Charlotte: Pray, Mr. Dimple, was it a tragedy or a
comedy?
Dimple: Faith, Madam, I cannot tell….I suppose it was
a comedy. Yet, on second thoughts, it
might be some hero in tragedy, dying so comically as to set the whole house in
an uproar.
p. 45
What differentiates a tragedy from a comedy? Sometimes it may be hard to find the
difference. In The Contrast, Dimple, although I do not think he is the brightest bulb
in the pack, could not tell a tragedy from a comedy.
Referencing back to Frye’s The Argument of Comedy, he says that “tragedy is really implicit or
uncompleted comedy” and “comedy contains a potential tragedy within itself.” Tragedy and comedy are intertwined. Since this class focuses on comedy, I think
it’s safe to categorize The Contrast
as a comedy. Let’s see if we can find
the potential tragedy within this play.
Suppose this play ended after Act IV. We would not have the happy resolution of Act
V, and we would end up with discontented characters. Maria probably would have gone through with
her marriage to Dimple, Letitia and Charlotte would be longing for a married
man, and Van Rough would be paying off Dimple’s extravagant purchases. This sounds a lot like a tragedy to me. Therefore we can affirm Frye’s claim that
tragedy is simply an unfinished comedy.
Fortunately, Tyler included Act V in The Contrast, and we get to see how things unfold. Dimple’s deceitful ways are exposed, Maria
winds up with a man she considers worthy of both her hand and her heart, and
Letitia and Charlotte remain in Maria’s good graces and are quickly forgiven for
secretly planning to marry Dimple. This
may not seem funny, but it’s certainly not tragic. This play has the potential to be tragic, but
instead takes a turn for the better with the revealing of Dimple’s
schemes.
I too have sometimes had a hard time telling the difference between a tragedy and a comedy so I really appreciate this explanation. I also think that thinking about the play in terms of a tragedy (aka what would have happened if it had been a tragedy) if helpful in seeing the happy endings when, like in this play, it's harder to see them when just reading.
ReplyDeleteI think that Dimple was being sarcastic when he said he could not tell the difference between a comedy and a tragedy, however, he is an idiot so that matter is open to interpretation. I thought that this play was more of a drama than a comedy, but you are right, the class is about comedy so it must be a comedy. I agree that Frye was correct, in this case, about a tragedy being an unfinished comedy. Without Act V that idiot wins and that just cannot be allowed to happen.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stevan here. It's more of a drama, but with regards to the class, we should consider it a comedy. The happy ending of Maria getting Manly and Dimple getting exposed certainly makes this a comedy. If girl never gets the boy, then it would be tragedy.
ReplyDelete