In general, drama refers to works that are intended to be staged. They differ from narrative ones in that the presence of the author is practically not felt and they are built on dialogue.
Genres of literature by content
Any is a historically established and developed type. It's called a genre (from the French genre- genus, species). In relation to the different ones, four main ones can be named: lyrical and lyroepic, as well as epic and dramatic.
- The first, as a rule, includes poetic works of the so-called small forms: poems, elegies, sonnets, songs, etc.
- The lyric epic genre includes ballads and poems, i.e. large forms.
- Narrative examples (from the essay to the novel) are examples of epic works.
- The dramatic genre is represented by tragedy, drama and comedy.
Comedy in Russian literature, and not only in Russian literature, was quite actively developed already in the 18th century. True, it was considered of lower origin compared to epic and tragedy.
Comedy as a literary genre
A work of this type is a type of drama where some characters or situations are presented in a funny or grotesque form. As a rule, it exposes something with the help of laughter, humor, and often satire, be it human vices or some unsightly aspects of life.
Comedy in literature is the opposition to tragedy, at the center of which there is certainly an insoluble conflict. And its noble and sublime hero must make a fatal choice, sometimes at the cost of his life. In comedy, the opposite is true: the character is absurd and funny, and the situations in which he finds himself are no less absurd. This distinction arose in antiquity.
Later, in the era of classicism, it was preserved. The heroes were portrayed according to moral principles as kings and burghers. But nevertheless, comedy in literature set itself such a goal - to educate, ridiculing shortcomings. The definition of its main features was given by Aristotle. He proceeded from the fact that people are either bad or good, differ from each other either in vice or virtue, therefore the worst should be portrayed in comedy. And tragedy is designed to show those who are better than those existing in real life.
Types of comedies in literature
The cheerful dramatic genre, in turn, has several types. Comedy in literature is also vaudeville and farce. And according to the nature of the image, it can also be divided into several types: comedy of situations and comedy of manners.
Vaudeville, being a genre variety of this dramatic type, is a light stage performance with entertaining intrigue. In it, a large place is devoted to singing couplets and dancing.
The farce also has a light, playful character. His progress is accompanied by external comic effects, often to please crude taste.
A sitcom is distinguished by its construction on external comedy, on effects, where the source of laughter is confusing or ambiguous circumstances and situations. The most striking examples of such works are “The Comedy of Errors” by W. Shakespeare and “The Marriage of Figaro” by P. Beaumarchais.
A dramatic work in which the source of humor is funny morals or some exaggerated characters, shortcomings, vices can be classified as a comedy of manners. Classic examples of such a play are “Tartuffe” by J.-B. Moliere, “The Taming of the Shrew” by W. Shakespeare.
Examples of comedy in literature
This genre is inherent in all areas of fine literature, from Antiquity to modernity. Russian comedy has received special development. In literature, these are classic works created by D.I. Fonvizin (“Minor”, “Brigadier”), A.S. Griboedov (“Woe from Wit”), N.V. Gogol (“Players”, “The Inspector General”, “Marriage”). It is worth noting that his plays, regardless of the amount of humor and even dramatic plot, and A.P. Chekhov was called a comedy.
The last century was marked by classic comedy plays created by V.V. Mayakovsky, “The Bedbug” and “Bathhouse”. They can be called examples of social satire.
A very popular comedian in the 1920-1930s was V. Shkvarkin. His plays “The Harmful Element” and “Someone else’s Child” were readily staged in various theaters.
Conclusion
The classification of comedies based on the typology of the plot is also quite widespread. We can say that comedy in literature is a multivariate type of dramaturgy.
So, according to this type, the following plot characters can be distinguished:
- domestic comedy. As an example, Moliere’s “Georges Dandin”, “Marriage” by N.V. Gogol;
- romantic (P. Calderon “In My Own Custody”, A. Arbuzov “Old-Fashioned Comedy”);
- heroic (E. Rostand “Cyrano de Bergerac”, G. Gorin “Til”);
- fairy-tale-symbolic, such as “Twelfth Night” by W. Shakespeare or “The Shadow” by E. Schwartz.
