COMEDY AS A SOCIAL COMMENTARY. A CASE STUDY OF ELECHI AMADI’S PEPPERSOUP AND ZULU SOFOLA’S THE WIZARD OF LAW.
TABLE OF CONTENT
TITLE PAGE
CERTIFICATION
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
SCOPE OF STUDY
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 DEFINITION OF COMEDY
1.2 NATURE AND CLASSIFICATION OF COMEDY
1.3 COMIC THEORY
CHAPTER TWO
2.1 ELECHI AMADI’S BIOGRAPHY
2.2 SYNOPSIS AND TEXTURAL ANALYSIS OF PEPPERSOUP
CHAPTER THREE
3.1 ZULY SOFOLA’S BIOGRAPHY
3.2 TEXTUAL ANALYSIS AND SYNOPSIS OF THE WIZARD OF LAW
CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE BOOKS AND THEIR RELEVANCE TO THE SOCIETY
CHAPTER FIVE
5.1 COMEDY AS A SOCIAL COMMENTARY AND CHANGE
5.2 CONCLUSION
5.3 BIBLIOGRAPHY
ABSTRACT
This project scrutinizes the nature, function and origin of comedy, its relevance to the society, social commentary on comedy and the effect of comedy to our society with apropos to two comic plays, Elechi amadi’s pepper soup and Zulu sofola’s The wizard of law.
Chapter one discusses the meaning, nature and forms of comedy, chapter two and three is a systematic analysis of the comic plays pepper soup by Elechi Amadi and the wizard of law by Zulu sofola, chapter four compares the comic plays and their relevance to the society while chapter five analysed comedy as a social commentary and its acceptance to the audience then, conclusion.
SCOPE OF STUDY
The purpose of study is to explore the nature, form, origin and function of comedy and its relevance or effect in our society using Zulu sofola’s the wizard of law and Elechi Amadi’s pepper soup as a case study.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The primary source through which I got materials for this work was mainly from the library, published and unpublished book’s internet and oral interview.
INTRODUCTION
Comedy has been given many views and definitions and the divergent views have expanded the scope and meaning of comedy, Aristotle was the first to write on comedy in his poetics, although he did not elaborate more on it, he argues that men are made worse in comedy than they really are and consequently they become objects of merriment to him comedy is an
Imitation of characters of a lower type, not however in full sense of the world bad the ludicrous being merely a subdivision of the ugly, it consist in some defect or ugliness which is not painful or destructive.
Saint Augustine in his essay the ‘’CITY OF GOD’’ sees comedy as a piece used in attacking and ridiculing individuals and Greek gods.
Oliver Ordish in the theatre defines comedy as a:
Light amusing play with a happy ending the
characters speak and behave more like people
in everyday lfe.2
comedy to me is a piece of work that intends to amuse, satirize, ridicule, criticize, condemn, human kinds foibles and faults using laugher as a vehicle, to convey a message to the society. Although it has laugher as its mother, it still answers many crucial questions that constantly troubles our mind, like social, political, financial, psychological, domestic and religious issue, it is an imitation of characters of different status and class in the society.
Comedy evolved from ancient Dionysian rites and celebrations of songs and revel during which actors dressed as satyrs with mask and huge leather phalli, parades about obscenely mocking and making jest of the spectators.
Comedy major dramatic genre that is intended to amuse as suggested by the derivation of the word from the greek word ‘Komos’(revel). Comedy is associated with the potentially subversive spirit of carnival frequently exposes incongruous, ridiculous aspect of human nature.
Despite the dives views about comedy, the theorist however are of one view in their analysis of the meaning, function and nature of comedy in the society, comedy according to them must be used to purge the ills of the society, according to Giovambatista Giraldi Cinthio in his ‘’Discourse on comedies and tragedies’’ says that comedy inculcate good morals and moderate sentiments mixed with games, laughter factious jokes in order to show us the right way to live.
Henri Bergson in his book laughter explain the function of laughter in comedy.
Let us say now, then that laughter corrects manner (castigatridendo move) above all, it make us try away to see what we shoud be and what we shall no doubt end up truly being oneday.4
He also informs us that the comic sense is tied exclusively with human condition. He also informs us that the comic sense is tied exclusively with human condition.
Comedy aims at purging the society of any vice or ills, it inculcate good morals without terror through pleasure and with funny jokes, the essential nature of comedy is the imitation of actions, based on the social strata and behaviours of people in the society, it is a representative of something broader than life, it takes a universal issue and relate it to the particular e.g THE TRIALS OF BROTHER JERO by wole Soyinka.
It satirizes religious pretence and duplicity using prophet Jeroboam, to relate it to religious hypocrisy which is common to most religious body in the world. Comedy great virtues is its ability to correct vices through laughter.
The main purpose of this project is to study comedy through PEPPER SOUP by Elechi Amadi and THE WIZARD OD LAW by Zulu sofola, and to see if the playwrights actually achieved their purpose and to see how effective the comic books are in correcting societal ills.
Elechi Amadi uses PEPPER SOUP as a comical piece to answer the question of interracial marriage, polygamy, child legitimacy and how marriage of different culture is perceived, Zulu sofola in THE WIZARD OF LAW an adaptation of a French comedy, pierre patellin treats the problems of Greed, avarice, impersonation which is rampant in our present day society, although they uses different techniques in arriving at the conclusion, still it points out the essential features that features that comedy must have; characters of lowly status and subject matter of social values and vices inherent to the society.
END NOTE
- DUKORE F. BERNALD dramatic theory and Criticism; Greeks to growtosky, Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc. New York, Chicago San Francico, Altanta 1974 p 35.
