Jul 24, 2008

Shakespeare's Work | Shakespeare as a Writer of Comedy

Shakespeare's interest in comedy—in its conventions, characters, traditions, and forms—was both searching and lifelong. Even if we except the late romances as a separate but closely allied genre, we can count thirteen plays, one-third of Shakespeare's canon, as full-fledged experiments with dramatic comedy. When we add to that the recognition that some of Shakespeare's best comic characters and situations lie in other genres—witness Falstaff in the history plays, Mercutio and the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, and the Clown-Gravedigger in Hamlet—we can say with assurance...