comedy, literary work that aims primarily to provoke laughter. Unlike tragedy tragedy, form of drama that depicts the suffering of a heroic individual who is often overcome by the very obstacles he is struggling to remove. The protagonist may be brought low by a character flaw or, as Hegel stated, caught in a "collision of equally justified
..... Click the link for more information. , which seeks to engage profound emotions and sympathies, comedy strives to entertain chiefly through criticism and ridicule of man's customs and institutions.

Although usually used in reference to the drama (see drama, Western drama, Western, plays produced in the Western world. This article discusses the development of Western drama in general; for further information see the various national literature articles.
..... Click the link for more information. ; Asian drama Asian drama, dramatic works produced in the East. Of the three major Asian dramas—Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese—the oldest is Sanskrit, although the dates of its origin are uncertain.
..... Click the link for more information. ), in the Middle Ages comedy was associated with vernacular language and a happy ending. Thus, the term was also applied to such non-dramatic works as Dante's religious poem, The Divine Comedy.

Evolution of Comedy

Dramatic comedy grew out of the boisterous choruses and dialogue of the fertility rites of the feasts of the Greek god Dionysus. What became known to theater historians as Old Comedy in ancient Greece was a series of loosely connected scenes (using a chorus and individual characters) in which a particular situation was thoroughly exploited through farce farce, light, comic theatrical piece in which the characters and events are greatly exaggerated to produce broad, absurd humor. Early examples of farce can be found in the comedies of Aristophanes, Plautus, and Terence.
..... Click the link for more information. , fantasy, satire, and parody, the series ending in a lyrical celebration of unity.

Reaching its height in the brilliantly scathing plays of Aristophanes Aristophanes (ăr'ĭstŏf`ənēz), c.448 B.C.–c.388 B.C.
..... Click the link for more information. , Old Comedy gradually declined and was replaced by a less vital and imaginative drama. In New Comedy, generally considered to have begun in the mid-4th cent. B.C., the plays were more consciously literary, often romantic in tone, and decidedly less satirical and critical. Menander Menander (mĭnăn`dər), 342?–291? B.C., Greek poet, the most famous writer of New Comedy.
..... Click the link for more information. was the most famous writer of New Comedy.

During the Middle Ages the Church strove to keep the joyous and critical aspects of the drama to a minimum, but comic drama survived in medieval folk plays and festivals, in the Italian commedia dell'arte commedia dell'arte (kōm-mā`dēä dĕl-lär`tā)
..... Click the link for more information. , in mock liturgical dramas, and in the farcical elements of miracle and morality plays.

With the advent of the Renaissance, a new and vital drama emerged. In England in the 16th cent. the tradition of the interlude interlude, development in the late 15th cent. of the English medieval morality play. Played between the acts of a long play, the interlude, treating intellectual rather than moral topics, often contained elements of satire or farce.
..... Click the link for more information. , developed by John Heywood Heywood, John (hā`wd), 1497?–1580?, English dramatist.
..... Click the link for more information. and others, blended with that of Latin classic comedy, eventually producing the great Elizabethan comedy, which reached its highest expression in the plays of Shakespeare Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616, English dramatist and poet, b. Stratford-on-Avon. He is widely considered the greatest playwright who ever lived.

Life

..... Click the link for more information. and Ben Jonson Jonson, Ben, 1572–1637, English dramatist and poet, b. Westminster, London. The high-spirited buoyancy of Jonson's plays and the brilliance of his language have earned him a reputation as one of the great playwrights in English literature.
..... Click the link for more information. . Shakespeare, whose comedies ranged from the farcical to the tragicomic, was the master of the romantic comedy, while Jonson, whose drama was strongly influenced by classical tenets, wrote caustic, rich satire.

