Romeo and Juliet An analysis of Comedy and Tragedy

At its core, Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, and it is listed as such in the
First Folio. Regardless, it has elements of both comedy and tragedy
throughout with each complementing and affecting the readers view of
the other. It has been argued that through the juxtaposition of comedy
with tragedy, Shakespeare contrives to increase the audiences sense of
shock and distress at the lovers suicides. (Neill, 2009) It is difficult to
reach a definitive conclusion regarding the effect of a particular text as
each reader will interpret it slightly differently. Regardless, a consideration
of Romeo and Juliet along with other commentaries and adaptations leads
to a clear argument. The comic elements present cannot be considered to
be of one style and are both central and peripheral to the plays meaning,
depending on their position in the play.
It would be erroneous to consider all the comedy in Romeo and
Juliet to have the same effect. This view is supported by various authors
such as Arthur Nason, who argues that Shakespeare uses three separate
classes. (Nason, 1906) From both reading the text and watching the play,
it is clear that there is a transition between primarily comedic scenes and
primarily tragic scenes. This happens around the death of Mercutio. The
early part of the play, ubiquitous with comedic lines from characters such
as the nurse is aligned with Nasons first class, Comic passages that are
in effect comic. (Nason, 1906) For example, Hie you to church. I must
another way to fetch a ladder, by the which your love must climb a birds
nest soon when it is dark but you shall bear the burden soon at night.
(2.5.65-69) This has no other discernible purpose than to satisfy the
audiences need for comedy. It is central to Shakespeares desire for the
play to have comedic elements but it is peripheral to the tragedy present
and its meaning. One could not apply Neills argument here. Stating that
the Nurses comedy somehow influences the audiences shock and
distress at later tragedies would be almost entirely unjustifiable. The
comedy is too far removed from any death or significant tragedy for
juxtaposition to have any real effect. It is interesting to note that Neill fails
to include any mention of comedy, like that of the Nurses, which does not
align itself with his argument. He focuses on comedy that directly
precedes death, comedy which does increase shock and distress. (Neill,
2009) To talk about the Nurse would be contradictory to his main point.
The only possible argument here would be that the Nurses comedy
contributes to an overall sense of comedy which as a whole creates a light
hearted mood that causes the later tragedy to be even more crushing.
This can be contrasted with the comedy directly before Mercutios
death, Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man (3.1.6566) This aligns with Nasons second class, Comic passages that, through
contrast with their tragic setting, are, in effect, tragic or pathetic. (Nason,
1906) The comedy here is unequivocally central to the meaning of the
play. Firstly, it serves to, like Neills argument, increase the tragedy of
Mercutios death. It happens directly before it and thus, the juxtaposition
has a strong effect. Secondly, it represents the transition from comedy to
tragedy in the play. Like the Nurse, Mercutio is a central comedic

Joshua Wilson 2016

Romeo and Juliet An analysis of Comedy and Tragedy

character and in the early part of the play provides much comedy for
comedic sake. He can be seen as a manifestation of comedy and his death
is, in a way, the death of comedy. With this, the entire play changes.
To a modern student, little of Shakespeares text, on its own, is
comedic. The difference in language is the main reason behind this. To see
the comedy now, one is more heavily reliant on the acting of the
characters in an adaptation or production. The comedic impact can thus
change dramatically with different actors and directors. The comedy in
Peter Evans recent stage production, for example, is almost entirely
different to the comedy in a Singaporean film adaptation, Chicken Rice
War. Evans production very closely follows the original play and thus the
impact of the comedy is very similar to the text. In it, however, the
transition from comedic to tragic is even more prominent as it occurs
around the interlude. The viewers leave a light-hearted play of mirth and
come back to dark, tragic scenes. While this does not make the tragedy
any more shocking as such, it does significantly heighten it. Viewers
become all the more cognisant of the transition to tragedy with the
increased effect of juxtaposition.
On the other hand, Chicken Rice War has a vastly different approach
to the play. It is almost entirely comedic with reimagined tragedy. In this
adaptation, directed by Chee Kong Cheah, no characters die. The tragedy
is instead present in the feelings and actions of the characters. Unlike the
original play, for the majority of the film, Romeo is despised by Juliet
who he is desperately in love with. When he attends her party, she turns
him away at the door. The tragedy is not in death but pain, rejection, and
sorrow. The comedy here does not heighten the shock or impact of the
tragedy. Instead, it causes the viewer to empathise with Romeo and
increases the emotion that one feels in the tragic scenes. The viewer
yearns for the hilarity to return and when it inevitably does, the comedy
serves as a relief.
In summary, one cannot analyse the comedy in Romeo and Juliet as
a whole. Various comedic elements have different effects on the tragedy
in the play and contribute differently to the plays meaning. The Nurses
comedy is comedy for the sake of comedy. It does not align with Neills
argument. Mercutios comedy directly before his death, however,
heightens the following tragedy and as Neill said, the shock and distress.
(Neill, 2009) When watching the play, viewers are more dependant on the
presentation and acting than on the specific lines. Therefore, the impact
that comedy has drastically changes across different productions and
adaptations. Some increase the effect that juxtaposition has and the
comedy serves to make the tragedy all the more obvious and shocking. In
others, the comedy serves more as a relief which leads to empathy for the
characters and causes viewers to feel more emotion during the following
tragic moments.

Joshua Wilson 2016

Romeo and Juliet An analysis of Comedy and Tragedy

Bibliography
Michael Neill, Shakespeares tragedies, in The New Cambridge
Companion to Shakespeare, eds. Stanley Wells and Margareta de Grazia,
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), p. 130.
Nason, AH, 1906. Shakespeare's Use of Comedy in Tragedy. The Sewanee
Review, [Online]. 14, 30. Available
at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/27530731.pdf?_=1461669561437 [Acce
ssed 22 April 2016].
Shakespeare, W., & Durband, A. (1985). Romeo and Juliet. Woodbury, N.Y.,
Barron's.

Joshua Wilson 2016