Throughout the play, the audience is involved at key
points. On pages 373 and 376, the audience
becomes the target of attention, such as when the Koryphaios of Men are
pointing out Lykon’s wife or when they ask the audience if there is a general
in the house.
The most blatant breaking of the fourth wall, however, is
when the chorus of men actually tell the audience that “We’re not about to
introduce the standard personal abuse – the Choral Smear Of Present Persons
(usually in every well-made comedy, inserted here). Instead, in deed and utterance, we shall now
indulge in philanthropy because we feel that members of the audience endure, in
the course of current events, sufficient hell.” (439)
These occurrences are used to enhance the comedic effect of
the play, by revealing the disorganization of the men with their absent personnel
on page 376, when even the audience can’t produce the general they are looking
for. Additionally, it is used for
dramatic effect when the women show off their new attire to the audience and
stating that their qualifications are met, looking to the audience for rhetorical
approval. It’s almost as if the audience
is being treated as a mass of Greek citizens, looking on the events and almost
being able to interact with the actors.
The last break is complete and almost at the end of the
play. While this is a relatively short
play that wouldn’t take too long to perform, it seemed to be in the best
interests of the playwright to maintain his audiences attention just a little
longer, and to comically inform them that they aren’t going to conclude the
play in the typical manner, which signals to the audience that the jokes aren’t
over and that the play isn’t about to get boring as it finishes.
I understand that this play is a comedy, but I was wondering what is meant by "comedic effect." Yes, it makes someone laugh, but why and how? In class, I listened to some of my peers who mentioned comedy as lessening pressure or stress (becoming less serious) when we all tried addressing comedy's definition in class. I tried looking up audience of Greek plays on Google search, and I liked what I found here: "http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/638240?uid=14937480&uid=3739912&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3&uid=67&uid=14937416&uid=62&uid=3739256&sid=21103312698471". Sorry it's long, but the author David Bain said, "Tragedy is supposed consistently to maintain the illusion, Comedy frequently to break it." Thus, comedy is way to break seriousness or the illusion of seriousness, making someone laugh. Referring to the audience with for "rhetorical approval" was one method of doing so as you pointed out. It breaks the seriousness. It reminds me of like how sometimes actors/actresses on SNL or MadTV would look out into the audience sometimes with their goofy faces or widened eyes or some exaggerated facial expression during their skits to make audiences laugh.
ReplyDeleteWe'll definitely discuss this and other examples of characters on stage directly addressing the audience because the relationship between the stage, theater, and the larger world is one of our major concerns in our course. Christian, you draw an interesting conclusion from what you quote, but how do you think the audience address traditionally functions in other comedies of the era (given that Lysistrata is admittedly an exception to the tradition)? Alice, you and your classmates mention the Relief theory of laughter, and I'm not so sure that breaking the dramatic illusion would offer me relief if I were an audience member. Imagine: you are just sitting in the audience, watching a show, when you get called out by name and have a joke made at your expense. Where's the relief in that? It's happened to me before and I can tell you, I did not feel at all relieved. We'll explore this idea in class because it has so much to tell us about how dramatic comedies work.
ReplyDeleteI think that addressing the audience in an indirect manner helps do something. I don't know about anyone else, but it would strike me as odd that the actors would allow the audience to know that they are aware of their presence, as they traditionally ignore them and put up "the Fourth Wall". I know the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air did this, when Will Smith asks if they have a roof and demands an explanation for the studio lights, which are then shown. I personally didn't really find it funny, but it did have an impact on me. It was a sort of "huh? Wait, what?" moment. I suppose I should try to find more on the subject.
DeleteGood point, Dr. Sheehan. It's hard to tell when there is relief. It depends on who the comedian is directing his/her actions. Who is he/she trying to make laugh? For me, I can feel relief when I laugh because I feel normal, accepted, or complimented... The comedian just has to make the targeted audience feel that way to be able to laugh. Just a hypothesis of mine. I have been called out and made a joke of before, and I did not feel normal, accepted, or complimented. It hurt. I became "part of the act" in a negative way.
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