Romantic Comedy

A romantic comedy is a play in which love is the central motive of an action that leads to a happy ending. It is a play in which romantic elements are mingled with comic elements. While the romantic elements delight, thrill, and enchant us, the comic elements make us laugh. Thus, a romantic comedy is a marvelous kind of play that appeals greatly to our emotions, our imagination, and our fancy and, at the same time, appeals to our rational faculties. The romantic element in this kind of play transports us to a new world, which is more pleasing than the actual world in which we live, and the comic elements make us laugh and forget our cares and anxieties.

The ancient classical drama was (i) either purely comic or purely tragic; (ii) there was no dramatic action on the stage. The incidents composing the plot took place off the stage and were reported to the audience in dialogue. (iii) The unities of time, place, and action are fully observed; the entire story of the play had to be confined to a single day; the scene of the entire play remained the same throughout; the plot was to be one main plot, and no sub-plots or minor episodes were permitted.

But romantic drama departs from all the principles of classical drama. (i) Romantic drama mingles comic and tragic scenes in the same play. (ii) Nearly every incident of the play is exhibited on the stage. (iii) It violates the three unities. Shakespeare's As You Like It is a romantic comedy.

Short Note: Comedy

Comedy refers to a literary work that deals with humorous, familiar events and the behavior of ordinary people speaking the language of ordinary people. It is less exalted and less serious than a tragedy, commonly having a happy ending. According to Aristotle, "Comedy is an imitation of worse persons; yet so much is bad with respect to general depravity, but in that particular species of turpitude, which is calculated to incite ridicule. This is either produced by mistakes of judgment that are not attended with dangers or fatal consequences or by deformity of body, provided it is not occasioned by pain." The main characteristics of comedy generally are:

1. All the comedy deals with some abnormality.

2. The predominance of love is found in comedy.

3. There are elements of ludicrousness in comedy.

4. The superficial aspects of life are dealt with in comedy.

5. All the comedy ends happily.

Short Note: Romantic Comedy, Comedy, Shakespearean Comedy

Short Note: Shakespearean Comedy

Comedy refers to a literary work that deals with humorous, familiar events and the behavior of ordinary people speaking the language of ordinary people. It is less exalted and less serious than a tragedy, commonly having a happy ending. According to Aristotle, "Comedy... is an imitation of worse persons; yet so much is bad with respect to general depravity, but in that particular species of turpitude, which is calculated to incite ridicule. This is either produced by mistakes of judgment that are not attended with dangers or fatal consequences or by deformity of body, provided it is not occasioned by pain." The comedy of Shakespeare's time was very different from our modern comedy. Common features of a Shakespeare comedy are:

(i) Shakespeare communicated his comedy through language. (ii) The theme of love is prevalent in every Shakespeare comedy.

(iii) Shakespearean comedy always involves multiple plot lines, cleverly intertwined to keep the audience guessing.

(iv) The plot is often driven by mistaken identity.

(v) Young lovers struggling to overcome obstacles.

(vi) Shakespeare quite often had characters masquerading as the opposite sex, leading to many misunderstandings and comical situations.

(vii) Shakespeare was a master of wordplay, and his comedies are filled with puns and witty language games.

(viii) Shakespeare relied heavily on stock characters for his plays. These stock characters were instantly recognizable stereotypes to Elizabethan audiences.

(ix) Family tensions that are usually resolved in the end.

(x) All Shakespearean comedies end happily involving marriage or pending marriage.