Comedy of manners: Difference between revisions
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The '''comedy of manners''' is an entertainment form which satirizes the manners and affectations of a [[social class]] or of multiple classes, often represented by stereotypical [[stock characters]]. For example, the ''[[miles gloriosus]]'' ("boastful soldier") in ancient times, the [[fop]] and the [[rake (character)|rake]] during the [[Restoration (England)|Restoration]], or an old person pretending to be young. [[Restoration comedy]] is used as a synonym for "comedy of manners". |
The '''comedy of manners''' is an entertainment form which satirizes the manners and affectations of a [[social class]] or of multiple classes, often represented by stereotypical [[stock characters]]. For example, the ''[[miles gloriosus]]'' ("boastful soldier") in ancient times, the [[fop]] and the [[rake (character)|rake]] during the [[Restoration (England)|Restoration]], or an old person pretending to be young. [[Restoration comedy]] is used as a synonym for "comedy of manners".<ref>George Henry Nettleton, Arthur |
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[http://books.google.com/books?id=TD8xG2Jnc10C&pg=PA149 ''British dramatists from Dryden to Sheridan''] p.149 |
[http://books.google.com/books?id=TD8xG2Jnc10C&pg=PA149 ''British dramatists from Dryden to Sheridan''] p.149</ref> The plot of the comedy, often concerned with scandal, is generally less important than its witty dialogue. A great writer of comedies of manners was [[Oscar Wilde]], his most famous play being ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest]]''. |
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The comedy of manners was first developed in the [[new comedy]] of the [[Ancient Greek]] [[playwright]] [[Menander]]. His style, elaborate plots, and stock characters were imitated by the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] playwrights [[Plautus]] and [[Terence]], whose comedies were widely known and copied during the [[Renaissance]]. The best-known comedies of manners, however, may well be those of the [[France|French]] playwright [[Molière]], who satirized the hypocrisy and pretension of the ''[[ancien régime]]'' in such plays as ''[[L'École des femmes]]'' (''The School for Wives'', 1662), ''[[Le Misanthrope]]'' (''The Misanthrope'', 1666), and most famously ''[[Tartuffe]]'' (1664). |
The comedy of manners was first developed in the [[new comedy]] of the [[Ancient Greek]] [[playwright]] [[Menander]]. His style, elaborate plots, and stock characters were imitated by the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] playwrights [[Plautus]] and [[Terence]], whose comedies were widely known and copied during the [[Renaissance]]. The best-known comedies of manners, however, may well be those of the [[France|French]] playwright [[Molière]], who satirized the hypocrisy and pretension of the ''[[ancien régime]]'' in such plays as ''[[L'École des femmes]]'' (''The School for Wives'', 1662), ''[[Le Misanthrope]]'' (''The Misanthrope'', 1666), and most famously ''[[Tartuffe]]'' (1664). |
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The comedy of manners has been employed by Roman satirists since as early as the first century BC. [[Horace]]'s [[Satires (Horace)|Satire 1.9]] is a prominent example, in which the persona is unable to express his wish for his companion to leave, but instead subtly implies so through wit. |
The comedy of manners has been employed by Roman satirists since as early as the first century BC. [[Horace]]'s [[Satires (Horace)|Satire 1.9]] is a prominent example, in which the persona is unable to express his wish for his companion to leave, but instead subtly implies so through wit. |
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[[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Much Ado about Nothing]]'' might be considered the first comedy of manners In [[England]], but the genre really flourished during the [[English Restoration|Restoration]] period. [[Restoration comedy]], which was influenced by [[Ben Jonson]]'s [[ |
[[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Much Ado about Nothing]]'' might be considered the first comedy of manners In [[England]], but the genre really flourished during the [[English Restoration|Restoration]] period. [[Restoration comedy]], which was influenced by [[Ben Jonson]]'s [[ |
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The tradition of elaborate, artificial plotting and epigrammatic dialogue was carried on by the Irish playwright [[Oscar Wilde]] in ''[[Lady Windermere's Fan]]'' (1892) and ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest]]'' (1895). In the 20th century, the comedy of manners reappeared in the plays of the British dramatists [[Noël Coward]] (''[[Hay Fever]]'', 1925) and [[Somerset Maugham]] and the novels of [[P.G. Wodehouse]], as well as various [[British sitcom]]s. The ''[[Carry On film]]s'' are a direct descendant of the comedy of manners |
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style. |
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== Twentieth-century examples == |
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The term ''[[comedy of menace]]'', which British drama critic [[Irving Wardle]] based on the subtitle of ''[[The Lunatic View: A Comedy of Menace]]'' (1958), by [[David Campton]], is a jocular play-on-words derived from the "comedy of manners" (''menace'' being ''manners'' pronounced with a somewhat Judeo-English accent).<ref name=Merritt>Susan Hollis Merritt, ''Pinter in Play: Critical Strategies and the Plays of Harold Pinter'' (Durham & London, 1990: Duke UP, 1995) 5, 9–10, 225–28, 240.</ref> Pinter's play ''[[The Homecoming]]'' has been described as a mid-twentieth-century "comedy of manners".<ref name=Merritt/> |
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In ''[[Boston Marriage (play)|Boston Marriage]]'' (1999), [[David Mamet]] chronicles a sexual relationship between two women, one of whom has her eye on yet another young woman (who never appears, but who is the target of a seduction scheme). Periodically, the two women make their serving woman the butt of haughty jokes, serving to point up the satire on class. Though displaying the verbal dexterity one associates with both the playwright and the genre, the patina of wit occasionally erupts into shocking crudity. |
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Other contemporary examples include [[Douglas Carter Beane]]'s ''[[As Bees in Honey Drown]]'', ''[[The Country Club (play)|The Country Club]]'' and ''[[The Little Dog Laughed (play)|The Little Dog Laughed]]''. |
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==Notes== |
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<references /> |
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==References== |
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*[http://www.samuelfrench-london.co.uk/sf/Pages/feature/campton.html David Campton], ''Samuel French London''. |
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[[Category:Drama]] |
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[[Category:Comedy]] |
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[[Category:Comedy genres]] |
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[[Category:Satire]] |
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Revision as of 05:17, 12 November 2013
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2007) |
The comedy of manners is an entertainment form which satirizes the manners and affectations of a social class or of multiple classes, often represented by stereotypical stock characters. For example, the miles gloriosus ("boastful soldier") in ancient times, the fop and the rake during the Restoration, or an old person pretending to be young. Restoration comedy is used as a synonym for "comedy of manners".<ref>George Henry Nettleton, Arthur British dramatists from Dryden to Sheridan p.149</ref> The plot of the comedy, often concerned with scandal, is generally less important than its witty dialogue. A great writer of comedies of manners was Oscar Wilde, his most famous play being The Importance of Being Earnest.
The comedy of manners was first developed in the new comedy of the Ancient Greek playwright Menander. His style, elaborate plots, and stock characters were imitated by the Roman playwrights Plautus and Terence, whose comedies were widely known and copied during the Renaissance. The best-known comedies of manners, however, may well be those of the French playwright Molière, who satirized the hypocrisy and pretension of the ancien régime in such plays as L'École des femmes (The School for Wives, 1662), Le Misanthrope (The Misanthrope, 1666), and most famously Tartuffe (1664).
Early examples
The comedy of manners has been employed by Roman satirists since as early as the first century BC. Horace's Satire 1.9 is a prominent example, in which the persona is unable to express his wish for his companion to leave, but instead subtly implies so through wit.
William Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing might be considered the first comedy of manners In England, but the genre really flourished during the Restoration period. Restoration comedy, which was influenced by Ben Jonson's [[