Introduction to Comedy.

Shakespeare drew on many eras to create his comedies but he has also influenced modern comedy. Comedy in  literature is a separate dramatic genre.

This PowerPoint shows the history of comedy, definitions of comedy and conventions of comedy.

An Introduction to Comedy as a Dramatic Genre from kparuk

What is comedy to you?

Twelfth Night Context:Social Hierarchy

Social Hierarchy:

The social hierarchy in Shakespearean times went as follows:  

1.  The King and/or Queen were at the top of the social          hierarchy.    

2. The Clergy (priests, pope, monks etc.) due to their spiritual involvement.

3.  Nobility, people who were involved within the military and who owned land.

4. Third Estate – The citizens born in Britain and were quite poor.

5. The Outsiders – People who did not live in, or were not born in, Britain.

Many of Shakespeare’s plays followed ‘The Great Chain of Being’, following the idea that everything and everyone had a place in the Universe, and that to step out of one’s place would bring chaos and disorder to the rest of the world. It was also believed that God would punish the person who stepped out of the hierarchy, more punishment would fall upon you if you stepped further out of the social order.

Within Shakespeare, this is reflected in multiple plays, for example in Macbeth when the Macbeths kill King Duncan the Chain of Being is disturbed, and two people report that one horse ate another horse in the stables, and there was a great storm all as a result of Macbeth stepping out of his place. This didn’t just apply across social classes, it also applied within – if a daughter disobeyed her father then some people believed that the daughter would become ill.

   

 The role of women in Shakespeare’s time were often considered to be presented as possessions of their husbands and families, and they were socially restricted, unable to explore without a chaperone. They were often controlled by the men in their lives. Shakespeare allowed his characters more freedom in his plays, allowing them to explore both the world and their sexuality and identity. They were shown to be stronger and more independent than the stereotypical woman of the time (Lady Macbeth, Queen Tatiana etc.), but they are also treated with more distrust because of this and shown to be cunning and to have questionable morals.

Marriage during the Elizabethan Era

Marriage in Elizabethan Society

Beliefs in marriage:

Marriage was seen as important in an Elizabethan society, as it was believed,  women wouldn’t be able to survive without a man to look after them, they were uneducated and had no rights. Men were seen as superior and had complete control over women and could marry whoever they wanted, women however had no choice in who they married. It wasn’t the norm in Elizabethan society to not get married, it was almost seen as deviant for a woman to not be married. This however didn’t apply to nuns, prostitutes, widows or the most important women in the country, for example, Queen Elizabeth neither cooked or cleaned and was well educated. In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night you see the importance of marriage when Viola and Orsino marry in the resolution, this suggests a happy ending which reflect the normal values of an Elizabethan society. In most of Shakespeare’s plays women were forced to marry men, it could be argued in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Shakespeare is showing his disagreement with forced marriages as Olivia and Orsino are supposed to marry but they both end up marrying the people they truly want to be with.

Expectations of women:

Women were expected to stay at home and clean the house and look after children. They were uneducated and had little rights. They were also seen as mere sex objects to please and benefit men. Women were also seen as incapable of performing on stage, most of the time men dressed up as the female roles and performed these plays. Queen Elizabeth went against this but in her speech you see the way women were represented at the time “I know that I have the body of a weak and feeble woman but I have the heart and stomach of a king and a king of England too”. This shows how women were presented as week and fragile and how Queen Elizabeth tried to break through this.

Match Making:

Most marriages were arranged or forced with the woman having very little say. However, Anne Shakespeare clearly chose William as her husband, as the match was not one that would have been arranged. This goes against the typical conventions of marriage in Elizabethan society and may be reflected through some of Shakespeare’s plays.  

  

Historical and Literary Context of the Twelfth Night

Elizabethan Theatre

     There were different types of venues for Elizabethan plays:

• Inn-yards
• Open air ampitheatre
• Play houses
• Globe theatre

The Ampitheatres were normally used in the summer months, they were up to 100 feet in diamter, and held up to 1500 to 3000 people. Its either octagonal or circular.

    

The stage of the ampitheatre is projected halfway in to the 'pit'. It had raised at one end which was surrounded by three tiers of roofed galleries with balconies overlooking the back of the stage. The poor people would stand at the front of the stage and pay a penny to do so. They weren't under any shelter so if it was poor weather they would get cold and wet. The higher class had the most segregated and exclusive seats in the theater, away from the rowdy, poor people. Seats were determined by wealth and status, and for an additional fee the better seats you got.

The fool are usually clever peasants or commoners.  They use their wit and humor to outwit higher social standing people. They played a minor role anmd brightened up the entertainment. It was traditional to have a fool in the plays in Elizabethan theatre. Shakespeare he took ideas of jesters and modified it to suit his own ideas and views on how he wanted to portray the fool.

If the audience didn't like what they were seeing on stage, they would shout insults or throw food and empty beer bottles at the actors.

Three of the differences between modern theatre and Elizabethan theatre were that during performances in Elizabethan times, people were allowed to talk and eat, whereas now most theatre don't allow that. Also, there was not as much of an emphasis on making costumers historically accurate then as there is now. Finally, there was minimal scenery in Elizabethan plays - there was more emphasis on 'verbal scene painting' rather than making elaborate scenes.