Much Ado About Nothing: How Clever Writing Can Elevate a Common Plot
The use of standard, “cookie-cutter” plots was quite common in the Elizabethan era; plays would follow a strict plot and be full of archetypal characters that the audience would know.
This essay dissect on of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies, Much Ado About Nothing . This piece initially appears to be a standard plot play, which a common plot and a cast of stock characters. However, Shakespeare elevates the standard plot from rote romance to a considerable comedy, through the use of immensly clever language and some extra characters who wield it beautifully.
Why Satire
Written in December 2018, this essay focuses on why in the 1970s satire became the dominant form of comedy. This was the final assingment for a class labelled “Comedy and Cognitive Dissonance” taught by Dr. Jay Malarcher; as such this essay revolves around what socio-political events shaped the collective psyche of the American people to a point where they vented their opinions through satire. Why satire specifically? Do socio-political events really change a nation’s mental tastes? Did any other countries follow suit?
One of the primary sources for this paper was Charles Burkhart, a good man and family friend, who passed away a few months later in 2019. Thank you Chuck for talking to me about this part of America’s history.