- ORDISH OLIVE the theatre: London, Routtedge and Kelgan paul Ltd. 1972 p8
- BERGSON HENRI Transion lawrenson on laughter revrede Paris
CHAPTER ONE
ORIGIN AND DEFINITION OF COMEDY
The first written comedies were staged in Athens Greece, during the 5th century B.C
The word comedy was derived from the Greek word ‘’Komos’’ meaning revel song, Revel songs were sung by a group of wild noisy revelleis during the Lenca festival.
The Lenca festival was held in honour of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and fertility.
It was usually in the winter. Actors dressed as satyrs with masks and huge leather phalli, parades about obscenely, appearing as frogs, bird’s grotesque fashions to make jest and mockery of the spectators.
The song was usually full of mockery, scorn, deriding individuals, whose conducts in the society have not been conventional or commendable.
The leader wear leather phalli, the phallic symbol was a reminder of Dionysus as the god of fertility. Many theoreticians have argued that the origin of comedy is traceable to rituals practices and festivals of different people all over the world. F.M comfort in his book. The origin of Attic Comedy traces the origin of comedy to the various rituals in which downing ribaldry, jokes and other obscene practices were allowed. These elements of fun and gaiety they says have become th3e basic of comedy.
Ritual clowning and ribaldry activities, is applicable to African culture.
Margot Berhold in a book titled A History of world theatre, while tracing the origin of the theatre to the primitive man declares that
In all places and periods, the theatre Encompassed grotesque buffoonery as well as ritual severity farcical elements can be found in its most primitive forms. Animal dances and animal pantomimes have a prior tendency to the grotesque. As soon as the cultic ties relaxes, the instinct of mimicry to provoking laughter situations and subject are taken from every days life.5
Berhold links the origin of comedy to primitive life of man all over the world in his quest to appreciate nature worshiped nature with fun, grotesque appearance. Primitive man wore mask (animal) sang abusive song to deride societal vices and their leaders.
Comedy is divided into three different parts, old, middle and new comedies.
Aristophanes is associated with old comedy, his plays were known for their unique blend of realism, fantasy and obscenity. He created giddy theatrical dialogue about life’s meaning and the dilemmas of human existence. This comedy flourished as far back as 488-486BC he was against the democratic leaders and policies, middle comedy marked the era when comedy no longer concentrate on the high point of political satire alone and now embraced the less perilous realm of everyday life.
By the 4th cent BC, new comedy had replaced the harsh culture critique of Aristophanes, it was developed by Meander and it avoided topical events and instead created an imaginary world of stereotyped characters including craftily slaves, impossible foolish master love struck teenagers, greedy imps and pure hearted prostitute. His works where fuelled by dramatic logic of mistaken identity and coincidence.
In the 3nd cent B.C roman playwrights Terence and Plautus borrowed from meanders theme, writing for a less sophisticated audience. Plautus in particular added boisterous characters, lawdy sub-plots, other influences on their production were Roman mines and Atellian frace (Italy)
The middle age plays feature saints and biblical theme or stories.
English playwrights of 16th and 17th cent retained much of the medieval blending of comedy and other genre.
DEFINITION
The word comedy is derived from the Greed word ‘’Komodia’’ which itself is derived from the Greek word ‘’Komos’’ meaning a processional celebration.
However the first notable definition of comedy is the one given by anstotle in the poetics he defines comedy as
An imitation of characters of a lower type not, however in the full sense of the word bad the ludicrous being merely a subdivision of the ugly it consists some defect or ugliness which is not painful or destructive.6
In Tractus coislincanus written in 4th cent B.C by an unknown person.
Comedy is an imitation of action that is Ludicrous and perfect of sufficient length {in embellished language} the several kinds (of embellishment – being) separately (found) in the (several parts) of the play) directly presented) by person acting and not (given) through narrative through pleasure and laughter effecting the purgation of the like emotions. It has laughter for its mother.7
Oliver Ordish in the theatre define comedy as a light amusing play a happy ending, the characters speaks and behave more like people in everyday life.
Comedy in my own view is a piece of work that intends to amuse, satirize, ridicule, criticize, condemn, human kinds foibles and fault using laughter as a vehicle to transmits the message to the society, comedy amidst laughter answer important questions that bothers one life, it is an imitation of characters of different status and class in the society.
Comedy though has several definitions by various theoreticians yet it point out the essential features that comedy must have characters must be brought low language must be prosaic, everyday language, theme and subject matter must be a simulation of social values and vices inherent to that society, it must be able to evoke laughter and pleasure to the reader.
COMIC THEORY
A theory is a postulate, hypothesis that determines how a work of art or science should look like, comic theory according to Stanley Obuh is any work or system of criticism that attempts to explain the nature and functions of comedy.
Aristotle wrote on comedy in his poetics but it did not survive, to Aristotle man is made worse in comedy than they really are, they earliest work on comedy is an anonymous track 4th – 2th cen BC and it was elaborated by Lane Cooper. To the renaissance and classic criticism comedy is seen as the opposite of tragedy.
Oliver Goldsmith in his essay ‘’A comparison between sentimental and laughing comedy analysed the difference between sentimental comedy as a piece in
Which virtue of private life are
Exhibited rather than expose and the
Distress rather than fault of mankind
Make our interest in the piece.
