners and fashions
of a particular class or set. .
 A playwright requires sophisticated wit and
talent to write a comedy of manners. These
comedies often used minimal physical action.
 Much Ado about Nothing by William
Shakespeare can be considered the first comedy
of manners in England

8. Comedy of
Humours
The comedy of humour is a genre of dramatic
comedy that focuses on a character or the
range of characters, each of them exhibits two
or more humours that dominate their
personality.
Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well and
Jonson’s Every Man out of His Humour are
notable to be an important part of comedy of
humours.

9. Comedy of
Idea In the comedy of idea, the characters argue
about important issues like war, gender,
marriage and government. The comedy looks
at the foolish idea behind an issue.
. The dialogue remains the best element in
comedy of ideas. In the comedy of ideas, stage
directions are written in narrative style; they are
extremely detailed.
George Bernard Shaw was the first and the most
succeeded author of the comedy of ideas. His
notable works are – The Widower’s professions,
Candida, Man and Superman etc

10. Examples of Comedy
There are many writers in English literature such as William Shakespeare and
Ben Jonson who wrote many popular comedies and dramas in English literature
and which were the most popular works of all time. Here are the best works of
comedies in English literature:
1. Every Men in His Humor – Ben Johnson
2. Comedy of Errors – William Shakespeare
3. Man and Superman – G. B. Shaw
4. A Mid Summer Night’s Dream– William Shakespeare

11. THANK YOU