At all times, comedy’s attention has been drawn to everyday life and some of its negative manifestations. Laughter was called upon to fight them, depending on the situation, cheerful or merciless.
There are films whose main goal is to make the viewer laugh. These films are needed to give people a good mood and bring a smile to their faces.
Unlike drama, horror and even science fiction, comedy is considered to be one of the main genres in cinema.
Comic elements can be present in every film. Only, in each of them they are presented differently.
- For example, parody– this is when some other genre is ridiculed. In this film it has a humorous tone.
- Eat comedies and love. They're called "romantic comedies."
- The combination of tragic episodes with comic ones is called tragicomedy.
- We just recently started filming situation comedy, where in each individual episode they show different situations and the life of each individual character.
- IN horror comedies comic episodes are intertwined with horror episodes. Such films are also called horror comedies, where there is a parody of the horror film itself.
- In a film where there is a lot of music and songs there is always musical comedy.
There are many types of comedy. They all carry their own meaning and symbolism in the film. Without them, the film seems boring.
It should be noted that comedy appeared in cinema almost simultaneously with cinema.
After all, it is known that even in ancient times, either tragedy or comedy was played in the theater. Comedies ridiculed everyday life or showed the comic side of a famous person. The very first comedies were shown without sound, but they were never irrelevant. They continued to be popular with viewers even after the advent of sound. Thanks to sound, cinema has new possibilities to create new styles. Modern comedy is distinguished by its unusual humor and the ability to give the viewer a good mood for a long time.
Charlie Chaplin is considered an outstanding comedian who managed to win the hearts of many. Although his films were physical comedy, there was always goodness in them.
His silent comedies were able to hold out until the 1930s. Chaplin was replaced by new comedians who were not inferior to their jokes. Gradually began to enter genre like comedy series. Currently, several hundred of these series can be watched per year.
Apr 29, 2016 Irina
Comedy (from the Greek komos, ode - song, holiday in honor of Dionysus) is a dramatic genre in which characters, actions, situations are imbued with the comic, presented in funny forms. For a long time (until the era of classicism), comedy was considered a “low” genre. Genre features of comedy: the presence of the effect of surprise, the presence of comedic contradiction, opposition (ugly - beautiful, insignificant - sublime, false - true, etc.), the presence of “laughter” as the invisible positive face of the work, clearly drawn characters, the presence of alogisms, puns , caricatures, buffoonery, parodies, the author’s use of hyperbole, grotesque, comic situations and dialogues. Types of comic: humor, satire, irony, sarcasm, carnival laughter, joke, ridicule, pun. There are comedy of situations, comedy of intrigue, comedy of characters, comedy of manners, comedy of ideas, comedy of moods, slapstick comedy, everyday comedy, lyrical comedy, satirical comedy, heroic comedy, sentimental comedy.
The most famous ancient comedy author is Aristophanes (11 comedies from 425-388 BC - “Horsemen”, “Clouds”, “Lysistrata”, “Frogs”). Varieties of ancient comedy - Sicilian and Attic (ancient, middle, new); In addition, in Roman comedy (which was close to Attic) it is customary to distinguish togata, palliata, literary atellana, mime, and folk comedy. Properties of ancient comedies: the dominance of the author's personal attitude, ridicule of certain human vices, normative assessments, a clear division of good and evil, positive and negative.
In the Middle Ages, farce, interlude, soti, and fastnachtspiel appeared.
In the Renaissance, the starting point of comedy was human nature, the idea of man as the measure of all things. Playwrights reveal the possibilities of the comic - “the ability to explore the very state of the world.” Creates excellent examples of comedy; W. Shakespeare (“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Twelfth Night”, “The Taming of the Shrew”, “Much Ado About Nothing”). One of the ideas of Shakespeare's comedies is the idea of the undivided power of nature over the human soul.