And comedy ridiculing the follies of the lower part of mankind. Henri Bergson traces his theory along the three lines of repetition, inversion and interference the series, seeing in each a certain reduction of the living to machine like object. 8
George Meredith (1928-1909) in an essay on comedy (1877) established the idea that comedy is a manifestation of the intellect and cultivation of the society from which it springs and that it attest to the equality of the sexes9
THE THEORY OF DEGREDATION OR DERISION
The theory of derision a source of laughter in comedy are fundamentally different as viewed or written by many theoreticians. Aristotle believes comedy degrades man, make him worse than he is, to plato in his work philebus he states that comic is fundamentally malicious, Ben Johnson is of the same view with plato in his work Discoveries William Hazlit believes that the essence of the laughable lies in the incongruous, the disconnecting of one character to another, in degradation of character, characters like Braggart, philandered, Bumpkins, Misers, are brought down of their pedestal stock.
INCONGRUITY: It is the disconnecting of one idea from another, inversion of roles can be incongruous (eg) it is incongruous to see a fat man walking with a short skinny man, there is a gap between the suspected and unsuspected, there are three basic form of incongruity.
SITUATION: According to Stanley Obuh, he states that incongruity of situation present a contrast between the usual or accepted and the unusual and the unaccepted, eg, in The Frog by Aristophanes.
It is incongruous to see Dionysus walking while Xanthia his servant rides on a donkey.
CHARACTER: It is a contrast between the ideal and real or appearance and actuality (eg) the deception of Dionysus in The Frogs by Aristophanes.
LANGUAGES: It happens in Dialogue it is a sharp contrast to the social content of the sudden interjection of vulgarity.
AUTOMATISM: Henri Bergson in his book Laughter talked about automatism as the periodic repetition of word or a scene, e.g Ola Rotimi’s
Our Husband has gone Mad Again where Lejoke Brown was always repeating ‘’Are you there’’, The Frogs by Aristophanes, Dionysus in several occasions repeats words, sing like a frog, the systematic reversal of roles, The Frogs, where Xanthium acts like Dionysus and Dionysus like Xanthium, interference de series, where man acts like a robot, man becomes an object or risible when he becomes rigid like a machine instead of being supple or soft, he behaves like a manipulated machine either repeating words or walking and behaving like a Robot.
NATURE OF COMEDY
Its matures is to inculcate good morals without terrors through pleasure and with some funny jokes. The essential nature of comedy is the imitation of actions based on the social strata and behaviour of people in the society.
Comedy imitates lighter and less serious aspects of human nature, however every component of human behaviours is subject to comic treatment. Like bodily functions, manners, fashion, eating, sexual desire, social position, violence, promiscuity, hypocrisy etc. all these social vices are usually treated lightly in a pleasurable and ridiculous manner.
Laughter is a vital feature or part of comedy because it serves as a vehicle that conveys or inculcate moral to the society. It distinguishes comedy from other genre that is tragedy and melodrama.
Comedy achieve its aim by ridiculing and criticizing ugly and bad behaviour and its affairs, its essential effect through jokes and laugher, it purges the society of their vice and correcting them afterword’s.
Henri Bergson in his book Laughter tells us how we laugh at the comnflict between life and the rules of living, which we try to impose on it; whenever the absurd is manifested in man, it is thrown off in laughter. The feeling of ribald pleasure that is experienced in
Aristophanes lysistrata to criticize the Athenians engagement in Peloponnesian war between the Serbcans and Bulgarians.
The revelation of Bluntshi a soldier who claims to be carrying food instead of ammunition will makes us laugh and at the same time make us to think the disadvantage of war.
Kemodle rightly observe that
Laughter does encourage man
To see clearly, to attack wrongs
And yet to accept the world
As it is and get along in it 11
Diction in comic discourse ought to be simple, easy, clear, familiar and taken from common usage. The language unlike tragedy is down and the language aids in the understanding of the theme and propels the action towards a happy resolution of conflict. E.g. an ordinary man can comprehend the language of The Frogs by Aristophanes than that of Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, the language is not designed to be noble, resounding and refined.
The characters of comedy are usually drawn from lower rungs of the social ladder, unlike tragedy which embraces the mobility, characters in comedy are given sterol-typed nuances commonly found among the ordinary people in the society, the characters are not peculiar to one place.
Should not be of more than middling
Social status, so that people who were born
Noble either in birth or character (and there
are some in real life) were excluded from the
comic playwrights review.12
Comic plays no matter how it is presented always have happy endings, the play might evoke fear but at the end of it becomes funny or light, in comedy vice is always punished while virtue is rewarded. Comedy intends to amuse satririze and criticize human faults through laughter.
CLASSIFICATION OF COMEDY
According to Cicely Havely
Comedy is wider, it can embrace the
Hilariously, grotesque, and the grimly
Absurb, it can and often does take in
Element of farce or shade into the tragic.13
Comedy can be classified in so many ways
FARCE: It intends to excite laughter through exaggeration and extravagance rather than by realistic imitation of life, the term farce seem to have first applied in France to the piece produced by certain lay company or clercs de baroche in contrast to the morality lays produced by the religious orders.
Farce seek to deflate the pretensions and hypocrisy of contemporary society, farce according to etymologist is gotten from a latin word ‘’facio’’ meaning I suffer, it is the type of drama stuffed with low humour and extravagant with, according to A Dictionary of the English Language (1755. Cited in Femi Shaka 2000).
Farce is a dramatic representation written without regularity and stuffed with wild and ludicrous concert.14
Farce emanated from a certain degenerating movement in comedy which started from about the year 1675. It’s characteristics are the dependence of character and dialogue upon mere situation. This situation is of the most exaggerated and impossible kind.
To many, farce is a form of comedy that is so debased and unserious in nature. However Eric Bentley a theorist and critics strongly defined farce as a comic genre and has even gone further to state the subject matters of farce such as lust, adultery and other animalistic tendencies which are noticeable in man.
