Farces have been written for the stage and film. Furthermore, a farce is also often set in one particular location, where all events occur. This sub-genre of dramatic comedy called farce sets itself apart from the other forms because its purpose is to make the audience laugh. And that’s it. So, how does a farce ensure that the audience will laugh and leave with a lighter heart? It begins with some low comedy, or comedy that uses bawdy jokes, physical humor, drunkenness, and silly visuals just for the sake of getting people to laugh. Actually, these elements can be found in many plays that are not considered farcical.
It’s the plot, or lack thereof, that makes a true farce. The plot in a farce is likely to be improbable, and maybe even incomprehensible. In fact, it’s up to the audience to accept that the physical and verbal humor runs the show, not the plot. The physical humor, which is high-energy horseplay, reinforces the exaggerated, stereotypical characters. These base characters – base meaning ignorant or of low social class – often find themselves in a mix-up of sorts, sometimes even with a mistaken identity, that results in furthering a ridiculous situation.
The term also refers to the class or form of drama made up of such impositions. Farce is generally regarded as intellectually and aesthetically inferior to comedy in its crude characterizations and implausible plots, but it has been sustained by its popularity in performance and has persisted throughout the Western world to the present. It was in 15th-century France that the term farce was first used to describe the elements of clowning, acrobatics, caricature, and indecency found together within a single form of entertainment.
Typically, the plot of a farce is a series of highly improbably events or coincidences. The characters are often larger than life. Often, the humor is derived from mistaken identities or misunderstandings. Examples: The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare Noises Off by Michael Frayne What the Butler Saw by Joe Rotor Anton Pavlov Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramaturgy and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics.
Anton Chekhov was born on the feast day of SST. Anthony the Great (17 January Old Style) 29 January 1860, the third of six arriving children, in Taxation, a port on the Sea of Kava in southern Russia. His father, Pale Hygroscopic Chekhov, the son of a former serf, was from a village Volatility near Keyboard (Volta Region in modern-day Ukraine) and ran a grocery store. In 1879, Chekhov completed his schooling and joined his family in Moscow, having gained admission to the medical school.
During this time, he read widely and analytically, including Cervantes, Turnover, Cockroach, and Schopenhauer; and he wrote a full-length comedy drama, Fatherless, which his brother Alexander dismissed as “an inexcusable though innocent fabrication”. Chekhov also enjoyed a series of love affairs, one with the wife of a teacher. Before long, Chekhov was attracting literary as well as popular attention. A few months before he died, Chekhov told the writer Ivan Bunion he thought people might go on reading him for seven years. “Why seven? ” asked Bunion. “Well, seven and a half,” Chekhov replied. “That’s not bad.
I’ve got six years to live. ” Along with his prolific output of letters to friends and family and his four most popular plays The Seagull (1894), Uncle Van (1 899), The Three Sisters (1900) and The Cherry Orchard (1903), further works by Chekhov include his plays; The Boor or the Bear (1881), That Worthless Fellow Platoons (1881 ), On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco (1886), Swansong (1887), Vivian (1887), A Marriage Proposal (1888), The Wedding (1 889), The Wood Demon (1889), A Tragedian in Spite of Himself or A Reluctant Tragic Hero (1889), The Festivities (1891), Peasants (1897), and Gooseberries (1898).
Although The Bear is one of Anton Chekhov lesser-known plays, this “Farce in One-Act,” as it is subtitled, is an excellent representative of its genre. Dedicating the play to N. N. Kilovolts, Chekhov is said to have been inspired by his friend’s Irish performance in a French vaudeville. Indeed, with its fast-paced, biting dialogue alluding to popular song lyrics, accidentally broken furniture, and exaggerated emotions that quickly turn into their opposite, this three-character drama resembles an act from a vaudeville. The play “The Bear” is a farce.
It is full of many absurd situations and remarks. There are three main characters in the play and they all make us laugh with their absurd behavior and comments Poppa is a widow. Her husband died seven months ago, but she is still in mourning. Her servant, Lukas advises her to give up her mourning. He advises her to see her neighbors, but she says that she will keep on mourning until her death. “He is in his grave, and I have buried myself between four walls. We are both dead”. In the meanwhile, Smirking comes to take 1200 rubles from Poppa. Her husband used to buy oat from him.
Poppa tells him that her steward is out and she will pay him the day after tomorrow. However, Smirking insists on taking the money that day. He behaves rudely. “l don’t want the money the day after to-morrow. I want it to-day. ” He even makes fun of Poppa’s mourning and her state of mind. Poppa also becomes rude. They speak against each other’s sex and use insulting words. Smirking thinks that he has been insulted. He challenges Poppa to fight a duel. Poppa accepts the challenge and brings her husband’s revolver. However, she does not know how to fire.
She asks Smirking to teach her how to fire. The situation changes and Smirking is impressed by her boldness and beauty. He says that he does not want to fight the duel. He expresses his love for her. He offers her his hand. First, she insists on fighting, but then asks him to go. She changes her decision repeatedly and then decides to marry him. When Lukas returns with other reverts to beat Smirking, he is surprised to see them touching each other. When we go through the play “The Bear”, we find that it is a farce. A farce is full of many absurd situations and remarks.
These situations and remarks make the readers laugh. There are three main characters in the play and they all make us laugh with their absurd comments. There are also many absurd situations. When the play starts, we see that Lukas is advising Poppa to leave her mourning and go out to see her neighbors. However, his way of advising her is very absurd. He gives the examples of cats, midges, and spiders. We simply laugh at these examples. Poppa looks at the photograph of her husband and calls him a ‘bad child’. The word ‘bad child’ makes us laugh.
When Poppa refuses to give Smirking the money, he says, “l have not the pleasure of being either your husband or your finance, so please don’t make scenes. ” These remarks are very funny and absurd and we laugh at them. When Poppa accepts the challenge of duel from Smirking, he says that he will bring her down like a chicken. The word ‘chicken’ is very funny. We find the most comic and absurd situation in the play when Poppa brings her husband’s revolvers and asks Smirking to teach her how to fire. This is very absurd that she asks her enemy to teach her how to fire.
