Name : Anjali Madhavjibhai Rathod
Enrollment No. : 406920642022002
Roll No. :
Batch : M.A. Sem. 1 (2022-24
Subject Code & Paper No. : 22396 - Paper 105 : The History of English Literature From 1350 to 190
Email Address : rathodanjali20022002ui@gmail.co
Submitted to : Smt. S. B. Gardi Department of English - Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University - Bhavnagar - 36400
The Comedy of Manne
The comedy of manners was attempted by Shakespeare during the Elizabethan period. The comedy of manners is a genre of comedy that flourished on the English stage during the Restoration period. Plays of this type are typically set in the world of the upper class, and ridicule the pretensions of those who consider themselves socially superior, deflating them with satire. With witty dialogue and cleverly constructed scenarios, comedies of manners comment on the standards and mores of society and explore the relationships of the sexes. Marriage is a frequent subject
Typically, there is little depth of characterization; instead, the playwrights used stock character types—the fool, the schemer, the hypocrite, the jealous husband, the interfering old parents—and constructed plots with rapid twists in events, often precipitated by miscommunications. The roots of the comedy of manners can be traced back to Molière's seventeenth-century French comedies and to the “humours” comedy of Ben Jonson; indeed, certain characteristics can be found as far back in time as ancient Greek plays
This genre refers to English Comedies written and performed in the Restoration Period from 1660 A.D. to 1710 A.D. It is an entertainment form which satirizes the manners and affections of social class or of multiple classes. A manner is a method in which everyday duties are performe
As compared to the tragedy of the Restoration Age, this genre achieved greater distinction and shame. It was the most characteristic product of Restoration Literature & reflects the spirit of the age more comprehensively than its prose and poetr
Restoration Com
During the Restoration period comedy of manners was brought forward and polished so the comedy of manners is called ‘Restoration Comedy’ in English Literary history. "Restoration comedy" is an English comedy written and performed in the Restoration period of 1660–1710. Comedy of manners is used as a synonym for this. After public stage performances were banned for 18 years by the Puritan regime, reopening of the theatres in 1660 marked a renaissance of English dram
The best-known fact about the Restoration drama is that it is immoral. The dramatists did not criticize the accepted morality about gambling, drink, love, and pleasure generally, or try, like the dramatists of our own time, to work out their own view of character and conduct. What they did was, according to their respective inclinations, to mock all restraints. Some were gross, others delicately improper. The dramatists did not merely say anything they liked: they also intended to glorify it and to shock those who did not like it
"Restoration comedy" is an English comedy written and performed in the Restoration period of 1660–1710. Comedy of manners is used as a synonym for this. After public stage performances were banned for 18 years by the Puritan regime, reopening of the theatres in 1660 marked a renaissance of English dram
The socially diverse audiences included aristocrats, their servants and hangers-on and a major middle-class segment. They were attracted to the comedies by up-to-the-minute topical writing, crowded and bustling plots, introduction of the first professional actresses, and the rise of the first celebrity actors. The period saw the first professional female playwright, Aphra Beh
About this form of comedy
This form of comedy deals with the relations and intrigues of gentlemen and ladies who are living in a polished and sophisticated society. Although many people believe that comedy of manners was invented in the 18th century, it had been used by Roman satirists many centuries ago. However, the French playwright Moliere is the best-known playwright for the comedy of manners. His popular plays like L’École des femmes, Le Misanthrope and Tartuffe satirize the hypocrisy of the aristocratic class
A comedy is a play with a happy ending that makes the audience laugh. A comedy of manners is a type of comedy that deals with behaviour. It makes fun of the follies, vanities, hypocrisies and weaknesses of people using satire. In other words, a comedy of manners gives a satirical portrayal of the behaviour of a certain group of people
In English literature, the comedy of manners became popular in the Restoration period. In fact, the term restoration comedy is sometimes used as a synonym for comedy of manners
While they wrote in the latter portion of the eighteenth century, after the Restoration period, and after sentimental comedy had become the dominant comedic form, Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Oliver Goldsmith composed plays that revived and renewed the comedy of manners genre. Sheridan's The School for Scandal (1777) and Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer (1773), in particular, received popular and critical acclaim when first produced, and have been continuously staged to the present day
Comic Weapo
In comedy of manners the dramatist uses several comic weapons. They are wit, satire and speaking dialogues. The dramatist of ‘comedy’ of manners of the gentlemen and ladies of contemporary societ
These dialogues are often in the form of reparke and their conversation is of give and take relationship. They often violate social conversations. They satire in ridiculous manner the characters are often decorum of the stupidity the characters are shown as to be wits
Examples of Comedy of manners
Congreve`s, ‘The way of the worl
Wycherley's ‘The country wife
Oliver Goldsmith's she stoops to conquer
Sheridan's The Rivals and the school for scandal
Oscar wins the importance of being earnest(1895) the other dramatists of comedy of manners are
A.W. piner
G.B. sha
Summerseat Maugh
Noel Cowar
Much Ado about Nothing by William Shakespeare can be considered the first comedy of manners in England. William Wycherley’s The Country Wife, with William Congreve’s The Way of the World, Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer, Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The School for Scandal and The Rivals are some examples of comedy of manners. Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan and The Importance of Being Earnest are also comedies of manners although they were written in the 19th centur
Choice of character
In the comedy of manners the following types of characters are chosen
They are selected from the sophisticated society
They are polished people
They are ‘To br wits’ characters
They react against immorality
They are countly restoration
They turn to be sentimental as a result of it
Sheridan`s characters revived the wit.