Femi Osofisna’s Midnight Hotels, Dario fo’s we can’t pay, we won’t pay, adapted by carrol Dawes in Pidgin English with the title we No go pay, we No Ft pay, Moliere’s play The Secondrel Scalping, the Imaginary Invalid, Zulu Sofola’s The Wizard of Law are good examples of farce. Although all the above mentioned plays are farce, it is rare to find a play that depends upon nothing but farcical element.
HUMOUR: Comedy of humour deals largely with exaggerated typed, its root can be traced to classical comedy and was revived in England through Gammer Gurton’s Needle and in Raph Roister Doister and then Ben Johnson in every man in his humour. According to William Hazlit in his essay on with and humour asserts that
Humour is the describing the Ludicrous as
It is in itself, Humour is as it were the growth of nature
and accident, Humour as it is shown in books, is an imitation
of the natural or acquired absurdities of mankind or of the
ludicrous in accident, situation, and caracter15
In humour we pretend to disbelieved what we actually believe, the humourist is an eccentric who sees the fun of his security. Humour therefore is a union of unconscious with conscious laughter.
SATIRE: It comes from a Latin word ‘satyra’ which means ‘’full’’ and later came to mean ‘hotch porch’ or meddle.
THE OXFORD CLASSICAL Dictionary defines Satire as
………. A piece of verse or prose
Mingled with verse, intended to improve society by mocking
it’s anomalies, and by spontaneity topicality. Ironic with,
decent humor colloquial language, frequent use of dialogue
constant intrusions of author’s personality and incessant variety
of tone and style. 16
the major function of satire is to ridicule a particular object, institution or a vice in the society, the satiric lashes vices largely because of its folly, Femi Shaka in his lecture note states that satire falls heavily on:
Social misfits it has no moral sense
it has no pity kindliness or magnenamity17
satire Lashes the customs of society as well as the eccentricities of individuals. Situation forms the basis of the plot of any comedy, it must be remembered that mere comedy of situation will lead to nothing but farce, 21 situation offers an opportunity only. The indecent situation in the restoration comedy are laughable.
COMEDY OF CAHRACTER
The type of comedy portrays the eccentricity of the characters in a ludicrous manner. It is the presence of character that largely differentiates true comedy from farce, some molliere’s plays like Lávare (or the miser). Tarfuffe are examples of comedy of character. The plays show the ludicrous halt of some vices such as miserliness & Greed.
The pot of Gold by Titus Marcus Plautus.
COMEDY OF IDEAS
It develops a conflict over a concept or a way of though e.g. many comic writers attempt to formulate some concepts and ideals in which they believe will be suitable for the society e.g. Lysitrata by Aristophanes, Arms and the Man. Bernard Shaw, Dance on his Grave, Barclay Ayakoroma both Aristophanes and Shaw comment on the disadvantage of war and the gain that can be derived from peaceful co-existence among people and nation.
COMEDY OF MANNERS
Manners implies characters, situation and physical appearance.
In comedy of manners, the humours or character traits are rarely as exaggerated as in the Johnsonian sense.
Most of the figures of comedy of manner take their humourous complexion from the social follies of their day, comedy of manners reflects real life but it is a real life artificalised and airier, the awk wardness of a society Lady in a circle of more natural but less polished working. Class womemn is amusing, this type of comedy treat social values, standard or behaviour or accepted ways of thought by exposing and subjecting them to ridicule. The way of the World by William Congreve
COMEDY OF ROMANCE
Romantic comedies are mostly identified with William Shakespeare. Nearly all romantic comedies are set in natural surroundings, a wood near Anthens for a Midsummer Night’s Dream. In romantic comedies the laughter is softened and chastened by an element. This element usually comes in from of evil or misfortune all along we know that evil be vanquished and that the misfortune will be put aside, e.g as You Like it, Much Ado about Nothing.
SENTIMENTAL COMEDY
This type of comedy according to Oliver Goldsmith in Bernard F Dukore says
A new species of dramatic composition has been
Introduced under the name of sentimental comedy,
In which the virtues of private life are exhibited,
Rather than the vices espoused and the distress rather
Than the faults of mankind make our interest in the piece.22
To some people, sentimental comedy is classified as dark comedy tragicomedy and serious drama, it seek to play to some extend upon our sympathies as well as making us laugh it may even draw easy tears.
The protagonist undergoes some difficulties either through the contrivances of the antagonist or other characters in the play. E.g Measure for measure by willianm Shakesper. Femi Osofison’s Farewell to a Cannibal Rage.
END NOTES
- F.M Comfort: The origin of Attic Comedy:
London Methuen 1964 pp 21-24
- Margot Berthold: A history of world Theatre:
New York publishing co 1970 p7
- Dukore F Bernand: Dramatic theory and criticism Greeks to
Gowrosky Holt Rinchart, and Winstom inc. 1974 p 35
- Dukore Bernand: Ibid p 65
- Stanley O. Obuh: Lecture note on theory and criticism p 45
- Stanley O. Obu Op cit p 46
- Shaw Bernand Arms and the Man
London Group lit 1974
- Kernold George invitation to the theatre new York, Chicago, Sam Francisco, Atanta, Harcourt, Bruce and world inc 1967 p245.
