Comedy That Is Featured In Romeo And Juliet English Literature Essay

Any suicide would be deemed as a horrific tragedy. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a well known tragedy and consists of two suicides. While, suicide is mostly seen as tragic, Shakespeare incorporates elements of comedy that end up changing the type of play from tragedy to comedy. Certain parts of this comedy are worth noting.

This talk of raping and decapitating women is probably the where those in the audience really become engaged. The first reason as to why someone watching the play would become engaged at this point would be that the prologue described the events of the play as somewhat dreary and bleak, so the audacity and “laddishnes” of two young men joking about raping servant women and cutting their heads off would seem to be rather unexpected, heightening the humour. As true as this is, the original reason why Shakespeare would have included such explicit comedy is that the theatre’s main business competition were either brothels or violent events like cock fights so he had to find some way to gain the attention of those people that would go to such events. No unruly or boisterous young man would want to be stuck watching a depressingly grim tragedy while he could be going to a brothel, which is why Shakespeare introduces this kind of humour into the play and uses it on many an occasion. Some comedic irony should also be noticed here, considering that Sampson and Gregory’s characters were most probably being played by young children who were nowhere near matured and to hear them speaking of acts such as rape is somewhat ridiculous. Shakespeare could be using this as a visual symbol that the characters of Sampson and Gregory are all talk and would never commit these acts, had they been played by adults or not.

Although this constant repetition of the word “sir” does sound rather silly, Shakespeare does use this to his advantage. The audience are anticipating a huge brawl between these four men, yet the very inappropriate way this single word is being driven into the ground makes it funnier. Nobody would really expect banter between a group of people just about to try and kill each other. The audience just can’t help but laugh at this situation comedy scenario.

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Much like Sampson and Gregory in the previous scene, the clown, introduced to us in Act One Scene Two, is definitely the centre of most of the humour in this scene and again, like act one scene one, the viewers are once again given the opportunity to find the comedy in another’s ignorance.

Clown: Find them out whose names are written here! It is written, that the shoemaker should meddle with his yard, and the tailor with his last, the fisher with his pencil, and the painter with his nets; but I am sent to find those persons whose names are here writ, and can never find what names the writing person hath here writ. I must to the learned.–In good time.

His blatant inability to read manages to give the audience a few cheap laughs, but Shakespeare needs the Clown to act buffoonish because it’s through that idiocy that presents Romeo and his friends the opportunity to gatecrash the Capulet party and, in turn, meet Juliet and fall in love with her. Although a minor comic character in this play, he is also something of an unsung hero in the sense that had he of been more

competent and not delivered the invite to Romeo, none of the main events of the play would have occurred. Shakespeare needed a comic character to set the whole plot into motion so he used the Clown.

So far, all comic characters featured in the play have only been relatively minor characters compared to the one introduced in Act One Scene Three. Juliet’s carer, the Nurse, is probably the most central characters as far as comedy is concerned. Shakespeare uses this character for several dirty puns and crude humour jokes, in fact the first thing the character says is used in a comedic way.

LADY CAPULET: Nurse, where’s my daughter? Call her forth to me.

Nurse: Now, by my maidenhead, at twelve year old, I bade her come. What, lamb! What, ladybird! God forbid! Where’s this girl? What, Juliet!

There are two levels two the humour in this statement. The first being the “maidenhead” remark, which may mean virginity but is also an obvious reference to the dirty banter of Sampson and Gregory earlier on, the viewers would have to have seen this scene to understand the joke. The virginity joke is doubled by the fact that Shakespeare makes sure that this barmy old female character is in fact played by a fully grown man, dressed in women’s clothing. Even though a woman acting in the theatre was totally unheard of in Shakespeare’s time, it works better for the comedy of the character if it is played by a man. Had the character been played by a female, the audience would probably find it rather tactless and distasteful to hear her talk about her own virginity. At least with a man it could be taken in the way as crude humour.

The nurse being played by a male actor could also open up an opportunity for Shakespeare to show some more visual comedy in the play by setting the actor up with the most ridiculously fake set of breasts and a very tacky styled dress. This technique is still used now, in the modern age, in the form of pantomimes and their dames. The technique still succeeds in making theatre audiences laugh today.

