The Comic in Renaissance Comedy

The Comic in Renaissance Comedy PDF Author: David Farley-Hills
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1349050083
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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The Comic in Renaissance Comedy

The Comic in Renaissance Comedy PDF Author: David Farley-Hills
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1349050083
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description


Shakespeare's Rhetoric of Comic Character

Shakespeare's Rhetoric of Comic Character PDF Author: Karen Newman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136557334
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 166

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Book Description
First published in 1985. In this revisionist history of comic characterization, Karen Newman argues that, contrary to received opinion, Shakespeare was not the first comic dramatist to create self-conscious characters who seem 'lifelike' or 'realistic'. His comic practice is firmly set within a comic tradition which stretches from Plautus and Menander to playwrights of the Italian Renaissance.

Introduction To English Renaissance Comedy

Introduction To English Renaissance Comedy PDF Author: Alexander Leggatt
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719049651
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
This book provides a comprehensive introduction to Elizabethan, Jacobean and Caroline comedy, covering both public and private theatres, emphasizing the eclectic, experimental nature of this comedy--its departures from the mainstream New Comedy tradition and its searching, witty analysis of social and personal relations in court, city and country. In his close analysis of some of the richest comedies of the period, Alexander Leggatt makes some unexpected connections between them. The reader is given a comprehensive picture of English comedy in one of its most creative periods.

Renaissance Comedy

Renaissance Comedy PDF Author: Don Beecher
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 1442691743
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 473

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Book Description
A rich and multi-faceted aspect of the Italian Renaissance, the comedy has been largely overlooked as a cultural force during the period. In Renaissance Comedy, editor Donald Beecher corrects this oversight with a collection of eleven comedies representative of the principal styles of writing that define the genre. Proceeding from early, ‘erudite’ imitations of Plautus and Terence to satires, sentimental plays of the middle years, and later, more experimental works, the development of Italian Renaissance comedy is here dissected in a fascinating and vivid light. This first of two volumes boasts five of the best-known plays of the period, each with its own historical and critical introduction. Also included is a general introduction by the editor, which discusses the features of Italian Renaissance comedy, as well as examines the stage histories of the plays and what little is known, in many cases, of the circumstances surrounding their original performances. The introduction raises questions concerning the nature of audiences, the festival occasions during which the plays were performed, and the academies which sponsored many of their creations. As a much-needed reappraisal of these comedic plays, Renaissance Comedy is an invaluable look at the performance history of the Renaissance and Italian culture in general.

Plautus and the English Renaissance of Comedy

Plautus and the English Renaissance of Comedy PDF Author: Richard F. Hardin
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1683931297
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 207

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Book Description
The fifteenth-century discovery of Plautus’s lost comedies brought him, for the first time since antiquity, the status of a major author both on stage and page. It also led to a reinvention of comedy and to new thinking about its art and potential. This book aims to define the unique contribution of Plautus, detached from his fellow Roman dramatist Terence, and seen in the context of that European revival, first as it took shape on the Continent. The heart of the book, with special focus on English comedy ca. 1560 to 1640, analyzes elements of Plautine technique during the period, as differentiated from native and Terentian, considering such points of comparison as dialogue, asides, metadrama, observation scenes, characterization, and atmosphere. This is the first book to cover this ground, raising such questions as: How did comedy rather suddenly progress from the interludes and brief plays of the early sixteenth century to longer, more complex plays? What did “Plautus” mean to playwrights and readers of the time? Plays by Shakespeare, Jonson, and Middleton are foregrounded, but many other comedies provide illustration and support.

Immortal Comedy

Immortal Comedy PDF Author: Agnes Heller
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 9780739112465
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
This book is the first attempt to think philosophically about the comic phenomenon in literature, art, and life. Working across a substantial collection of comic works author Agnes Heller makes seminal observations on the comic in the work of both classical and contemporary figures. Whether she's discussing Shakespeare, Kafka, Rabelais, or the paintings of Brueghel and Daumier Heller's Immortal Comedy makes a characteristic contribution to modern thought across the humanities.

Four Renaissance Comedies

Four Renaissance Comedies PDF Author: Robert Shaughnessy
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1403938865
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
This edition of four Renaissance comedies represents the vitality, range and diversity of the English comic drama of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, reflecting both its capacity for escapist fantasy and its concern with the intrigues of everyday city life. Comprehensive textual notes establish the plays in their originating cultural and theatrical circumstances, as well as explaining obscure references and allusions. A general introduction provides a helpful overview of early modern comedy in the context of Renaissance comic theory and practice, together with an assessment of its continuing theatrical appeal.

The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy

The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy PDF Author: Douglas Radcliff-Umstead
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Italian Renaissance comedy is a literary genre previously found by most critics to be totally lacking in originality. Until recent years, many literary historians dismissed these comic productions as mere imitations of the works of Plautus and Terence. Douglas Radcliff-Umstead, however, provides a detailed analytical and comparative study of Renaissance comedy in Italy and shows it to be not a pallid imitation, but original drama which expressed Renaissance values and depicted contemporary customs.--[book jacket].

The Evolution of Shakespeare's Comedy

The Evolution of Shakespeare's Comedy PDF Author: Larry S. Champion
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674271418
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
The evolution of Shakespeare's comedy, in Larry Champion's view, is apparent in the expansion of his comic vision to include a complete reflection of human life while maintaining a comic detachment for the audience. Like the other popular dramatists of Elizabethan England, Shakespeare used the diverse comic motifs and devices which time and custom had proved effective. He went further, however, and created progressively deeper levels of characterization and plot interaction, thereby forming characters who were not merely devices subordinated to the needs of the plot. Shakespeare's development as a comic playwright, suggests Champion, was "consistently in the direction of complexity or depth of characterization." His earliest works, like those of his contemporaries, are essentially situation comedies: the humor arises from action rather than character. There is no significant development of the main characters; instead, they are manipulated into situations which are humorous as a result, for example, of mistaken identity or slapstick confusion. The ensuing phase of Shakespeare's comedy sets forth plots in which the emphasis is on identity rather than physical action, a revelation of character which occurs in one of two forms: either a hypocrite is exposed for what he actually is or a character who has assumed an unnatural or abnormal pose is forced to realize and admit the ridiculousness of his position. In the final comedies involving sin and sacrificial forgiveness, however, character development is concerned with a "transformation of values." Although each of the comedies is discussed, Champion concentrates on nine, dividing them according to the complexity of characterization. He pursues as well the playwright's efforts to achieve for the spectator the detached stance so vital to comedy. Shakespeare obtained this perspective, Champion observes, through experimentation with the use of material mirroring the main action--mockery, parody, or caricature--and through the use of a "comic pointer" who is himself involved in the action but is sufficiently independent of the other characters to provide the audience with an omniscient view.

Humanist Comedies

Humanist Comedies PDF Author: Gary Robert Grund
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674017443
Category : Drama
Languages : la
Pages : 504

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Book Description
The five comedies included in this volume present a characteristic sampling of comic form as it was interpreted by some of the most important Latin humanists of the Quattrocento.