- BamBorough J.E Benjonson London Hutechimson and co. publisher ltd 1970
- Femi Shaka The comic spirit (Comedy from classical renod up to the 16thcent) 2000 p22-24
- Dukore Bernand ibid p 600-608
- M Carry (eds) The oxford classical Dictionary, London: Clraendo press 1949 p 795
- Femi Shaka The comic spirit (comedy from the classical period up to the sixteenth centh) 200 p 23 – 24
- Gulbert Huget Anatomy of satire new Jersey, Princeton university press 1962 p 69
- Gulbert Huget Ibied p 105
- Brocket G. Oscar the theatre and introduction, NewYork, Towrito, Rinchart and Winston inc. 1967 p 28 -40
- Femi Shaka Opcit P – 43
- Dukore Bernand Opcit 424 – 427
COMEDY AS A SOCIAL COMMENTARY. A CASE STUDY OF ELECHI AMADI’S PEPPERSOUP AND ZULU SOFOLA’S THE WIZARD OF LAW.
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COMEDY AS A SOCIAL COMMENTARY. A CASE STUDY OF ELECHI AMADI’S PEPPERSOUP AND ZULU SOFOLA’S THE WIZARD OF LAW.
COMEDY AS A SOCIAL COMMENTARY. A CASE STUDY OF ELECHI AMADI’S PEPPERSOUP AND ZULU SOFOLA’S THE WIZARD OF LAW.
TABLE OF CONTENT
TITLE PAGE
CERTIFICATION
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
SCOPE OF STUDY
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 DEFINITION OF COMEDY
1.2 NATURE AND CLASSIFICATION OF COMEDY
1.3 COMIC THEORY
CHAPTER TWO
2.1 ELECHI AMADI’S BIOGRAPHY
2.2 SYNOPSIS AND TEXTURAL ANALYSIS OF PEPPERSOUP
CHAPTER THREE
3.1 ZULY SOFOLA’S BIOGRAPHY
3.2 TEXTUAL ANALYSIS AND SYNOPSIS OF THE WIZARD OF LAW
CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE BOOKS AND THEIR RELEVANCE TO THE SOCIETY
CHAPTER FIVE
5.1 COMEDY AS A SOCIAL COMMENTARY AND CHANGE
5.2 CONCLUSION
5.3 BIBLIOGRAPHY
ABSTRACT
This project scrutinizes the nature, function and origin of comedy, its relevance to the society, social commentary on comedy and the effect of comedy to our society with apropos to two comic plays, Elechi amadi’s pepper soup and Zulu sofola’s The wizard of law.
Chapter one discusses the meaning, nature and forms of comedy, chapter two and three is a systematic analysis of the comic plays pepper soup by Elechi Amadi and the wizard of law by Zulu sofola, chapter four compares the comic plays and their relevance to the society while chapter five analysed comedy as a social commentary and its acceptance to the audience then, conclusion.
SCOPE OF STUDY
The purpose of study is to explore the nature, form, origin and function of comedy and its relevance or effect in our society using Zulu sofola’s the wizard of law and Elechi Amadi’s pepper soup as a case study.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The primary source through which I got materials for this work was mainly from the library, published and unpublished book’s internet and oral interview.
INTRODUCTION
Comedy has been given many views and definitions and the divergent views have expanded the scope and meaning of comedy, Aristotle was the first to write on comedy in his poetics, although he did not elaborate more on it, he argues that men are made worse in comedy than they really are and consequently they become objects of merriment to him comedy is an
Imitation of characters of a lower type, not however in full sense of the world bad the ludicrous being merely a subdivision of the ugly, it consist in some defect or ugliness which is not painful or destructive.
Saint Augustine in his essay the ‘’CITY OF GOD’’ sees comedy as a piece used in attacking and ridiculing individuals and Greek gods.
Oliver Ordish in the theatre defines comedy as a:
Light amusing play with a happy ending the
characters speak and behave more like people
in everyday lfe.2
comedy to me is a piece of work that intends to amuse, satirize, ridicule, criticize, condemn, human kinds foibles and faults using laugher as a vehicle, to convey a message to the society. Although it has laugher as its mother, it still answers many crucial questions that constantly troubles our mind, like social, political, financial, psychological, domestic and religious issue, it is an imitation of characters of different status and class in the society.
Comedy evolved from ancient Dionysian rites and celebrations of songs and revel during which actors dressed as satyrs with mask and huge leather phalli, parades about obscenely mocking and making jest of the spectators.
Comedy major dramatic genre that is intended to amuse as suggested by the derivation of the word from the greek word ‘Komos’(revel). Comedy is associated with the potentially subversive spirit of carnival frequently exposes incongruous, ridiculous aspect of human nature.
Despite the dives views about comedy, the theorist however are of one view in their analysis of the meaning, function and nature of comedy in the society, comedy according to them must be used to purge the ills of the society, according to Giovambatista Giraldi Cinthio in his ‘’Discourse on comedies and tragedies’’ says that comedy inculcate good morals and moderate sentiments mixed with games, laughter factious jokes in order to show us the right way to live.
Henri Bergson in his book laughter explain the function of laughter in comedy.
Let us say now, then that laughter corrects manner (castigatridendo move) above all, it make us try away to see what we shoud be and what we shall no doubt end up truly being oneday.4
He also informs us that the comic sense is tied exclusively with human condition. He also informs us that the comic sense is tied exclusively with human condition.
Comedy aims at purging the society of any vice or ills, it inculcate good morals without terror through pleasure and with funny jokes, the essential nature of comedy is the imitation of actions, based on the social strata and behaviours of people in the society, it is a representative of something broader than life, it takes a universal issue and relate it to the particular e.g THE TRIALS OF BROTHER JERO by wole Soyinka.
It satirizes religious pretence and duplicity using prophet Jeroboam, to relate it to religious hypocrisy which is common to most religious body in the world. Comedy great virtues is its ability to correct vices through laughter.
