Introduction to the Comedy of Humours
The comedy of Humours is created and popularized by Ben Jonson. It is directly opposed to the romantic comedy of Shakespeare. This type of comedy is based on the ancient concept of ‘humours’. The term ‘humours’ which is often used to denote some predominant trait of characters, refers to an important classical and medieval theory of the universe. It understands everything to exist as a combination of four elemental qualities – hotness and coldness, wetness and dryness. These combine in pairs to form the basis of inorganic universe – air (hot and moist), fire (hot and dry), water (cold and moist), and earth (cold and dry).
The Four Humours and Human Disposition
In men they combine in four humours or liquids which determine each individual’s disposition – blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. The perfect balance of the humours meant the ideal temperament in the man. Thus, the excess of blood makes a man kind, joyful and amorous. The excess of phlegm makes a man timid and unresponsive. The excess of yellow bile makes a man obstinate, vengeful and impatient. And the excess of black bile makes a man melancholic, excessive contemplative and satirical.
Ben Jonson and His Comedies of Humours
Ben Jonson adopting this theory wrote comedies of humours of which Every Man in his Humour is the earliest. Some other Elizabethan dramatists were influenced by this theory of humours. Shakespeare sometimes introduced humorous characters in his plays like the melancholy Jacques in As You Like It. Other dramatists who imitated Jonson are Chapman, Brome, Field in his own time and Shadwell in Restoration period.
Characteristics of the Comedy of Humours
The most characteristic features of the comedy of humours are its classical form and intense realism. Jonson was a classical dramatist. His classical sensibility revolted against the crudeness of the Elizabethan drama. His great merit lies in the fact that he drew comedy down to real life, presenting the follies of the contemporary society at a time when there was a fear of comedy.
The Function of Comedy
The function of comedy according to Jonson is ethical reform. He follows Cicero when he says that the aim of a comic dramatist should be “to profit and delight.”
Jonson’s Realism and Satire
Jonson was a realist and a satirist and his comedies are reformative and corrective. His didactic purpose was to castigate the essential selfishness of individual affections and pretensions.
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