Comedy in Literature and Popular Culture: From Aristophanes to Saturday Night Live [Hardcover]

Chapter One. The World of Comedy???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Chapter Two. Comic Heroes in Aristophanes and Hellers Catch-22? ???????????????????

Chapter Three. The Extreme Characters of Comedy???????????????????????????????????????????????

Chapter Four. Socrates, Memory, and the Power of Comedy??????????????????????????????????

Chapter Five. Slaves, Masters, and Social Inversion???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Chapter Six. Surrealism, Politeness Theory, and Comic Twins in Plautus and Shakespeare

Chapter Seven. Comedy in Tragedy: King Lear, The Bacchae, and Waiting for Godot

Chapter Eight. Modern Performance of Ancient Comedy: Aristophanes Frogs???

Bibliography

Index

Comedy in Literature and Popular Culture?explores works of comedy from the past 2,500 years.?This vibrant study offers a compelling analyses of comedy as a mode, form, and genre.? It is an engaging read for students and scholars of comparative literature, literary history, and media studies, and theatre and performance.

Comedy in Literature and Popular Culture: From Aristophanes to Saturday Night Live explores works of comedy from the past 2,500 years.

James V. Morrison discusses works including those of Aristophanes and Plautus, Shakespeare and Moliere, and modern comic writers, performers, and cartoonists, such as Thomas Nast, P. G. Wodehouse, Charlie Chaplin, and Jerry Seinfeld, asking the following questions:

• Is comedy a mirror of our lives?  Is it funny cuz its true?  Or is it funny because it ignores reality?