The main purpose of this project is to study comedy through PEPPER SOUP by Elechi Amadi and THE WIZARD OD LAW by Zulu sofola, and to see if the playwrights actually achieved their purpose and to see how effective the comic books are in correcting societal ills.
Elechi Amadi uses PEPPER SOUP as a comical piece to answer the question of interracial marriage, polygamy, child legitimacy and how marriage of different culture is perceived, Zulu sofola in THE WIZARD OF LAW an adaptation of a French comedy, pierre patellin treats the problems of Greed, avarice, impersonation which is rampant in our present day society, although they uses different techniques in arriving at the conclusion, still it points out the essential features that features that comedy must have; characters of lowly status and subject matter of social values and vices inherent to the society.
END NOTE
CHAPTER ONE
ORIGIN AND DEFINITION OF COMEDY
The first written comedies were staged in Athens Greece, during the 5th century B.C
The word comedy was derived from the Greek word ‘’Komos’’ meaning revel song, Revel songs were sung by a group of wild noisy revelleis during the Lenca festival.
The Lenca festival was held in honour of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and fertility.
It was usually in the winter. Actors dressed as satyrs with masks and huge leather phalli, parades about obscenely, appearing as frogs, bird’s grotesque fashions to make jest and mockery of the spectators.
The song was usually full of mockery, scorn, deriding individuals, whose conducts in the society have not been conventional or commendable.
The leader wear leather phalli, the phallic symbol was a reminder of Dionysus as the god of fertility. Many theoreticians have argued that the origin of comedy is traceable to rituals practices and festivals of different people all over the world. F.M comfort in his book. The origin of Attic Comedy traces the origin of comedy to the various rituals in which downing ribaldry, jokes and other obscene practices were allowed. These elements of fun and gaiety they says have become th3e basic of comedy.
Ritual clowning and ribaldry activities, is applicable to African culture.
Margot Berhold in a book titled A History of world theatre, while tracing the origin of the theatre to the primitive man declares that
In all places and periods, the theatre Encompassed grotesque buffoonery as well as ritual severity farcical elements can be found in its most primitive forms. Animal dances and animal pantomimes have a prior tendency to the grotesque. As soon as the cultic ties relaxes, the instinct of mimicry to provoking laughter situations and subject are taken from every days life.5
Berhold links the origin of comedy to primitive life of man all over the world in his quest to appreciate nature worshiped nature with fun, grotesque appearance. Primitive man wore mask (animal) sang abusive song to deride societal vices and their leaders.
Comedy is divided into three different parts, old, middle and new comedies.
Aristophanes is associated with old comedy, his plays were known for their unique blend of realism, fantasy and obscenity. He created giddy theatrical dialogue about life’s meaning and the dilemmas of human existence. This comedy flourished as far back as 488-486BC he was against the democratic leaders and policies, middle comedy marked the era when comedy no longer concentrate on the high point of political satire alone and now embraced the less perilous realm of everyday life.
By the 4th cent BC, new comedy had replaced the harsh culture critique of Aristophanes, it was developed by Meander and it avoided topical events and instead created an imaginary world of stereotyped characters including craftily slaves, impossible foolish master love struck teenagers, greedy imps and pure hearted prostitute. His works where fuelled by dramatic logic of mistaken identity and coincidence.
In the 3nd cent B.C roman playwrights Terence and Plautus borrowed from meanders theme, writing for a less sophisticated audience. Plautus in particular added boisterous characters, lawdy sub-plots, other influences on their production were Roman mines and Atellian frace (Italy)
The middle age plays feature saints and biblical theme or stories.
English playwrights of 16th and 17th cent retained much of the medieval blending of comedy and other genre.
DEFINITION
The word comedy is derived from the Greed word ‘’Komodia’’ which itself is derived from the Greek word ‘’Komos’’ meaning a processional celebration.
However the first notable definition of comedy is the one given by anstotle in the poetics he defines comedy as
An imitation of characters of a lower type not, however in the full sense of the word bad the ludicrous being merely a subdivision of the ugly it consists some defect or ugliness which is not painful or destructive.6
In Tractus coislincanus written in 4th cent B.C by an unknown person.
Comedy is an imitation of action that is Ludicrous and perfect of sufficient length {in embellished language} the several kinds (of embellishment – being) separately (found) in the (several parts) of the play) directly presented) by person acting and not (given) through narrative through pleasure and laughter effecting the purgation of the like emotions. It has laughter for its mother.7
Oliver Ordish in the theatre define comedy as a light amusing play a happy ending, the characters speaks and behave more like people in everyday life.
Comedy in my own view is a piece of work that intends to amuse, satirize, ridicule, criticize, condemn, human kinds foibles and fault using laughter as a vehicle to transmits the message to the society, comedy amidst laughter answer important questions that bothers one life, it is an imitation of characters of different status and class in the society.
Comedy though has several definitions by various theoreticians yet it point out the essential features that comedy must have characters must be brought low language must be prosaic, everyday language, theme and subject matter must be a simulation of social values and vices inherent to that society, it must be able to evoke laughter and pleasure to the reader.
COMIC THEORY
A theory is a postulate, hypothesis that determines how a work of art or science should look like, comic theory according to Stanley Obuh is any work or system of criticism that attempts to explain the nature and functions of comedy.
Aristotle wrote on comedy in his poetics but it did not survive, to Aristotle man is made worse in comedy than they really are, they earliest work on comedy is an anonymous track 4th – 2th cen BC and it was elaborated by Lane Cooper. To the renaissance and classic criticism comedy is seen as the opposite of tragedy.