European literature creates stable types of comedy: Italian “learned comedy”, commedia dell’arte, Spanish comedy “cloak and sword”, comedy-ballet, “high” comedy of French classicism.
In the era of classicism, human vices, traits opposite to virtue, such as ignorance, hypocrisy, misanthropy, became the object of ridicule (J.-B. Molière’s comedies “The Bourgeois in the Nobility”, “Tartuffe”, “The Imaginary Invalid”). The main reference point of the classicists is abstract moral and aesthetic norms.
In the Age of Enlightenment, common sense becomes the starting point for comedians. In the era of romanticism, “comedy analysis proceeds from ideas about the unrealizable perfection of the world, with the help of which the individual is assessed, and, on the other hand, from ideas about the unrealizable perfection of the individual, with which the world is verified. The starting point of criticism constantly moves from the world to the individual and from the individual to the world. Irony gives way to self-irony (for example, in G. Heine), self-irony develops into world skepticism. The world’s skepticism of romantic irony is the brother of the world’s sorrow of romantic tragedy.”
In the 19th century, the comic was refracted through an expanded aesthetic ideal, which included folk ideas about life and man. This trend is reflected in Russian literature, where satirical, socially accusatory comedies are distributed (D.I. Fonvizin, A.S. Griboedov, N.V. Gogol, A.N. Ostrovsky). In the literature of the 20th century, social, everyday and lyrical comedies appeared (V. Mayakovsky, M. Zoshchenko, M. Bulgakov).
Each of us can probably explain in our own words what comedy is. However, if you try to put the definition of this concept on paper, you encounter difficulties, because explanations like “this is when it’s funny” sound too simple.
It is known that the understanding of the comic is attributed to the rites of antiquity.
We will now try to deduce what a comedy concept is.
The subject of comedy, its types
In literature, high types of comedy and puns are distinguished. High types include such works as “Don Quixote” by M. de Cervantes.
Types of comic
Before we begin to understand what comedy is in literature, let us first consider the types of comedy.
These include: humor, irony, satire, sarcasm, grotesque.
Humor can be defined as non-malicious laughter.
Irony is mockery based on criticism. Among Russian writers, Pushkin often used irony, for example, in the poem “Eugene Onegin”: “The girls jump in advance”, “In the village the horned one is happy.”
Sarcasm is the highest degree of irony and translated from Greek means “tearing meat.”
Satire is a way of reproducing reality, the purpose of which is unpleasant criticism.
The grotesque is easy to distinguish from other types of comics because it is difficult to separate the funny from the scary and terrible. This type of comic is characteristic of Gogol (“The Nose”) and Mayakovsky (“The Bedbug,” “Bathhouse”).
What is comedy in literature? Definition
From a scientific point of view, comedy is a special type of drama in which the conflict or opposition of characters is resolved in a specific way.
Wrestling in comedy is different in that it:
Does not lead to serious consequences;
Aimed at small, mercantile goals;
It is carried out in funny ways and means.
Comedy theme
In order to fully answer the question “what is comedy,” it is necessary to understand the peculiarities of its subject matter.
It certainly depends on the wants and needs of the class that creates it. Of course, the creators take into account the interests of those for whom it is aimed.
It is worth noting that comedic heat is very resistant to the effects of time. So, for example, from the times of antiquity to the present day, a scheme of intrigue has been preserved in which parents oppose the union of young people, but they are forced to accept it by a third party who helps the young people arrange happiness.
Types of Comedy
To answer the question “what is comedy,” it is necessary to understand what types of this genre can be distinguished.
The first type to be mentioned is the comedy of manners. It depicts human characters and their confrontation.
Now let's figure out what a sitcom is. In it, laughter is caused by certain ridiculous actions and behavior of the characters.
History of Comedy
Comedies have existed since ancient times. Aristophanes is considered the most famous author of that time. We have received information about 11 comedies written by this author in 425-388. BC e., for example “Clouds”, “Frogs”. Ancient comedies are characterized by ridicule of human vices, a clear tracing of the author's assessment of everything that happens.
