Comical relief in William Shakespeare’s tra...

Comical relief in William Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear

Author Name : Mrs. D. Shyilla Juliet, Dr. N. Bhuvana

ABSTRACT

Humour contributes to the overall wellbeing of humans. It was an essential element in literature from the ancient times. Comedy arouses laughter which makes men happy from within. It was an undeniable element in William Shakespeare’s plays. He was a genius and he mixed comedy and tragedy violating the unity of action giving way to a new form called ‘tragicomedy’. Even the most tragic plays had a Fool to suppress the horror. King Lear is the only play of Shakespeare that follows unity of action on being tragedy. It is completely tragic from the beginning to the end. Thus, it became necessary to add a Fool and make him travel along with the protagonist to give some comical relief. If it was not for the Fool the play would have been a complete tragedy which would be too much of a horror to witness. The Fool tries hard to distract the entire theatre from watching Lear losing his senses. He plays his part well and retires suddenly when Lear is completely insane. He realizes that his presence is unworthy after that and exists without a warning. Shakespeare thus used a Fool in the right place in a tragedy to provide a little comical relief that would ease his audience.

Keywords: Comical relief, unity of action, audience, tragedy