Student's Workbook 1A - Shakespeare WA

Common Features of a Shakespeare Comedy
What makes a Shakespeare comedy identifiable if the genre is not
distinct from the Shakespearean tragedies and histories? This is an
ongoing area of debate, but many believe that the comedies share
certain characteristics, as described below:
Comedy through language: Shakespeare communicated his
comedy through language and his comedy plays are peppered
with clever word play, metaphors and insults.
Love: The theme of love is prevalent in every Shakespeare
comedy. Often, we are presented with sets of lovers who, through
the course of the play, overcome the obstacles in their
relationship and unite.
Complex plots: The plotline of a Shakespeare comedy contains
more twists and turns than his tragedies and histories. Although
the plots are convoluted, they do follow similar patterns. For
example, the climax of the play always occurs in the third act and
the final scene has a celebratory feel when the lovers finally
declare their love for each other.
Mistaken identities: The plot is often driven by mistaken identity.
Sometimes this is an intentional part of a villain’s plot, as in Much
Ado About Nothing when Don John tricks Claudio into believing
that his fiancé has been unfaithful through mistaken identity.
Characters also play scenes in disguise and it is not uncommon for
female characters to disguise themselves as male characters.
Shakespeare’s 17 comedies are the most difficult
to classify because they overlap in style with
other genres. Critics often describe some plays as
tragi-comedies because they mix equal measures
of tragedy and comedy. For example, Much Ado
About Nothing starts as a Shakespeare comedy,
but takes on the characteristics of a tragedy
when Hero is disgraced and fakes her own death.
At this point, the play has more in common with
Romeo and Juliet, one of Shakespeare’s key
tragedies.
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