Essay on Lady Macbeth

Submitted By tjolmo123
Words: 711
Pages: 3

TaJon Olmo
World Theater
Professor Ritorto
11/2/14
Research Paper
Throughout History, a comedy within play productions has been defined in many different ways. Starting from the early age of comedy within plays, in this time the definition of comedy was something totally different then how we see it today. The true definition of comedy is being a professional entertainer, consisting of jokes and satirical sketches; one that is intended to make an audience laugh. In the 11th century during the era of the famous Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” comedy was perceived in an entirely different way than it is viewed today. Shakespeare’s earliest demonstration of comedy was in Macbeth during his very famous Porter scene. In Shakespeare’s eyes the point of the scene was just to buy time so that the characters playing Macbeth and Lady Macbeth could was there hands. The reason for this is because this takes place at the same time of Duncan’s murder. Many people have and still think that Shakespeare did not write this scene in the production particularly because of the comic relief moment within it. The reason for this because all other Shakespeare’s writing he is tragedy heavy. So the overall essence of comedy within this production was just to act as time filler. Various individuals acted as if there was a entirely new playwright. There is a great deal of old comedy tactics within the comedies that we see today, also comedy was used as relief after tons of tragedy, and lastly the comedic context within the lines The Porter speaks.
In the production Macbeth there is nothing but murder, lies, and disturbing slayings. Macbeth wants to be king so bad that he will destroy and deceive anyone in his way. A comical moment in a production like this was absolutely necessary for the play. Having these comical moments just to pass time is a completely excellent idea because how else would Macbeth and Lady Macbeth been able to wash their hands. So in this context this comical moment was needed for a time filler not truly meant to be comical. This being the old age definition of comedy, the structure of the definition has not changed in what we feel the word means to us in the present day. The definition of comedy today is mainly entertainment in which you gain laughter from a person and or audience. The reason this current definition is so much like the original is because comedy today still has to capture the attention of the audience and keep it there so you can entertain comically. Exactly, what Shakespeare’s use of it in Macbeth was, just to keep the audience preoccupied while Macbeth and Lady Macbeth could