In 17th-century France, the classical influence was combined with that of the commedia dell'arte in the drama of Molière Molière, Jean Baptiste Poquelin (zhäN bätēst` pôklăN` môlyĕr`)
..... Click the link for more information. , one of the greatest comic and satiric writers in the history of the theater. This combination is also present in the plays of the Italian Carlo Goldoni Goldoni, Carlo (kär`lō gōldô`nē), 1707–93, Italian dramatist.
..... Click the link for more information. . After a period of suppression during the Puritan Revolution, the English comic drama reemerged with the witty, frequently licentious, consciously artificial comedy of manners of Etherege Etherege, Sir George (ĕth`ərĭj), 1636–1692, English dramatist.
..... Click the link for more information. , Wycherley Wycherley, William (wĭch`ərlē), 1640?–1716, English dramatist, b. near Shrewsbury.
..... Click the link for more information. , Congreve Congreve, William, 1670–1729, English dramatist, b. near Leeds, educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and studied law in the Middle Temple. After publishing a novel of intrigue, Incognita
..... Click the link for more information. , and others. At the close of the 17th cent., however, such stern reaction had set in against the bawdiness and frivolity of the Restoration stage that English comedy descended into what has become known as sentimental comedy. This drama, which sought more to evoke tears than laughter, had its counterpart in France in the comédie larmoyante.

In England during the later 18th cent. a resurgence of the satirical and witty character comedies was found in the plays of Sheridan Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751–1816, English dramatist and politician, b. Dublin. His father, Thomas Sheridan, was an actor and teacher of elocution and his mother, Frances Sheridan, published two novels and a successful play.
..... Click the link for more information. . After an almost complete lapse in the early to mid-19th cent., good comedy was again brought to the stage in the comedies of manners by Oscar Wilde Wilde, Oscar (Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde), 1854–1900, Irish author and wit, b. Dublin. He is most famous for his sophisticated, brilliantly witty plays, which were the first since the comedies of Sheridan and Goldsmith to have both dramatic and
..... Click the link for more information. and in the comedies of ideas by George Bernard Shaw Shaw, George Bernard, 1856–1950, Irish playwright and critic. He revolutionized the Victorian stage, then dominated by artificial melodramas, by presenting vigorous dramas of ideas. The lengthy prefaces to Shaw's plays reveal his mastery of English prose.
..... Click the link for more information. . In the late 1880s the great Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich (chĕk`ôf, Rus.
..... Click the link for more information. began writing his subtle and delicate comedies of the dying Russian aristocracy.

Twentieth-Century Comedy

The 20th cent. has witnessed a number of distinct trends in comedy. These include the sophisticated and witty comedy of manners, initiated by Oscar Wilde in the late 19th cent. and carried on by Noel Coward Coward, Sir Noël (Sir Noël Pierce Coward) (nō`əl), 1899–1973, English playwright, actor, composer, and director, b.
..... Click the link for more information. , S. N. Behrman Behrman, S. N. (Samuel Nathaniel Behrman) (bâr`mən), 1893–1973, American dramatist, b. Worcester, Mass., grad. Harvard 1916.
..... Click the link for more information. , Philip Barry Barry, Philip, 1896–1949, American dramatist, b. Rochester, N.Y., grad. Yale, 1919, and studied under George Pierce Baker at Harvard. He is primarily known for his satirical, somewhat unconventional comedies of manners, such as Holiday (1928),
..... Click the link for more information. and others; the romantic comic fantasy of such playwrights as James M. Barrie Barrie, J. M. (Sir James Matthew Barrie) (bâr`ē), 1860–1937, Scottish playwright and novelist.
..... Click the link for more information. and Jean Giraudoux Giraudoux, Jean (zhäN zhērōd
..... Click the link for more information. ; and the native Irish comedy of J. M. Synge Synge, John Millington (sĭng), 1871–1909, Irish poet and dramatist, b. near Dublin, of Protestant parents.
..... Click the link for more information. , Lady Gregory Gregory, Lady Augusta (Isabella Augusta Persse), 1859–1932, Irish dramatist. Though she did not begin her writing career until middle-age, Lady Gregory soon became a vital force in the Irish drama.
..... Click the link for more information. , Sean O'Casey O'Casey, Sean (shôn), 1884–1964, Irish dramatist, one of the great figures of the Irish literary renaissance.
..... Click the link for more information. , Brendan Behan Behan, Brendan (bē`hăn), 1923–64, Irish dramatist.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Brian Friel.