The interlude (small comic play), farce (light comedy with external comic features), soti (sharp satire), fastnachtspiel (Mardi Gras play) appears.
The Renaissance is characterized by attention to. Among the authors of that time, the most famous is W. Shakespeare (“The Taming of the Shrew,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”). The main idea of this author's works is the idea of the dominance of nature over the human soul.
The era of classicism ridicules human vices and ignorance (Moliere's comedies, for example, “The Imaginary Invalid”).
Enlightenment calls on comedians to turn to common sense.
The era of romanticism gives us comedy based on the idea that the world cannot be perfect. In the 19th century, the features of the comic were associated with ideas about the aesthetic ideal, which included common ideas about human life. In Russian literature, this tendency is manifested in the immortal works of D.I. Fonvizina, A.S. Griboyedova, N.V. Gogol.
The literature of the 20th century is characterized by social and everyday comedies (V. Mayakovsky, M. Bulgakov).
This article examines in some detail the question of what comedy is. It should be noted that this genre is the most popular these days and enjoys special love, because, as you know, laughter prolongs life, and the opportunity to see the comical in life makes our everyday life brighter and easier.
Literary encyclopedia. - At 11 t.; M.: Publishing House of the Communist Academy, Soviet Encyclopedia, Fiction. Edited by V. M. Fritsche, A. V. Lunacharsky. 1929-1939 .
Comedy
(from Greek komos - cheerful procession and ode - song), one of the types dramas, in which the characters, events and plot evoke laughter and comic. The main task of comedy is to ridicule the “inappropriate”, an attempt to change the world or the consciousness of the audience by laughing at the negative features of reality. Along with this, the purpose of comedy is to entertain and amuse the viewer. The range of comedies is very wide - from light vaudeville to social comedies (for example, “Woe from Wit” by A.S. Griboyedova and “The Inspector General” by N.V. Gogol).
Comedy differs from other types of drama not only in that its main function is to cause laughter. In a comedy, the characters are depicted in relief and statically, the ridiculed features are emphasized; Here, to a greater extent than in other genres, speech characteristic is used - each character is different from the others, and one way to show this is to individualize his speech. In addition, many comedies are closely related to the author’s contemporary situation, since they often make fun of specific people or phenomena.
By making fun of the negative and the improper, any comedy presupposes the presence of the positive and the proper. In ancient and classic comedies, characters are divided into positive and negative, subject to ridicule (for example, in the comedy of D.I. Fonvizina“The Minor” has positive characters - Sofya, Pravdin, Milon, Eremeevna, and the laughter of the audience is directed at the Prostakov-Skotinin family and Mitrofan’s teachers). In later comedies the problem of the positive ideal is solved differently. For example, in N.V. Gogol’s “The Inspector General,” according to the author himself, “the positive face is laughter,” because among the characters there is not a single positive one, their function is to show as many vices and shortcomings as possible to the modern author Russia. In the comedies of A.P. Chekhov All characters are both tragic and comic; it is impossible to make a clear division into positive and negative.
There are different genres of comedy, named after their predominant technique. A sitcom is a comedy where laughter is caused by the absurd situations in which the characters find themselves. A comedy of characters makes fun of certain character traits of the characters; comedy is created due to their collision and manifestation in various conditions. A slapstick comedy creates a comic effect due to grotesque, farcical techniques. Classic comedies combine a variety of techniques (for example, in “Woe from Wit” the comedy of characters is combined with the comedy of absurd situations - the beginning where Lizanka tries to warn Sophia about Famusov’s arrival, the declaration of Chatsky as crazy - and even with farcical comedy - for example, the dialogue of the deaf prince Tugoukhovsky and the deaf Countess Khryumina at the ball).
