There are many things that make a comedy or tragedy. There is the ending, an obvious "happy" or "sad" one where either (in comedy) everything ends up perfect, or (in tragedy) the protagonists and probably more die. The idea is that both talk about impossibilities- both comedies and tragedies comment on society. In Dramatic Structure: Comedy and Tragedy, Ian Johnston lays out the differences between comedy and tragedy, specifically in Shakespeare's works. Although the plays all begin with order, serving as an introduction, comedies and tragedies diverge as an unexpected action occurs- introducing disorder into the play. In comedy, the protagonist will adapt, while the tragic hero- "egocentric and unwilling to compromise their powerful sense of their own identity"- will remain stubborn to the end, unbending. Compromise is in comedy, unmoving in tragedy. There are several views of the personalities of comedies and tragedies, and the purpose they play in satirizing society; comedy supporting integration into society and tragedy "individual integrity". Johnston narrows it down to acceptance (comedy) or avoidance (tragedy).
In the comedy "The Simpsons", the characters live in a small town that represent the towns in the United States. Although the show can be just plain funny with its absurdity and comicalness, the show uses stereotypes and character relationships to comment on how society works, both satirizing and subtly (or not so subtly) pointing it out to the audience. The following clip "Homer Evolution" posted by huluDotCom on youtube relates to the article summarized above. Unfortunately, I have not watched many comedy shows, and some of the satirical private jokes below pass right over my head (I do not recognize all of the characters represented by the animals in this clip) but I have enough background knowledge for this clip to be an interesting one in relationship to Johnston's article.
Of course, this isn't Shakespeare, but the article's theories apply. Throughout the clip the protagonist Homer evolves from a small organism to his normal Homer self. All happening in a day, this clip could represent what Homer feels his day has been like, from getting up and brushing his teeth to coming back from work. He goes to work, gets hit by the octopus (someone he works with?), followed and tortured by the people meets during the day. His son attacks him as a dinosaur, truthfully playful, but for the father he seems like a menace. Then he continues home, passing a man who devolves as he walks (probably a statement on the capabilities and personality of the character), and going through history as he wears different clothes- it's been a long day. Then he arrives home, a "usual day" as he steps over the dog and meets up with his family watching T.V. on the couch, as his wife says to him "What took you so long?" The Simpsons is a comedy- accepting rather than avoiding society. Homer accepts his place in society to endure what he feels are long days and troubles, taking his place in society as a father and a worker. He bases his identity with "a particular family in a specific place". Not only did the clip satirize the people (and those whom they stereotype), it relates to Johnston's article in the way that "there is always a sense of limitation underneath the joy". At first when I read this, I hadn't understood. But in watching the clip, the idea became clear: Homer has the security of his place in society, a duty, a job, a purpose- and he is happy. But there can be a limitation, a sadness, that he (perhaps without thinking or knowing) conformed to society and is not "truly free" unlike a tragic character. However, he is alive and well, which accounts for his joy as well.
Johnston also mentions the gender differentiation and its relationship to comedies and tragedies. His theory on "Contrasting male and female principles, the former associated with the origins of tragedy in some dissatisfaction with the given world and the latter associated with an acceptance of the world" connects to the children of the show, Bart and Lisa. In the clip, the two's actions reveal their acceptance and avoidance of society. Bart the dinosaur, a T-Rex I presume, chases his dad crazily- he is his own self- an individual, albeit a slightly insane one. The daughter, on the other hand, conforms to what society thinks the perfect child should be- good in school, competitive, a good orator... As a triceratops (I think) she pushes her disobedient and disgraceful brother off, protecting her dad, but even more so society, and her place in it.
Both comedies and tragedies serve the same purpose- they speak about society and the people in it, exaggerating a situation to absurdity, to either make it funny or sad.
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