Harry Levin-one of America's major literary critics-offers a brilliant and original study of the whole world of comedy, concentrating on playwrights through the centuries, from Aristophanes and Plautus in classical times to Bernard Shaw and Bertolt Brecht and their recent successors.
Viewing the comic repertory as a richly varied yet broadly unified whole, Levin provides a synthesis of theories and practice. Isolating two fundamental aspects of comedy-the ludicrous and irreverent "playboy," whom we laugh with, and the ridiculous and forbidding "killjoy," whom we laugh at-he traces the dialectical interplay of these components throughout history and across various cultures and media. While mainly focusing on the plays and the stage, with discussions of such major
dramatists as Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Moliere, and William Congreve, Levin also includes essays on such related topics as humor, satire, and games.
- ISBN10 0195048776
- ISBN13 9780195048773
- Publish Date 28 July 1994 (first published 19 February 1987)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
- Format Paperback
- Pages 224
- Language English