comedy of humours - Hutchinson encyclopedia article about comedy of humours Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
1,526,282,749 visitors served.
forum mailing list For webmasters
?
New: Language forums
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

comedy of humours

   Also found in: Wikipedia 0.62 sec.

comedy of humours

Dramatic genre inspired by the theory of humours. Each character is the embodiment of a ‘humour’ and what it represents, such as melancholy or anger. The most famous example of a comedy of humours is Ben Jonson's Every Man in his Humour (1598). Comedies of humours are vehicles for satire, especially of materialistic society.

To some extent, this genre could be compared to expressionism in that personality is allowed to shape appearance, manner, and behaviour. Such drama is not naturalistic since the characters are grotesque, and this is intended to be seen as a portrait of the vices of society.



How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
 Email
Feedback
?Sign in SSL protected
Email:
Password:
Register

? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
At first it seems inexplicable why the development of "humours comedy" (Chapman, Shakespeare, Jonson) in the late 1590s is not mentioned; when one considers that Paster's interests lie in the female or feminized body, however, the omission of the (frequently male-centered) comedy of humours is explained, though not entirely justified.
The Body Embarrassed: Drama and the Disciplines of Shame in Early ... by Bruster, Douglas / Renaissance Quarterly
More results
 
Hutchinson browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Hutchinson Encyclopedia
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Terms of Use.