Their identity is qualified by their names, for example ; malaprop
comedy of manners, witty, cerebral form of the dramatic comedy that depicts and often satirizes the manners and affectations of a contemporary society. A comedy of manners is concerned with social usage and the question of whether or not characters meet certain social standards
Comedy of manners relies upon high comedy. A playwright requires sophisticated wit and talent to write a comedy of manners. These comedies often used minimal physical action. Heavy use of witty dialogue was the hallmark of comedy of manners. Comedy of manners is the opposite of slapstick plays which rely upon physical actions and mimicry to evoke laughte
The characters in comedy of manners also have little depth since playwrights often use stereotypical stock characters such as the hypocrite, schemer, fool, jealous husband, and interfering old parent
Characteristics
It depends upon the dramatists’ capacity to present the unemotional treatment of sex
It is rich with wit and satire and gives the image of the time
The heroine is more important and interesting than the hero in the Comedy of Manner
Both hero and heroine are well dressed, self-possessed and witty
Whereas throughout its long career, English Tragedy has always accepted foreign influences, English Comedy has been less influenced by them. But the Restoration Comedy of Manners took a good deal of continental spirit
The manners which the Comedy of Manners shows were not the manners of all the classes of Restoration Society; they were rather the manners of the upper class only
This genre is characterized by realism (art), social analysis and satire. These comedies held a mirror to the finer society of their age. These comedies are thus true pictures of the noble society of the age.One feature of the Restoration comedy which has been often criticised and almost as often defended is its immorality
This genre held a mirror to the high society of the Restoration Age. The society was immortal and so was its image represented by the comedy
Most comedy writers liked the presentation of scenes and acts of sexual rudeness
The introduction of the actresses for the first time on the stage lowered the morality level. These actresses were mostly women of easy virtue
The writers of the Comedy of Manners gave much more importance to the wit and polish of their dialogues than to their plot-construction; which, in the views of Aristotle, “is the soul of a tragedy and a comedy too.
The dialogue of the Comedy of Manners is witty, polished and crisp
The Way of the World by William Congreve is an example of Comedy of Manner
Developed comedy of manners in the restoration perio
William congreve and has contemporaries gave birth to the comedy of manners. They reflected in their dramas the following feature
They showed quilt
Characters reflected foppery; they are fops and dandies
They revealed insolence
The character selected from the aristocratic (rich and courtly) and sophisticated society
These characters were selected from the aristocratic and sophisticated society
These characters are always engaged in intrigues
There was a vulgar realism in their action
The dramatist copied vices and not virtues
The dramatist followed French tradition in depicting manners of English society
The characters are selected from the snobs
The drama of comedy of manners was marked by realism
They deal with the subject of corrupt court and society
Thus Restoration comedy of manners dramas are coarse and low
w............y.s.d. s.”... ....s.. s.r.. . .......s y.damwo...’d’:-. y.ns .. . . n.a.. a.edyy.d.. . rs 1m0)24y deal with the subject of corrupt court and society.
Thus Restoration comedy of manners dramas are coarse and low.
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