Shakespeare’s Comedies
For us, a comedy is the kind of narrative which takes us from an initial conflict to a happy ending with humorous elements. During the Elizabethan Era, the concept of comedy changed from what it had been before. The Renaissance brought with it new ideas and rescued some classical characteristics. However, Shakespeare’s comedies had innovative elements and peculiar characteristics.
Normally, a Shakespeare’s comedy is divided in five acts in which the pattern “from chaos to order” is developed. Usually, there is a main plot and one or two subplots that help to the well development and happy ending of the main one. If we take into account the three comedies which we are working on, we can see how each of them are divided following this pattern. On the same way, we can distinguish love as the main theme and, in some occasions as in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the presence of supernatural elements. In the three works, there is a happy ending as a conclusion when a new order after the conflict provoked by mistakes and confusion is restored.