One of the main techniques for creating a comic effect in comedy is speech comedy. It may manifest itself in illogicalism(for example, Gaev’s “billiard” tirades in “The Cherry Orchard” or his speech “Dear, dear closet!”), pun(for example, in the play “The Bedbug” by V.V. Mayakovsky, where the word “tsedura” – when applied to music, due to its association with the word “fool”, evokes the remark “I’ll ask you not to express yourself in front of the newlyweds”), irony(in “Woe from Wit” Famusov’s speech about Maxim Petrovich for Famusov himself sounds like a panegyric, and for the audience - like ridicule), parodies(for example, a parody of stilted verses in “Funny Primroses” Moliere) etc.
The term “comedy” is often used by authors as a designation of the genre of a play that is not entirely a comedy (for example, “The Seagull” or “The Cherry Orchard” by A.P. Chekhov). Sometimes this term is interpreted in a broader sense - “comedy” as a designation of the flow of life in the title of epic works (“The Divine Comedy” Dante, “The Human Comedy” by O. de Balzac).
In antiquity, comedy was opposed tragedy. If the latter was about a person’s struggle with an inevitable fate, fate, and the hero was a representative of the upper class, then the comedy featured characters from the lower class, who spoke in a low style and found themselves in funny situations. Considered the father of comedy Aristophanes(“Lysistrata”, “Clouds”, “Frogs”), author of socio-political comedies that satirize various features of Athenian life. In later Greek ( Menander) and Roman comedy ( Plautus, Terence) details of the private life of any prominent statesman or other famous people become the subject of ridicule. In the Middle Ages, comedy was associated with carnivals and fair performances, which used crude techniques for inducing laughter and farcical style. Then national concepts took shape in European literature. types of comedies - Italian commedia dell'arte - comedy of masks, Spanish comedy "cloak and sword", "high comedy" of French classicism. The authors of classic comedies in the history of European literature were W. Shakespeare(“Twelfth Night”, “The Taming of the Shrew”, etc.), Moliere (“The Imaginary Invalid”, “Tartuffe”, etc.). In con. 19 – beginning 20th century Comedy acquires new features - the “comedy of ideas” appears. Show, “comedy of moods” by A.P. Chekhov. Comedy in the 20th century. takes on even more diverse forms: tragicomedies by L. Pirandello, absurd comedies by E. Ionesco, comedy-parables E.L. Schwartz.
In Russia, the history of comedy begins with folk comedies - fair performances of buffoons, plays by serf actors (for example, the folk comedy "The Master", the performance of which is described in the book by V.I. Gilyarovsky"Moscow and Muscovites"). An outstanding author of classic comedies in Russia was D. I. Fonvizin (“Minor”, “Brigadier”). In the 19th century comedies were written by A. S. Griboedov (“Woe from Wit”), N. V. Gogol (“The Inspector General,” “Marriage”), A. N. Ostrovsky(“Simplicity is enough for every wise man”, “If your own dogs are biting - don’t pester someone else’s”, etc.). In classical Russian In literature, the genre of social comedy arose - comedy, which is based on a conflict of worldviews. This tradition was started by A. S. Griboyedov (in “Woe from Wit” social and love conflicts are intertwined), then social comedies were written by N. V. Gogol. Major comedians of the 20th century. – M.A. Bulgakov(“Zoyka’s apartment”), N. R. Erdman(“Mandate”, “Suicide”), E. L. Schwartz (“Dragon”, “The Naked King”). Their comedies often use the grotesque technique, allegories(especially Schwartz). The comedy genre has become widespread in cinema (especially in the cinema of France, Italy, Russia, and the USA).
Literature and language. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman. Edited by prof. Gorkina A.P. 2006 .