Oliver Goldsmith in his essay ‘’A comparison between sentimental and laughing comedy analysed the difference between sentimental comedy as a piece in
Which virtue of private life are
Exhibited rather than expose and the
Distress rather than fault of mankind
Make our interest in the piece.
And comedy ridiculing the follies of the lower part of mankind. Henri Bergson traces his theory along the three lines of repetition, inversion and interference the series, seeing in each a certain reduction of the living to machine like object. 8
George Meredith (1928-1909) in an essay on comedy (1877) established the idea that comedy is a manifestation of the intellect and cultivation of the society from which it springs and that it attest to the equality of the sexes9
THE THEORY OF DEGREDATION OR DERISION
The theory of derision a source of laughter in comedy are fundamentally different as viewed or written by many theoreticians. Aristotle believes comedy degrades man, make him worse than he is, to plato in his work philebus he states that comic is fundamentally malicious, Ben Johnson is of the same view with plato in his work Discoveries William Hazlit believes that the essence of the laughable lies in the incongruous, the disconnecting of one character to another, in degradation of character, characters like Braggart, philandered, Bumpkins, Misers, are brought down of their pedestal stock.
INCONGRUITY: It is the disconnecting of one idea from another, inversion of roles can be incongruous (eg) it is incongruous to see a fat man walking with a short skinny man, there is a gap between the suspected and unsuspected, there are three basic form of incongruity.
SITUATION: According to Stanley Obuh, he states that incongruity of situation present a contrast between the usual or accepted and the unusual and the unaccepted, eg, in The Frog by Aristophanes.
It is incongruous to see Dionysus walking while Xanthia his servant rides on a donkey.
CHARACTER: It is a contrast between the ideal and real or appearance and actuality (eg) the deception of Dionysus in The Frogs by Aristophanes.
LANGUAGES: It happens in Dialogue it is a sharp contrast to the social content of the sudden interjection of vulgarity.
AUTOMATISM: Henri Bergson in his book Laughter talked about automatism as the periodic repetition of word or a scene, e.g Ola Rotimi’s
Our Husband has gone Mad Again where Lejoke Brown was always repeating ‘’Are you there’’, The Frogs by Aristophanes, Dionysus in several occasions repeats words, sing like a frog, the systematic reversal of roles, The Frogs, where Xanthium acts like Dionysus and Dionysus like Xanthium, interference de series, where man acts like a robot, man becomes an object or risible when he becomes rigid like a machine instead of being supple or soft, he behaves like a manipulated machine either repeating words or walking and behaving like a Robot.
NATURE OF COMEDY
Its matures is to inculcate good morals without terrors through pleasure and with some funny jokes. The essential nature of comedy is the imitation of actions based on the social strata and behaviour of people in the society.
Comedy imitates lighter and less serious aspects of human nature, however every component of human behaviours is subject to comic treatment. Like bodily functions, manners, fashion, eating, sexual desire, social position, violence, promiscuity, hypocrisy etc. all these social vices are usually treated lightly in a pleasurable and ridiculous manner.
Laughter is a vital feature or part of comedy because it serves as a vehicle that conveys or inculcate moral to the society. It distinguishes comedy from other genre that is tragedy and melodrama.
Comedy achieve its aim by ridiculing and criticizing ugly and bad behaviour and its affairs, its essential effect through jokes and laugher, it purges the society of their vice and correcting them afterword’s.
Henri Bergson in his book Laughter tells us how we laugh at the comnflict between life and the rules of living, which we try to impose on it; whenever the absurd is manifested in man, it is thrown off in laughter. The feeling of ribald pleasure that is experienced in
Aristophanes lysistrata to criticize the Athenians engagement in Peloponnesian war between the Serbcans and Bulgarians.
The revelation of Bluntshi a soldier who claims to be carrying food instead of ammunition will makes us laugh and at the same time make us to think the disadvantage of war.
Kemodle rightly observe that
Laughter does encourage man
To see clearly, to attack wrongs
And yet to accept the world
As it is and get along in it 11
Diction in comic discourse ought to be simple, easy, clear, familiar and taken from common usage. The language unlike tragedy is down and the language aids in the understanding of the theme and propels the action towards a happy resolution of conflict. E.g. an ordinary man can comprehend the language of The Frogs by Aristophanes than that of Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, the language is not designed to be noble, resounding and refined.
The characters of comedy are usually drawn from lower rungs of the social ladder, unlike tragedy which embraces the mobility, characters in comedy are given sterol-typed nuances commonly found among the ordinary people in the society, the characters are not peculiar to one place.
Should not be of more than middling
Social status, so that people who were born
Noble either in birth or character (and there
are some in real life) were excluded from the
comic playwrights review.12
Comic plays no matter how it is presented always have happy endings, the play might evoke fear but at the end of it becomes funny or light, in comedy vice is always punished while virtue is rewarded. Comedy intends to amuse satririze and criticize human faults through laughter.
CLASSIFICATION OF COMEDY
According to Cicely Havely
Comedy is wider, it can embrace the
Hilariously, grotesque, and the grimly
Absurb, it can and often does take in
Element of farce or shade into the tragic.13
Comedy can be classified in so many ways
FARCE: It intends to excite laughter through exaggeration and extravagance rather than by realistic imitation of life, the term farce seem to have first applied in France to the piece produced by certain lay company or clercs de baroche in contrast to the morality lays produced by the religious orders.
