Shakespeare Comedy: List of the best

In the work of the greatest playwright of the Renaissance, W. Shakespeare, it is customary to distinguish three periods. The division is due primarily to the genre and thematic originality of works written in different years.

The first period - 1590-1601 - against the background of others looks, perhaps, the most resilient. This is the time when the best comedies of Shakespeare were created. Their list includes about ten plays, funny, with bright, memorable images.

Features comedies of 1590-1601 years

A love capable of overcoming any intrigues surrounding ... Young, energetic, witty heroes, among whom a special place is occupied by those striking in their charm, striving for independence and ready to compete with men in everything ... An unusual, often romantic landscape, filled with the light of the sun or the moon ... Here is the main thing that unites the early comedies of Shakespeare.

A fascinating plot, based on a story from Antiquity or the Middle Ages, always reflects the realities of time and is often based on one principle. The main characters - a young couple in love - begin to fight for the right to marry. And quite often, not only parents and circumstances become a hindrance, but also their lack of faith, character traits, beliefs that ultimately manage to change. Thus, the main idea that Shakespeare's comedies bear: a man, whoever he is, must himself become the creator of his own happiness.

We should pay attention to one more point. Despite the seeming lightness and playfulness, the playwright touches pretty important issues in the plays, exposing human stupidity and vulgarity.

"Comedy of Mistakes"

As already noted, the playwright often borrowed the stories of early plays from his predecessors. But after the artistic processing instead of the masks accepted in the medieval play, real faces appeared, and these were already Shakespeare's comedies. A list of them opens with the "Comedy of Errors" - still immature, small in volume, accentuating attention more on the outside of events and focusing on the traditions of classicism. But already it depicts quite interesting characters with their inherent strong human feelings. And although very often this play is called nothing more than a farce, it is clear that it far exceeds in form and content the previously created works of this genre.

The Shakespeare Comedy "The Taming of the Shrew"

Created a little later (presumably in 1593), it was repeatedly reprocessed by the playwright. There was also an anonymous version of the play with a similar title and story, the authorship of which was attributed to Shakespeare.

The behavior of heroes of comedy has always been perceived ambiguously. This is the story of the sisters, one of which is the wayward and rebellious Katarina, and the other is the meek and humble Bianca. On the arm of the latter apply for two young men, but the girl's father declares that he will give the younger daughter to marry only after Katarina. As a result, the bridegrooms join forces in seeking a husband for her. So there is a young, intelligent, energetic Petruccio, who was able to see beyond the outer inaccessibility of the elder sister her true character. Thanks to the mind, patience, and sometimes stiffness in the relationship, he managed to conquer the heart of the obstinate beauty and gain real happiness.

The finale of the comedy of Shakespeare, the summary of which is given, turned out to be unpredictable. The meek Bianca became capricious and quarrelsome, and more recently the wayward Katarina turned into an obedient and well-wedded wife. A new look at the life of a tamed girl manifested itself in her final monologue, in which she calls married women to obedience.

Thus, the playwright stressed the superiority of the man in society over the weaker sex, but, having shown the rich nature of Katarina, proclaimed the equality of both in society.

"The Merchant of Venice"

By 1596 there is another famous work written by William Shakespeare. Comedy, as a rule, are built on a fun story. However, the story is based on the story of how poor Bassanio, who decided to marry a beautiful woman from a wealthy family, turns to a merchant friend asking him to borrow money. He signs a bill, according to which the usurer Shylock in case of delay has the right to cut out his pound of meat. It is for this reason that many writers tend to attribute the "Venetian merchant" to the drama. But the genre was determined by the author himself, and in the final Bassanio, in order to save the friend-merchant who was shipwrecked, he goes to court and decides to pay a penalty. Shylock, who was rebuffed as a result, is accused of an attempt on Antonio's life, and half of his estate goes to the merchant. So in the comedy of Shakespeare, the question arises of the need to keep the word, even if it is dropped on frivolity or confident of a successful outcome of the case.

"Twelfth Night"

This is already a playwright's play, written around 1600. The main characters - the twins Viola and Sebastian - as a result of the shipwreck lose each other and find themselves in the country of Illyria. Viola puts on a man's dress and gets to the palace of the Duke of Orsino. He gives instructions to the "young page" - to convince Olivia, in which he was in love, to marry him. But the young widow is fascinated by Caesario-Viola.

Shakespeare's comedy "Twelfth Night" continues with the appearance in the city of Sebastian, which leads to numerous confusions, as the brother and sister were extremely similar. As a result, there are two pairs: Olivia-Sebastian and Viola-Orsino, and everything ends safely.

According to the plot, the play reminds of a cheerful romantic fairy tale about love, in which there are many jokes, unusual situations connected with dressing up heroes (this is a typical feature of Shakespeare's early comedies). An unusual ending is caused by the fact that every hero finds true happiness at all, not where he was looking.

"A dream in a summer night"

The place of action is Athens. In parallel, several storylines develop, and fairy-tale heroes living in the forest interfere in people's relations-these are the features of Shakespeare's most fantastic comedy. The summary is the following. Enamored heroes who decided to break his father's will fall into an unusual forest. They are followed by a friend and fiance of Hermia. Thanks to the error of the elves, everything went well. Lovers in each other, Hermias and Lysander, were able to unite their destinies. And Demetrius found happiness with Elena, who had suffered for a long time. Funny adventures that occurred with young people in the magical forest, the next morning it seems to be nothing more than a dream that brought fulfillment of desires.

The meaning of Shakespeare's comedies

The main thing that distinguishes the creativity of the playwright is attention to the person's personality. This is well traced in every genre, including comedy. Funny laughter, connection with folklore traditions, sincerity of the heroes' feelings, their dreams of a happy life, the search for ways to achieve it, high humanism made Shakespeare's plays actual and popular at all times.