Comedy
COMEDY . Comedy depicts a dramatic struggle that arouses laughter, causing in us a negative attitude towards the aspirations, passions of the characters or the methods of their struggle. The analysis of comedy is associated with the analysis of the nature of laughter. According to Bergson (“Laughter” is the most outstanding work on this topic), every human manifestation is funny, which, due to its inertia, contradicts social requirements. The inertia of a machine, its automatism, is ridiculous in a living person; for life requires “tension” and “elasticity.” Another sign of something funny: “The depicted vice should not greatly offend our feelings, for laughter is incompatible with emotional excitement.” Bergson points out the following moments of comedic “automatism” that causes laughter: 1) “treating people like puppets” makes you laugh; 2) the mechanization of life, reflected in repeated stage situations, makes you laugh; 3) the automatism of the characters who blindly follow their idea is ridiculous. However, Bergson loses sight of the fact that every dramatic work, both comedy and tragedy, is formed by a single, integral desire of the main character (or the person leading the intrigue) - and that this desire, in its continuous activity, acquires the character of automatism. We also find the signs indicated by Bergson in tragedy. Not only does Figaro treat people like puppets, but so does Iago; however, this appeal does not amuse, but terrifies. Not only in "Georges Dantin" is the stage situation repeated - the fooled Georges Dantin - but also in "Macbeth"; Macbeth's murders are repeated here. Not only Don Quixote blindly follows his idea, but also the staunch Prince Calderon - and the automatism of the staunch prince is not funny, but touching. In Bergson's language - “tension”, devoid of “elasticity”, flexibility - can be tragic; strong passion is not “elastic”. When defining the characteristics of comedy, it should be noted that the perception of what is funny is changeable; What excites one person may make another laugh. Then: there are quite a lot of plays where dramatic (tragic) scenes and lines alternate with comedic ones. Such are, for example, “Woe from Wit”, “The Last Victim” by Ostrovsky, etc. These considerations should not, however, interfere with establishing the characteristics of comedy - the comedic style. This style is not determined by the goals towards which the colliding, struggling aspirations of the characters are directed: stinginess can be depicted in a comedic and tragic sense (“The Miser” by Moliere and “The Stingy Knight” by Pushkin). Don Quixote is ridiculous, despite all the loftiness of his aspirations. Dramatic struggle is funny when it does not evoke compassion. In other words, comedy characters should not suffer so much that it affects us. Bergson rightly points out the incompatibility of laughter with emotional excitement. Comedy wrestling should not be brutal, and pure style comedy should not contain horrific stage situations. Torture in Gozzi's Turandot is written as a joke; This is an outright pity. There is a special kind of dramatic works where horrific situations are presented with a comedic device, for example, “The Death of Tarelkin” by Sukhovo-Kobylin; but these are not comedies of pure style - such works are usually called “grotesque”. As soon as the hero of a comedy begins to suffer, the comedy turns into drama. Since our capacity for compassion is related to our likes and dislikes, the following relative rule can be established: the more disgusting the hero of a comedy, the more he can suffer without arousing pity in us, without leaving the comedic plan. The heroes of satire, for example, “The Death of Pazukhin” by Shchedrin, will make us laugh in the most difficult situations. The very character of comedy heroes is not predisposed to suffering. The comedic hero is distinguished by either extreme resourcefulness, quick resourcefulness, which saves him in the most ambiguous situations - like, for example, Figaro - or animal stupidity, which saves him from an overly acute awareness of his situation. This category of comedy characters includes all heroes of everyday satire. The heroes of the tragedy, with all the automatism of their passion, suffer greatly; the automatism of a comedy hero, devoid of rich emotional vibration, is pure automatism (Bergson is relatively right). Another sign of comedy: the comedic struggle is carried out by means that are awkward, ridiculous or humiliating - or both ridiculous and humiliating. Comedy struggle is characterized by: an erroneous assessment of the situation, inept recognition of faces and facts, leading to incredible and long-term delusions (for example, Khlestakov is mistaken for an auditor), helpless, even stubborn resistance (for example, Podkolesin); inept tricks that fail to achieve the goal - moreover, devoid of any scrupulousness, means of petty deception, flattery, bribery (for example, the tactics of officials in “The Inspector General” or Judge Adam in Kleist’s “The Broken Jug”); the struggle is pitiful, ridiculous, humiliating, buffoonish (and not cruel) - this is the pure type of comedic struggle. Since comedy differs from tragic struggle in its negative characteristics (non-cruel, awkward, ridiculous) - comedy is a parody of tragedy. Aristophanes parodied Euripides. An individual comedic line is as striking and purposeful as any dramatic line, but it can sound completely meaningless and helpless. A comedic remark may be pathetic - but its eloquence is unnaturally pompous, completely ridiculous, convincing only for a wretched partner. Comedy pathos is a parody of tragic pathos. Comedy heroes, just like tragic heroes, refer to the laws of public morality, state and religion as justification for their actions. These speeches in connection with low actions give special piquancy to the comedic struggle. A special type of comedy remark is a remark that is not funny, but funny, ironic, ridiculing. A funny remark produces a strong effect when it is given by a funny person.