As if the nurse being dressed crudely in drag wasn’t enough, Shakespeare gives the character several rude and often explicit lines and he emphasizes this by giving the character the vast majority of the screen time as well as a huge speech.

Nurse:   When it did taste the wormwood on the nipple

     For then she could stand alone; nay, by the rood,

     ‘Yea,’ quoth he, ‘dost thou fall upon thy face?

     Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit;

There are a very large number of sexual references and innuendoes in this one speech alone. The way the character refers to how she weaned Juliet as a baby from her breast milk is yet another joke about the actor’s fake breasts, like Shakespeare is using repetition to thrust the emphasis that there is a womanly form on a man in the audience faces. Yet again, this constant repetition is always reminding the audience that it is really a man in that dress. To some extent it is probably a good thing because Shakespeare needs the people watching the play to always keep in mind it’s a man so they don’t start to forget it’s not really a woman and start viewing the crude humour as inappropriate and vulgar.

Another mentioning sexual acts in this Nurse’s speech is how she rambles on about how her husband joked about how Juliet should fall on her back rather than on her face. Although many people reading the script now would only be able to detect the rude comedy in this, it is still there none the less. The reason why the Nurse ‘s husband said this is that he is referring to that Juliet will one day fall down on her back in order to have easier sexual intercourse when she one day gets married. Shakespeare’s audiences were much more prone to listening to what was being said so picking up on this would be no problem for them.

True, the speech the Nurse gives is full to the brim with crude and sexual jokes, but the fact that a servant is completely overpowering both her mistress and her daughter in this scene is also somewhat amusing. Servants at this time were supposed to be together, well mannered and were meant to speak only when spoken to by their masters or mistresses. This is hugely contrary to how the nurse is acting, her mistress seems completely overthrown by her behaviour and seems fully inept when it comes down to having to control her servant. This is what we would call situational comedy, a situation that is highly contrary to what would have actually happened in Shakespeare’s day and age. Not only that, but I believe that Shakespeare wanted to give the nurse the most lines and presence in this scene because she is one of the main comic characters in the play and by doing this he intended the character gain the audiences favour, so they like the character and expect to see her much more often later on. Shakespeare does not disappoint.

Act One Scene Four introduces possibly the second most prominent character as far as comedy is concerned here: Mercutio. Mercutio’s style of in your face insulting humour makes him one of the most memorable and likeable characters. It’s hard to believe he is aristocratic judging from his “one of the lads” attitude.Not only that but he has the key role for changing the feel of the play from comedy to tragedy . He is first seen in this scene with Romeo and Benvolio, trying to convince the sceptical Romeo to attend the Capulet ball. Rather like an echo of the nurse, Shakespeare awards this character the vast majority of speaking time to establish him as a comedic character. In this time he mocks Romeo several times about love and also makes a lot of crude jokes and puns.

Mercutio: And, to sink in it, should you burden love; Too great oppression for a tender thing.

ROMEO: Is love a tender thing? it is too rough, Too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn.

MERCUTIO: If love be rough with you, be rough with love;

     Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.

     Give me a case to put my visage in:

     A visor for a visor! what care I

     What curious eye doth quote deformities?

     Here are the beetle brows shall blush for me.

The rude comedy here is obvious, even to modern audiences: Romeo is once again dreaming about love and romance and Mercutio starts to mock him by turning the subject of romance into a “penis joke” by using the word prick several times. The blushing comment could also possibly taken as sexual because blushing is something a person does when flustered, which often occurs to a person during sex.

For the next scene at the Capulet party, Shakespeare tones the comedy down greatly to make way for the romance of when Romeo finally meets Juliet. He achieves this romantic feel by providing Romeo a couple of moving soliloquies in which he talks mostly in an iambic pentameter to gain the beautiful poetic sense.

– / – / – / – / – /

But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?

Shakespeare gives Romeo the dialogue of iambic pentameter with strong sounds on every other word in the sentence. As light shines from the window, Romeo compares Juliet to a rising sun , which has fairly strong connotations of warmth and love.

The only comedy that I can pick up on in Act Two Scene One (a rather short scene) is Romeo taking yet another huge onslaught of quips and jokes from Mercutio, the most memorable quote being:

Mercutio:  Romeo, that she were, O, that she werea an open et arse, thou a poperin pear!

