Shakespeare Creates Comedy through Cruelty and Subversion

Shakespeare creates comedy through cruelty and subversion discuss Much Ado about Nothing is seen as one of Shakespeare’s more mature comedies, because of this we find ourselves wondering; how is this comedy crafted? What we know of other Shakespearian comedies ensures us one thing; it will challenge the norms. Indeed Shakespeare’s plays challenge the social standards of their time, defying both language and gender stereotypes. The subversion and cruelty are both present in different concentrations, subversion runs hand in hand with his defiance of the female stereotypes and thus the play is rife with subversive comments and behaviour. This kind of rebellious behaviour was simply not seen in women of the time, this gave his plays even†¦show more content†¦This was a big part of the subversive side of Shakespeare’s Much Ado, however with all this subversion to love and marriage being thrown around you would expect some cruelty attached, wouldn’t you ? The answer is undoubtedly no as all is made well at the end of the play by the two most subversive characters getting married and finally falling victim the forces they fought for so long. This in turn restores the balance of morals that have been turned on their head during the play and returning the audience to reality. This restoration themed ending is common among all comedic plays and is the boundary that cannot be crossed as a tragic ending is simply not funny and leaves the audience upset that the character they just became attached to have received such an unfortunate fate. Shakespeare not only uses Beatrice as a subversive character, but subverts the very language of the time. He does this through the two characters Benedick and Beatrice, they are both constantly mocking the petrarchan side of poetic language, they used language such as lady disdain when describing lady Beatrice rather than a typical comment such as lady love. Also when Claudio asks Benedick can the world buy such jewel? Benedick replies with yea and a case to put it in. this is extremely devaluing to love and how much of a treasure it can be and howShow MoreRelatedwisdom,humor and faith19596 Words   |  79 PagesTable of Contents (with links) Walter G. Moss 1 Table of Contents (with links) 1 Wisdom, Perspective, and Values 2 Humor’s Contribution to Wisdom 4 Humor and Wisdom in Europe: Some Highlights 5 Renaissance Humor: Erasmus, Rabelais, Cervantes, Shakespeare 5 Two European Russians: Anton Chekhov and Vladimir Soloviev 9 Reflections on Humor from Nietzsche to the Theatre of the Absurd 12 Humor and Wisdom in the United States: Lincoln, Beecher, Twain, Sandburg, and Buchwald 17 From The Times (of London)