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The Comic View
Life is a comedy. The interactions, the thoughts, the activities, and ultimately the human existence are all comedic in nature. Larry Norman, a professor at the University of Chicago, provided insight into this disposition in an essay on the 17th century playwright, Moliйre. In the essay, Norman details the criticism the dramatist received for his realistic portrayals of life. It was the common view of the period that comedy should “select and correct” nature, rather than present a replicate of it. However, Moliйre did not correct his character’s comic foibles, instead he exposed them for all of his audience to see. Enraging his critics further, and strengthening his style, Moliйre employed a method that allowed him to not only draw on his own personal experiences, but also those of his audience. Moliйre's mimoires were a collection of audience-written stories detailing conversations, experiences, and observations recounted by the audience. While Moliйre and his critics disputed the actual nature of comedy, only time would be the true deciding factor. The success of Moliйre’s plays today has proven the timelessness of his comedy. He provided a window into the daily life of man, and in doing so created enduring comedy. This character of his drama demonstrates the comedic nature of life. Literature is an artistic expression of the human experience, and through its depiction of life, it is able to convey the innately comedic.
Norman’s Moliйre drew on the comic nature of religion in his masterpiece, Tartuffe. In the play, Moliйre is able to inflate the hypocritical aspect of the religious through his character, Tartuffe. The interaction between Tartuffe and his host, Orgon, creates an fascinating view into the power of hypocrisy and the role of religion. Religion is a deeply founded institution rooted in sincerity and profound ritual. However, the stoic nature of religion does not leave it exempt from a comedic temperament. Moliйre tackles its persuasive influence and unquestioned authority in his play, showing that the ascetic institution does have a comedic flavor. People’s unrelenting faith in religion is humorous in its own degree. Though often a comedic faux pas, it is exploited occasionally. Moliйre attempts to tastefully reveal this through Orgon who places undying faith in the hypocritical Tartuffe. Faith is an important component of life, but it also provides itself to comedic circumstances.
Death is not immune to comedy. Though it does produce sorrow, tragedy, and pain, it also provides a blacker comedy. Rosencratz and Guildenstern, by Tom Stoppard, supplies a look into the comedy behind the loss of life. In the play about Hamlet’s two condemned friends, Stoppard uses comedic situations and humorous dialogue to put a comedic slant on death. The two are doomed to live predestined lives that end on the gallows of England. They are constantly toyed with by the omniscient powers of nature as they slowly walk down the pre-paved path to demise. Stoppard flowers his theme with amusing action, but death does not have to [next page]