Comedy, Frye's Causes, and The Beaver Coat

The text that has helped me expand on my knowledge about what comedy is Frye's "The Argument of Comedy," which is quite surprising considering it was probably the piece I hated to read the most too. Particularly, I like the four causes presented by Frye, and I enjoy trying to fit the plays we read into the mold Frye has given us.

Just for a refresher, here are the four causes:

1. The Material Cause: the desire and driving force of the main character; mostly it's motivated by the body, i.e. sexual desires.
2. The Formal Cause: the coming to terms with the social order, usually represented in the form of an older wiser character, like an older man; it's the opposing force to the material cause.
3. The Efficient Cause: the natural course of events, usually brought about by a lower more humorous character, like a slave.
4. The Final Cause: the audience's applause and approval validates the final resolution of the main goal.

As much as I like to apply these causes to the play we read for class, I have had a hard time doing it for "The Beaver Coat."  Going through all four causes is fun but frustrating because the play does not fit the typical mold.

1. The Material Cause: Usually this is a bodily desire for sex with someone. For example, in "The Venetian Twins," the material cause was easy enough to spot because it was Zanetto's desire for Rosaura. The desire in "The Beaver Coat" is not for sex, but for wealth and material gain. The main character is not a male in this case either, but Mrs. Wolff.

2. The Formal Cause: As far as I can determine, the efficient cause, the wise older character, in this case is Krueger. His influence doesn't stop Mrs. Wolff's desire for wealth of course, so he isn't a very effective formal cause. A case might be made for Von Wehrhahn to be the formal cause, and although he fits the bill for the highest placed member of society over even Krueger, he in his determination to week out political criminals overlooks the criminals right under his nose. Krueger is a much more likely character to personify the formal cause, but in the end, he goes the same way as Von Wehrhahn and doesn't properly pursue the criminal activity under his nose. If he had only looked more closely at Mrs. Wolff, he would have caught his thief.

3. The Efficient Cause: Here is where I start to run into trouble. As far as I can see, the efficient cause is what is missing in the play. There are lower characters, of course, but they do not bring about any natural course of events. Justice is not done in the play; the efficient cause could even said to be MRS. WOLFF herself. She is a lower level servant like character, and she does push the play to its end, by making the higher level characters not suspicious of her or her family when she is the very person they should be looking at.

4. The Final Cause: The final cause is of course the audience, including myself. Obviously justice is not served to the actual sense that the thief is punished. But perhaps justice is served in the fact that the two members who were supposed to be the efficient cause failed to gain any justice. Their neglegence and the fact that they both failed to open their own eyes to see the real thief in their midst cost them their chance at justice. They deserved what they got and so the audience claps at the end of the play.