PB1A

A textual genre we have not discussed in class is that of an Elizabethan-era comedy play, written by such famous playwrights as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. These plays were often written for entertainment purposes, especially for the common people. Even though the commoners were usually the main audience in the theaters at this time, these comedy plays were meant to entertain people of all sorts. Queen Elizabeth herself was a fan of these plays, and frequently invited theater companies to perform them for her. The tone of a comedy play is light-hearted and fun, as the purpose of such a play was to amuse the audiences enjoying it. At this time, crimes in England were often met with cruel and violent punishments, which were frequently witnessed by hundreds of people. Thus, going to see a play at the theater became a way for the people to escape their troubles and become immersed in a world other than their own. The written style of these plays was very distinct. They were usually written in a mixture of verse and prose in order to denote the social standing of each of the characters. Common characters spoke in prose, while nobles would use a particular form of poetic meter known as iambic pentameter.
One of the common conventions of Elizabethan-era comedy plays is the idea of mistaken identities, which is sometimes intentionally used by the villain as a part of their evil plot. For example, in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, Don Jon is able to trick Claudio into believing that the woman he loves has been unfaithful through the use of mistaken identity. Another commonly used form of mistaken identity is that of female characters disguising themselves as male characters. This can be seen in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, where Viola pretends to be a young man named Cesario in order to become a part of the Duke Orsino's court. A second common element of comedy plays is the appearance of an extremely silly character. This type of character usually makes the rest of the events in the play seem normal in comparison, even though they are nowhere near ordinary. In A Midsummer Night's Dream this character takes the form of Nick Bottom, an actor who gets turned into a donkey halfway through the play.
Another convention of these plays is that the comedy of them is often conveyed through the clever word play, metaphors, and insults written into the dialogue by the playwright. This can be seen in the interactions between characters such as Katherine and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew and Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. Throughout each of these plays, the conversations between these characters turns into a sort of sparring match to see who can better insult the other. An additional component of these comedy plays is often a plot that seems very complex and convoluted, but always ends the same. The climax tends to occur in the third act of the play and the final scene usually has a celebratory feel and shows the lovers finally declaring their love for each other. This is exemplified in A Midsummer Night's Dream, in which four young Athenians accidentally fall in love with the wrong people due to a mishap with a magical flower. Due to the twists and turns that happen when the lovers are in the woods, a hilarious adventure ensues, and the play eventually ends with everything being corrected and each character being in love with whoever they are supposed to end up with.