Old Comedy vs. New Comedy - 1142 Words

Comedies were performed in the Great Dionysia just like tragedies; also comedies were entered in contests in other festival, known as the Lesser Dionysia, and it was celebrated in the winter. Comedies combined poetry with coarse language. For example they featured buffoonery, slapstick, obscenity, and horseplay. The comedy actors dressed in weird costumes that had paddled bellies or rumps for outrageous effects. â€Å"The comic playwrights made their own plots and they focused on important matters like: politics, philosophies, the new social class, and well-known personalities.† (Roy T. Matthews’s pg.70) The comic playwrights freedom could only exist in a democracy. Freedom was very limited for the comic playwrights. The comic†¦show more content†¦An example is, â€Å"a favorite plot device of New comedy hinged on discovering that a seemingly lowborn character was actually from a respected and often wealthy family.† (Roy T. Matthews’s pg.97) Both ancient and modern critics always considered that Menander was the author of New Comedy. Menander written more than a hundred plays for Dionysia festival Athens, he won first prize for comedy eight times. He is recognized with accomplishing the comedy of manners. It is a funny play that pays its attention on the way people talk in the community. The comedies of manners remind everyone of the Hellenistic focusing on normal scenes from everyday life. One of Menander’s works was The Woman from Samos. This type of comedy worries the character of an orphaned baby and features a stock of characters: â€Å"a courtesan, a young lover, an old lover, a funny neighbor, and two funny slaves.† (Roy T. Matthews’s pg.98) He first presenting a household in which his dad supposed that he and his son are addressing the same lady, when it is actually the son being occupied with the girl next door. Obviously the play has a happy ending, with all of the characters brought togeth er, the son gets married to his true love, and the dad and the women married in a happy ceremony. Western comedy would be incredible if it wasn’t for Menander. Menander style of plays was token into Roman comedy, which wasShow MoreRelatedShe Stoops to Conquer1720 Words   |  7 Pagesbefore taking up a life of writing in London. In 1761, he met Samuel Johnson, become an important member of his literary circle. He is best known for a comic novel, The Vicar of Wakefield, a poem about urbanization, The Deserted Village, and a stage comedy, She Stoops to Conquer. Goldsmith, by Joshua Reynolds, ca. 1773 By reputation, Goldsmith was brilliant but insecure, and well-meaning and good-natured, but often foolish or gauche in social situations. The Play’s the Thing . . . In manyRead MoreThe Evolution Of Greek Theater1576 Words   |  7 Pagesbe considered to be one of the building blocks for our theater today. 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