Once again, the character of Mercutio decides to totally belittle Romeo’s new found affection for Juliet by making vulgar and sexual suggestions about her to Rome. One again, Shakespeare harnesses the crude humour on the topic of sex to keep a firm hold on the audience’s attention, he has to keep up the comedy so the audience is paying full attention for when the plot thickens and the play becomes a tragedy.

It is only until act Two Scene Four that the two most comically essential characters of the play (The Nurse and Mercutio) actually cross each other’s paths and this probably one of the most comic moments in the entire play. First of all, the nurse appears on stage dressed even more ridiculously

than usual. This sets up some very amusing visual comedy for the audience and also sets up Mercutio up with his first dig at the Nurse. Saying “A sail, a sail!”

The nurse, trying to keep up her aristocratic guise tries to ignore Mercutio, but he still keeps the jokes coming in fast and thick.

Nurse: My fan, Peter.

Mercutio: Good Peter, to hide her face; for her fan’s the fairer face.

I believe, personally, that Shakespeare is using Mercutio to insult the Nurse’s looks as a device to keep reminding the audience that the nurse is really played by a man, thus enhancing the comedic value of this sequence. This technique becomes more obvious just as the Nurse begins to leave the band of young men and Romeo follows her. Mercutio has one final insult:

Mercutio: Farewell, ancient lady; farewell,–

[singing] lady, lady, lady.

After listening to this joyful repetition of the word lady, I believe that it is surely Shakespeare trying to keep it fresh in the viewers’ heads that it is really a man.

Even in a total outrage about her recent abuse from Mercutio, Shakespeare still makes sure that the nurse stays totally truthful to her hilarious character and can’t help but make several innuendoes even when she herself does not know it.

Nurse: An a’ speak anything against me, I’ll take him

     down, an a’ were lustier than he is, and twenty such

     Jacks; and if I cannot, I’ll find those that shall.

     Scurvy knave! I am none of his flirt-gills; I am

     none of his skains-mates. And thou must stand by

     too, and suffer every knave to use me at his pleasure?

The Nurse makes several crude jokes without realising it. There are two main innuendoes here: the first one is the nurse speaking of taking Mercutio down and the other is how she accidently speaks of not letting just anyone use her for his pleasure. The character probably meant it in the sense of using her for verbal abuse, as displayed by Mercutio, but how the audience interprets this is left to the imagination.

After hearing this little speech, the Nurse’s aide, Peter, decides to speak:

Peter: I saw no man use you a pleasure; if I had, my weapon

     should quickly have been out, I warrant you: I dare

     draw as soon as another man, if I see occasion in a

     good quarrel, and the law on my side.

He too is completely oblivious to the rude comments he just said. The audience would recognise the naked weapon pun as a throwback to the Sampson and Gregory sequence’s “penis humour”. Shakespeare also subtly adds in the word “quarrel” into this speech. This is also a reminder to Sampson and Gregory. The very memory of that very first scene would surely be enough to make the audience chuckle again, just as it did the first time around: another addition to the repetition technique to humour.

The turning point of the play from humour to tragedy is definitely at the point of Mercutio’s death. It is only as he is dying in his friend’s arms that Mercutio ceases with the mockery and jokes. After a lots of little jokes, claiming that his “scratch” is not really that bad a wound because it is “not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door”, he suddenly breaks out with “A plague o’ both your houses!” he doesn’t only aim this at Tybalt who was the one who killed him, but everyone , even though he was quite firmly allied with Romeo when in life. It’s possible that he believed that he had been killed in a squabble that would come to nothing, which is outrageous.

Since that moment, the mood of the play becomes much darker and the light hearted comedy element dies. Even when the nurse retains her old self by making several jokes, it becomes rather cheap and tasteless because the subject of that joke would be about death. A good example about this is when Juliet is being forced to marry Paris but is already married to Romeo. This cruel irony could have potential to be funny, but because the play is at that morbid moment, it just appears tragically brutal.

Symbolically, just as the comedy drains out scene by scene, the Nurse also has less time featured on stage. In Act Four, her lines become much smaller and insignificant until she is completely mute and in act five (the act where the couple commit suicide) she doesn’t even appear at all. So the conversion from comedy to tragedy is complete.

So in conclusion, William Shakespeare managed to add comedic touches into this play in order to grasp the audience’s attention and engage them quite effectively.