13-09-2017, 11:56 AM
A comedy is entertainment consisting of jokes intended to make an audience laugh. For the ancient Greeks and Romans, a comedy was a set with a happy ending. In the Middle Ages, the term expanded to include narrative poems with happy endings and a lighter tone. In this sense, Dante used the term in the title of his poem The Divine Commedia. The phenomena related to laughter and what causes it have been carefully investigated by psychologists and agreed on the predominant characteristics are incongruence or contrast in the object, and the shock or emotional hold on the part of the subject. It has also been argued that the feeling of superiority is an essential factor: thus, Thomas Hobbes speaks of laughter as a "sudden glory." Modern researchers have paid close attention to the origin of both laughter and smile, as well as the development of the "gut instinct" and its emotional expression.
Much comedy contains variations on the elements of surprise, incongruity, conflict, repetition, and the effect of opposing expectations, but there are many recognized genres of comedy. Satire and political satire use ironic comedy to portray people or social institutions as ridiculous or corrupt, thus alienating their audience from the object of humor.
The parody borrows the form of some genre, work of art or popular text, but uses certain ironic changes to criticize that form from within (though not necessarily condemnatory). The comedy of Screwball derives its humor largely from strange situations, surprising (and improbable) or characters. Black comedy is defined by the dark humor that makes the light of the so-called dark or evil elements in human nature. Likewise eschatological humor, sexual humor and race humor create comedy by violating social conventions or taboos in comic ways.
A comedy of customs typically takes as its theme a particular part of society (usually upper-class society) and uses humor to parody or satirize the behavior and manners of its members. Romantic comedy is a popular genre that describes the flourishing romance in humorous terms, and focuses on the weaknesses of those who are falling in love.
