What is Comedy?
Comedy is a literary, theatrical, television and cinematographic genre whose plot seeks to make the audience laugh , be it through irony, parodies, confusions, mistakes or sarcasms.
The word comedy derives from the Greek kōmōidía , a word composed of kōmōs that indicates a parade and odé that refers to a song or ode.
In this sense, the classical comedy of the Greek theater consisted of burlesque songs and political satires, also known as satirical poems.
As a literary genre, comedy groups all works that seek public laughter with comic situations and mistakes with impossible consequences.
Comedy can also mean a deliberate action to deceive someone, such as, “Don’t continue this comedy to take advantage of others.” In this case, it is used as a synonym for “theater”.
Comedy can also be used under contexts in real situations of mistakes and confusion, for example, “What a comedy this confusion!”.
Comedy Features
Comedy is characterized by the use of humor to transform, exaggerate, and ridicule drama for comic situations and generally have a happy ending.
The comedy genre often uses mistakes and misunderstandings to transform them into nonsense, these situations are known as quid pro quo .
Types of comedy
There are many types of comedy, whether as literary, theatrical, or film genres. Here are some types of comedy that exist:
Greek comedy
Greek comedy originates from Ancient Greece and is part of classical theater, which initially only comprised tragedy. The comedy was characterized by the use of satirical poems and masks for the actors.
Art comedy
Art comedy is a genre originating in Italy in the 16th century. In Italian, commedia dell’Arte , remained until the beginning of the 19th century as a popular theater characterized by improvisation and the use of masks by the actors, except for the protagonists in love.
Situation comedy
The sitcom is represented by sketch short overstating habits and common situations. A current example is the comic series also known in English as sitcom .
Musical comedy
Musical comedy is a theatrical genre known especially for its shows in Broadway musicals. Musical comedy is also common in the film industry, constituting a type of show comedy.
Romantic comedy
Romantic comedies generally refer to mild entertainment films about encounters and disagreements between the protagonists in love that ends with a happy ending. It usually fits into the bug comedy genre.
Comedy and tragedy
Comedy and tragedy are genres of theater. The theater classic was born in ancient Greece tragedy. Subsequently, comedy was born in the form of poems until it constituted itself a play.
Comedy and tragedy merge in what is called the tragicomedy, where the tragedy is so ridiculous that it becomes comedy, tragicomic situations where the public does not know whether to “laugh or cry.
The Divine Comedy
The Divine Comedy is a poetic work written by the Florentine Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) in 1307. It is divided into 3 songs, being: Hell , Purgatory and Paradise . It is called divine comedy alluding to the mistakes of the earth as a comedy of the gods.
