Northrop Frey's Theory Of Comedy

Question 1

What are 6 characteristics of a Shakespearean Comedy?

Answer 1

• Comedic Languagw: wordplay, puns metaphors, insults
• Love: sets of lovers that must overcome obstacles
• Complex Plots: convuluted twists and turns
• Mistaken Identity: plot is driven by this
• Happy Ending: involved marriage/s
• Stock Characters: the fool, young lovers, clever servant, the drunk, the snob

Question 2

What are the characteristics of “Existent society” in Frye’s archetype of comedy?

Answer 2

• Absurd/arbitrary law upheld by obstructing characters
• age, parents
• monetary wealth
• Habit, ritual, bondage, arbitrary laws, old characters
• Illusion (fixed or definable). May be caused by disguise, obsession, hypocrisy, or unknown parentage

Question 3

What are the characteristics of Frye’s Reformed Society?

Answer 3

• hero and heroine
• Youth, children
• Monetary poverty
• Youth with pragmatic freedom
• Reality (not illusion, changeable)