Comic Relief In a Tragic Play

Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare in about 1594-96 and first published in an unauthorized quarto in 1597. It is an enduring tragic tale of two teenagers who happen to fall in love with each other but are supposed to be sworn enemies. The two main characters of the play Romeo and Juliet belong to two wealthy and powerful families, the Montagues and the Capulates who hate each other. The two cannot be together because of the on-going conflict between the two families and so they kill themselves because they are unable to bear the pain of being separated from each other.

Their death ultimately unites the two feuding families. It is believed that Shakespeare borrowed the plot of the play from an original Italian tale. There is also a popular belief that Romeo and Juliet were based on actual characters from Verona.

Although the play is a lamentable tragedy, it does have episodes of humour, particularly in the first two acts so much so that if the play had ended after Act 2 scene 6, it would be labelled as a comedy with the marriage of Romeo and Juliet.

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Shakespearean comedies are mostly seen ending in marriage and the tragedies usually end in death. The play deviates from the tragic genre in many ways and unlike other Shakespearean tragedies such as King Lear, Macbeth and Julius Caeser, Romeo and Juliet does not concern with the actions of a noble character having widespread consequences. Characters joke and bright imageries are added between passages of darkness and death.

These elements are included so subtly in the tragedy that one barely notices their poignancy as the story unfolds.

By definition, comedy is a literary genre and a type of dramatic work that is amusing and satirical in its tone, mostly having a cheerful ending. The motif of this dramatic work is triumph over unpleasant circumstances by creating comic effects, resulting in a happy or successful conclusion. Now when we talk about tragicomedy, this dramatic genre contains both tragic and comedic elements. It blends both elements to lighten the overall mood of the play. ‘ Comedies’, ‘ tragedies’, ‘histories’ and ‘ Roman’ plays— the original classification of Shakespeare’s plays-- don’t adequately describe all of Shakespeare’s plays and many names have come up to do so. The most commonly used among these categories are ‘Romance Plays’, ‘Problem Plays’, and Shakespeare’s ‘Tragicomedy Plays’. Improbability and complexity of plots are seen in Shakespeare’s tragicomedies. Along with it we can also see the characters belonging to high social class, love of different kinds. There is a huge contrast between villainy and virtue. Also at the centre of the love is a hero who, after a touch and go experience, is saved at the last minute. Surprises and treachery are also the important aspects of tragicomedies in Shakespeare’s plays. Suggestive wordplay is another common trope of Shakespearean comedy.

Comic scenes or comic relief provides an interlude in a tragic play. The comic scenes in Shakespeare’s tragedies serve as relief from the intensity of emotions he presents in these works. Although these scenes are considered as a diversion, they play a significant role in the advancement of the action of the play. In simple words we can say comic scenes are a pause for the audience which provide them with an opportunity to feel light- hearted when the tragedy becomes too heavy to tolerate.

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare makes use of two characters the Nurse and Mercutio to explore the relationship between tragedy and comedy. Mercutio, Romeo’s quick-tempered and witty friend is the one who links the comic and violent action of the play. Initially, Shakespeare presents him as a playful rogue. He possesses a brilliant comic capacity. He is more than comic and is an interesting character .In fact, he threatens to overpower Romeo’s character in personality and importance. Later, his death serves as a turning point in the play and it is basically from here that the play shifts its direction from comedy to tragedy.

The nurse has a bawdy humour and ridiculous appearance and in Act1, she acts silly, prattling about Juliet as a baby until she gets scolded by Lady Capulet.

In Act 1 scene 1 of the play, the two servants, Sampson and Gregory create jokes which are coarse jokes having sexual connotations. When the Montague servants arrive on stage there is tension built up as the two enemies insults each other with fighting talk. Sampson is seen mocking the Montague servants when he says, “No Sir, I do not bite my thumb at you sir, but I do bite my thumb.” A visual interest is built to the audience when Sampson bites his thumb. This act of Sampson is not only humorous but it also creates tension among the audience as they are unsure if the servants will end up quarrelling. The fighting talk among the servants is also backed up with jokes to keep the audience hooked. When Sampson tells Gregory “My naked weapon is out” , there is a double meaning here and this can be interpreted in two ways as to the higher class people this would literally mean that his sword is drown but to the commoners it has sexual context, just as we see in the other jokes in the scene.

In Act 1 scene 2, we see the serving man in a comic role when he fails to read the list of people who were supposed to be invited to the Capulate’s party. In this scene we see Capulate walking with Paris, a noble kinsman of the Prince. Both of them discusses Paris’s desire to marry Juliet, Capulate’s daughter. However, Capulate asks him to wait for another two years as Juliet is not yet fourteen and too young to get married. He expresses his joy and favours him as a suitor. He also invites him to the ball he is holding that very night. A servant named Peter is dispatched by Capulate to invite a list of people to the feast. As Peter cannot read he laments that he will not be able to complete his task. Romeo and Benvolio pass by and are still arguing about Romeo’s love for Rosaline. Peter asks Romeo to read the list to him. Assuming that they are not Montagues, Peter invites them to the party. Benvolio insists on attending the party to which Romeo agrees only because Rosaline herself will be there. Peter’s inability to read gives a touch of humour to this scene, especially when his illiteracy leads him to invite the two Montagues to the party while clearly stating that no Montagues are invited.