Also important are the musical comedy, which descends from 18th-century ballad operas and the comic operas of W. S. Gilbert Gilbert, Sir William Schwenck, 1836–1911, English playwright and poet. He won fame as the librettist of numerous popular operettas, written in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan .
..... Click the link for more information. and A. S. Sullivan Sullivan, Sir Arthur Seymour, 1842–1900, English composer, famous for a series of brilliant comic operas written in collaboration with the librettist W. S. Gilbert . As a boy he sang in the choir of the Chapel Royal.
..... Click the link for more information. (see musicals musicals, earlier known as

musical comedy, plays that incorporate music, song, and dance. These elements move with the plot, heightening and commenting on the action.
..... Click the link for more information. ) and the slick, satirical, and professional comedy of George S. Kaufman Kaufman, George S. (George Simon Kaufman) (kôf`mən), 1889–1961, American dramatist and journalist, b. Pittsburgh.
..... Click the link for more information. , Moss Hart Hart, Moss, 1904–61, American dramatist, b. New York City, studied at Columbia. His first important play, Once in a Lifetime (1930), marked the beginning of a long collaboration with George S. Kaufman .
..... Click the link for more information. , and Neil Simon Simon, Neil (Marvin Neil Simon), 1927–, American playwright, b. New York City. His plays, nearly all of them popular, if not always critical successes, are comedies treating recognizable aspects of modern middle-class life.
..... Click the link for more information. . Strongly contrasting with these sunny styles are the nihilistic, highly unconventional comedy, containing both comic and tragic elements, of dramatists of the theater of the absurd such as Eugene Ionesco Ionesco, Eugène (özhĕn` yŏnĕs`kō), 1912–94, French playwright, b. Romania.
..... Click the link for more information. and Samuel Beckett Beckett, Samuel (bĕk`ĭt), 1906–89, Anglo-French playwright and novelist, b. Dublin.
..... Click the link for more information. and the so-called black comedy, often concerning topics like racism, sexual perversion, and murder, of playwrights such as Joe Orton Orton, Joe, 1933–67, English playwright, b. John Kingsley. After studying acting, he wrote farcical comedies noted for their cynical humor. His plays include The Ruffian on the Stair (1963), Entertaining Mr.
..... Click the link for more information. , Harold Pinter Pinter, Harold, 1930–, English dramatist. Born in Hackney in London's East End, he is the son of an English tailor of Eastern European Jewish ancestry, and studied at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and Central School of Speech and Drama.
..... Click the link for more information. , and David Mamet Mamet, David (mămĕt`), 1947–, American playwright and film director, b. Chicago.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bibliography

See B. N. Schilling, The Comic Spirit (1965); J. W. Krutch, Comedy and Conscience after the Restoration (rev. ed. 1949, repr. 1967); W. Sorell, Facets of Comedy (1972); M. Gurewitz, Comedy (1975); M. Charney, Comedy High and Low (1978); H. Levin, Playboys and Killjoys (1988).

comedy

Genre of dramatic literature that deals with the light and amusing or with the serious and profound in a light, familiar, or satirical manner. Comedy can be traced to revels associated with worship in Greece in the 5th century BC. Aristophanes, Menander, Terence, and Plautus produced comedies in classical literature. It reappeared in the late Middle Ages, when the term was used to mean simply a story with a happy ending (e.g., Dante's Divine Comedy), the same meaning it has in novels of the last three centuries (e.g., the fiction of Jane Austen). Compare tragedy.