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Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragic and comic forms. Most often seen in dramatic literature, the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the overall mood or a serious play with a happy ending. [1]
Tragicomedy, dramatic work incorporating both tragic and comic elements. When coined by the Roman dramatist Plautus in the 2nd century bc, the word denoted a play in which gods and men, masters and slaves reverse the roles traditionally assigned to them, gods and heroes acting in comic burlesque.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Renaissance. Shakespeare. Tragicomedy. A Tragicomedy is a story that is both a tragedy and a comedy at the same time. Origin of the Word. Plautus invented the word Tragicomedy for his play Amphytrion. In it Mercury notices that there are gods in a play that’s supposed to be a comedy and says that it should be a tragicomedy instead. Renaissance.
Tragicomedy is a literary device used in fictional works. It contains both tragedy and comedy. Mostly, the characters in tragicomedy are exaggerated, and sometimes there might be a happy ending after a series of unfortunate events. It is incorporated with jokes throughout the story, just to lighten the tone. Examples of Tragicomedy in Literature.
- The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare is considered one of the most popular traditional tragicomedy examples. Though it has a comedic struc...
- Anton Chekhov’s play, The Cherry Orchard, turned out to be his final play that has a combination of comedy and tragedy. It is the story of an elite...
- Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot can also be considered one of the great examples of tragicomedy. There are many gestures, dialogues, actions, an...
- Shakespearean tragicomedies have complex and dubious plots. One of his perfect tragicomedies is The Winter’s Tale. The first three acts are both tr...
- The Caretaker, written by Harold Pinteris, is mixed with two modes, tragedy and comedy, and is a fine modern example of tragicomedy. The comic elem...
- John Dryden’s Marriage à la Mode is a successful comedy that merges two different plots of restoration comedy of manners and romantic tragicomedy....
Nov 3, 2023 · Tragicomedy is a genre that blends the elements of tragedy and comedy. Instead of providing viewers with a purely comedic or tragic narrative, it mixes both laughs and tears to strike an unusual balance.
What Are Shakespeare’s Tragicomedy Plays? Shakespeare’s plays generally accepted as tragicomedy plays are: Cymbeline; The Merchant of Venice; The Winter’s Tale; The Merchant of Venice can be seen as a tragicomedy. It has a comic structure but one of the central characters, Shylock, looks very much like a tragic character.
Tragicomedy is a genre that blends elements of both comedy and tragedy. A tragicomedy can either be a serious play with a happy ending—which is not the case with a straightforward tragedy—or a tragic play interspersed with moments of humor in order to lighten the mood. The definition of tragicomedy was first used by the Roman playwright Plautus.