Shakespeare's strength in portraying Falstaff is precisely this combination: a funny joker. Comedy does not move deeply, however, we cannot imagine life without death and suffering; therefore, according to Bergson's subtle remark, comedy gives the impression of being unreal. Moreover, it needs a convincing everyday coloring, in particular, a well-developed characteristic of the language. Comedy fiction is also distinguished, so to speak, by its rich everyday development: here are specific details of the legend, so to speak, the life of mythological creatures (for example, the scenes of Caliban in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”). However, comedy characters are not types like domestic drama types. Since comedy of pure style is characterized by an entirely inept and humiliating struggle, its characters are not types, but caricatures, and the more caricatured they are, the brighter the comedy. The purpose of comedy, its social purpose is to ridicule vice and vulgarity - a warning to society. The author of a true comedy shows great spiritual freedom: exceptional courage and self-control are needed to depict the complete decay of society. In the minds of comedy heroes - stupid and low - there are no higher values; but in the parodic-distorted pathos of the comedy heroes, the author’s pathos is revealed. When Tartuffe parodies Plato, we remember Plato, and we see that the author remembers Plato. It’s not for nothing that the ancient Greeks said that comedy is “the reflection of God in bad people.” Laughter is hostile to tears; the theory of “laughter through tears” arose partly on the basis of works where dramatic moments alternate with funny moments (“Notes of a Madman” by Gogol), partly as a self-justification of comedy authors trying to justify the external frivolity of their art. However, exceptional creative power is needed in order to depict the desecration of one’s ideal, the collapse of one’s fatherland - and to maintain the composure of one’s mocking imagination. And as a result, when an evil satire unfolds before us on what we love, on our homeland, we experience sadness, despondency - and spiritual cleansing, no less than as a result of contemplating the tragic struggle. It should also be added that the outcome of the comedic struggle, due to its non-cruel nature, is not significant. The comedic victory of vulgarity, baseness, stupidity - since we ridiculed the winners - does not touch us much. The defeat of Chatsky or Neschastlivtsev does not cause bitterness in us; Laughter in itself is a satisfaction for us. Therefore, in a comedy, an accidental outcome is also acceptable - at least through the intervention of the police. But where defeat threatens someone with real suffering (for example, Figaro and his beloved), such an ending, of course, is unacceptable. The extent to which the denouement in itself is unimportant in a comedy is clear from the fact that there are comedies where it can be foreseen in advance. Such are the countless comedies where lovers are prevented from getting married by their cruel and funny relatives; here the marriage outcome is predetermined. We are carried away in comedy by the process of ridicule; however, interest increases if the outcome is difficult to foresee.
There are: 1) satire, a comedy of high style, directed against vices that are most dangerous for society, 2) everyday comedy, ridiculing the characteristic shortcomings of a particular society, 3) sitcom, entertaining with funny stage situations, devoid of serious social significance.
For farce and vaudeville, see separately “farce” and “vaudeville.”
History of Comedy. Comedy differed from the ritual cult, which had a serious and solemn character. The Greek word κω̃μος has the same root as the word κώμη - village. Therefore, we must assume that these funny songs - comedies - appeared in the village. And indeed, Greek writers have indications that the beginnings of this type of work, called mimes (μι̃μος, imitation), arose in the villages. The etymological meaning of this word also indicates the source from which the content for the mimes was obtained. If the tragedy borrowed its content from the legends about Dionysus, gods and heroes, i.e. from the world of fantasy, then the mime took this content from everyday life. Mimes were sung during festivities dedicated to certain times of the year and associated with sowing, harvesting, grape harvest, etc.