Farce seek to deflate the pretensions and hypocrisy of contemporary society, farce according to etymologist is gotten from a latin word ‘’facio’’ meaning I suffer, it is the type of drama stuffed with low humour and extravagant with, according to A Dictionary of the English Language (1755. Cited in Femi Shaka 2000).
Farce is a dramatic representation written without regularity and stuffed with wild and ludicrous concert.14
Farce emanated from a certain degenerating movement in comedy which started from about the year 1675. It’s characteristics are the dependence of character and dialogue upon mere situation. This situation is of the most exaggerated and impossible kind.
To many, farce is a form of comedy that is so debased and unserious in nature. However Eric Bentley a theorist and critics strongly defined farce as a comic genre and has even gone further to state the subject matters of farce such as lust, adultery and other animalistic tendencies which are noticeable in man.
Femi Osofisna’s Midnight Hotels, Dario fo’s we can’t pay, we won’t pay, adapted by carrol Dawes in Pidgin English with the title we No go pay, we No Ft pay, Moliere’s play The Secondrel Scalping, the Imaginary Invalid, Zulu Sofola’s The Wizard of Law are good examples of farce. Although all the above mentioned plays are farce, it is rare to find a play that depends upon nothing but farcical element.
HUMOUR: Comedy of humour deals largely with exaggerated typed, its root can be traced to classical comedy and was revived in England through Gammer Gurton’s Needle and in Raph Roister Doister and then Ben Johnson in every man in his humour. According to William Hazlit in his essay on with and humour asserts that
Humour is the describing the Ludicrous as
It is in itself, Humour is as it were the growth of nature
and accident, Humour as it is shown in books, is an imitation
of the natural or acquired absurdities of mankind or of the
ludicrous in accident, situation, and caracter15
In humour we pretend to disbelieved what we actually believe, the humourist is an eccentric who sees the fun of his security. Humour therefore is a union of unconscious with conscious laughter.
SATIRE: It comes from a Latin word ‘satyra’ which means ‘’full’’ and later came to mean ‘hotch porch’ or meddle.
THE OXFORD CLASSICAL Dictionary defines Satire as
………. A piece of verse or prose
Mingled with verse, intended to improve society by mocking
it’s anomalies, and by spontaneity topicality. Ironic with,
decent humor colloquial language, frequent use of dialogue
constant intrusions of author’s personality and incessant variety
of tone and style. 16
the major function of satire is to ridicule a particular object, institution or a vice in the society, the satiric lashes vices largely because of its folly, Femi Shaka in his lecture note states that satire falls heavily on:
Social misfits it has no moral sense
it has no pity kindliness or magnenamity17
satire Lashes the customs of society as well as the eccentricities of individuals. Situation forms the basis of the plot of any comedy, it must be remembered that mere comedy of situation will lead to nothing but farce, 21 situation offers an opportunity only. The indecent situation in the restoration comedy are laughable.
COMEDY OF CAHRACTER
The type of comedy portrays the eccentricity of the characters in a ludicrous manner. It is the presence of character that largely differentiates true comedy from farce, some molliere’s plays like Lávare (or the miser). Tarfuffe are examples of comedy of character. The plays show the ludicrous halt of some vices such as miserliness & Greed.
The pot of Gold by Titus Marcus Plautus.
COMEDY OF IDEAS
It develops a conflict over a concept or a way of though e.g. many comic writers attempt to formulate some concepts and ideals in which they believe will be suitable for the society e.g. Lysitrata by Aristophanes, Arms and the Man. Bernard Shaw, Dance on his Grave, Barclay Ayakoroma both Aristophanes and Shaw comment on the disadvantage of war and the gain that can be derived from peaceful co-existence among people and nation.
COMEDY OF MANNERS
Manners implies characters, situation and physical appearance.
In comedy of manners, the humours or character traits are rarely as exaggerated as in the Johnsonian sense.
Most of the figures of comedy of manner take their humourous complexion from the social follies of their day, comedy of manners reflects real life but it is a real life artificalised and airier, the awk wardness of a society Lady in a circle of more natural but less polished working. Class womemn is amusing, this type of comedy treat social values, standard or behaviour or accepted ways of thought by exposing and subjecting them to ridicule. The way of the World by William Congreve
COMEDY OF ROMANCE
Romantic comedies are mostly identified with William Shakespeare. Nearly all romantic comedies are set in natural surroundings, a wood near Anthens for a Midsummer Night’s Dream. In romantic comedies the laughter is softened and chastened by an element. This element usually comes in from of evil or misfortune all along we know that evil be vanquished and that the misfortune will be put aside, e.g as You Like it, Much Ado about Nothing.
SENTIMENTAL COMEDY
This type of comedy according to Oliver Goldsmith in Bernard F Dukore says
A new species of dramatic composition has been
Introduced under the name of sentimental comedy,
In which the virtues of private life are exhibited,
Rather than the vices espoused and the distress rather
Than the faults of mankind make our interest in the piece.22
To some people, sentimental comedy is classified as dark comedy tragicomedy and serious drama, it seek to play to some extend upon our sympathies as well as making us laugh it may even draw easy tears.
The protagonist undergoes some difficulties either through the contrivances of the antagonist or other characters in the play. E.g Measure for measure by willianm Shakesper. Femi Osofison’s Farewell to a Cannibal Rage.
END NOTES
London Methuen 1964 pp 21-24
New York publishing co 1970 p7
Gowrosky Holt Rinchart, and Winstom inc. 1974 p 35
London Group lit 1974
COMEDY AS A SOCIAL COMMENTARY. A CASE STUDY OF ELECHI AMADI’S PEPPERSOUP AND ZULU SOFOLA’S THE WIZARD OF LAW.
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