Has Funny Talking any Importance in Practical Life?

By JH Sayyar

The play Dr. Faustus is a serious tragedy of Dr. Faustus’s indomitable desires. Aristotle defines tragedy in his famous book Poetics, an imitation of a serious action with a beginning, middle and an end. It is clear that tragedy becomes serious in its nature and jokes are never allowed to interrupt the business of a serious action in a tragedy that has rising and falling of the hero in the play. So a tragedy becomes serious and the audience is it’s the sixth pillar. The construction of the mind is such as that the audience cannot bear anything boring for a long time. So it creates Hamartia, and it is a boring state of the mind and soul.

To release the tiredness of the mind and soul such scenes are introduced in the play those scenes are called comic scenes. So the term comic relief is applied in literature for the use of the humorous character, speech or comic scenes in a tragedy. Such elements were universal in the Elizabethan tragedies. Shakespeare the greatest dramatist uses comic scenes in his famous tragedies and comedies to release Hamartia.

As we see in Hamlet the gravedigger scene provides the comic a relief to the audience. In Macbeth the scene of the drunker porter after the murder of the King provides a comic relief to the audience. In King Lear the speeches of the fool also provides the finest comic relief to the audience. The role of Merculo and the old nurse provides comic relief in Romeo and Juliet.

So Marlowe the contemporary of Shakespeare uses comic relief in his famous play Dr. Faustus to release the boredom of the audience.

There are used fourteen comic scenes in Dr. Faustus. There are five comic scenes in Act- 1, scene- 4, Act- 3, Scene- 1, Act- 4, Scene- 1, 2, 4 and scene-2 in Act-1, in which Wagner cuts joke with the scholars. Let us examine these scenes are mere interpolation or play its role in developing the main story under the light of the critics’ opinions.

According to most of the critics, Act-1, Scene- 4, where Wagner and clown cut the jokes in the shape of debate and that is related directly to the main story. So their discussion is the same replica of Dr. Faustus’ pact with the devils where Wagner offers a piece of mutton for the sake of selling his soul to the devils to satiate his hunger. It is from the pen of Marlowe. In Act-3, Scene-1, in which Faustus teaches and troubles Pope and his party that it is said to be a vulgar and crude scene in Dr. Faustus. But it shows Marlowe’ contempt and pompous court. It is also from Marlowe’ pen.

In Act-4, scene- 3, the Ralph Bobbin episode has a little connection with the main story. Here Lowell says,” These scenes are intrinsic and not the essential parts of the play. Without these scenes the play will not lose the unity of action.”  In Act- 4, scene-3 & 4, Faustus plays an ordinary role of a conjurer that does not suits him according to his

status. He grows horns on the knight’s head and dupes the horse-courser. Here Jerry Mann says Act- 1, Scene-3 and act-3, Scene—1 relate to the main story.

Besides Act-1, Scene-4 and act-3, Scene-1, and all others scenes are later interpolation. These scenes were put into the play after finishing the drama to release the boredom of the audience. But says, “There are two scenes are mere interpolation in the play and they directly belong to the main story. It is most important to note here that all Marlowe’s comic scenes join a little the main theme. The clown and Wagner’s dialogues repeat Faustus’ prearranged plan. It produces boredom while watching the play.

On the other hand Shakespeare’s comic scenes are the most important parts of the play Hamlet. The comic scenes used in Hamlet are two folds in its nature. First it develops the main story. Secondly it removes the audience’s boredom of their minds.

If we steal the scenes from the play it will lose the unity of action and the unity of the main story and the story will lose it charm.  The same comic elements may be seen in the play King Lear.

The comic speeches of the Fool are two folds. On one side the Fool removes the tension of the audience and on other hand the Fool warns the King about the coming danger including the past blunders. If the Fool’s speeches are snatched the play will lose its charm and the unity of action and the theme will break at once. These scenes are not interpolation but the most important parts of the play.

To sum up, the comic scenes are the most important parts of the play if they develop the main story and release the tension of the audience. According to Aristotle while watching the play the play produces Hamartia and Hamartia is the most dangerous state of mind. It creates blockage in the process of thinking and makes dulls the soul flow in the body.

So for as Marlowe’s comic scenes are concerned, they are all interpolation and do not develop the main story but repeat the Faustus’s main plan and this repetition makes it a boring play. Here the comic scenes lose its function: to remove the tension and to develop the main story.

Here Jeremy Benton says, “The comic scenes warn the hero about the coming dangers through the comic character. The comic scene symbolizes the hero’s hidden conscious that it warns him but he does not pay attention to it considering it just a doubt as we reject the comic character in our ordinary life. Thus Faustus does not pay any attention to the good angel’s voice; actually it was the hidden conscious of Dr. Faustus that warns him about his impending death. “