All these everyday songs were improvisations of humorous and satirical content, with the character of the topic of the day. The same dicharic songs, i.e. with two singers, were known to the Romans under the name atellan and fescennik. The content of these songs was variable, but, despite this variability, they took on a certain form and constituted something whole, which was sometimes part of the Greek tetralogy, consisting of three tragedies about one hero (“Oresteia” by Aeschylus consisted of the tragedies “Agamemnon”, "Choephori", "Eumenides") and the fourth satirical play. The comedy first took a more or less definite form in Megara, where Susarion (6th century BC) gave performances in Attic villages. In the 5th century BC, according to Aristotle, the comedian Chionides was famous, from whom only the names of some plays have been preserved. Aristophanes is thus. successor of this type of creativity. Although Aristophanes ridicules Euripides, his contemporary, in his comedies, he builds his comedies according to the same plan that was developed by Euripides in his tragedies, and even the external construction of comedies is no different from tragedy. Aristophanes' comedies are mostly political in nature. By the time of Aristophanes, the dominance of the aristocracy had ceased: all the most important social and political affairs were decided not by the Areopagus, but by the people's assembly, democracy. Aristophanes (5th century BC), who in his views belongs to the aristocracy, ridicules democracy in many comedies (“The Horsemen”, “Acharnians”, etc.); As a representative of the aristocracy, Aristophanes in his comedies attacks the religious skepticism that developed thanks to the activities of Socrates (“Clouds”) and undermined faith in the gods. Aristophanes' everyday life is intertwined with fantasy (“Wasps,” “Frogs,” “Clouds”). In the 4th century. BC Menander comes forward among the Greeks. His works have not reached us. We can know about their character only thanks to passages preserved by other writers, and the comedies of the Roman poet Plautus, who borrowed his plots from Menander. Menander was so famous that John Chrysostom (IV century) kept his comedies under his pillow. The intrigue of his comedies, like that of Aristophanes, is simple; most often it is based on the confession of a relative who was considered dead, but who, thanks to various accidents, survived. But Menander’s characters are deeper, thanks to the fact that he takes his stories not from social and political life, but from family life. The characters are parents, sons, slaves, cocottes, boastful soldiers, etc. d. The accusatory element in his comedies is felt weakly, and therefore, from the ideological side, his comedies are of little interest. We have already spoken about Plautus, since his comedies imitate the comedies of Menander. In addition to this, we add that for Plautus, the love affair plays an important role in his comedies. There is no chorus in the comedies of Plautus and Terrence; in Aristophanes it was more important than in the tragedy of Euripides and his predecessors. The chorus in its parabasis, i.e. deviations from the development of the action, he turned to the audience to interpret and understand for them the meaning of the dialogues of the characters. In “false-classical” comedy, instead of a chorus, there are reasoners, ideal personalities, which very often are servants, for example. in the comedies of Moliere, in ours - imp. Catherine II (“Oh, Time”). The next writer after Plautus was Terence. He, just like Plautus, imitates Menander and another Greek writer Apollodorus. Terence's comedies were not intended for the masses, but for a select aristocratic society, therefore he does not have the obscenity and rudeness that we find in abundance in Plautus. Terence's comedies are distinguished by their moralizing character. If in Plautus fathers are fooled by their sons, then in Terence they are the leaders of family life. The seduced girls of Terence, in contrast to Plautus, marry their seducers. In pseudo-classical comedy, the moralizing element (vice is punished, virtue triumphs) comes from Terence. In addition, the comedies of this comedian are distinguished by greater care in depicting the characters than those of Plautus and Menander, as well as by the grace of style. For the comic in medieval mysteries, see Tragedy
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