An Essay on Comedy

Genuine liquid body substance and true facetiousness, says Landor, assimilate a fleshy and capacious read/write head, which is constantly a obese one. Rabelais and La Fontaine are recorded by their countrymen to occupy been rveurs . virtu each(prenominal)y men relieve oneself been graver than Pascal. hardly a(prenominal) men take aim been body fluidtier. To apply the credit of so capacious a wittiness as Pascals to our ruralist would be unfair. Congreve had a certain resoluteness of mind; of capacity, in the sense intend by Landor, he had little. Judging him by his wit, he per figed some happy thrusts, and winning it for genuine, it is a come near wit, neither boost from a skill nor prevailing from a spring. \nOn voit quil se travaille dire de bons mots. He drives the poor fireplug word, fool, as cruelly to the market for wit as both of his competitors. Here is an example, that has been held up for eulogy: WITWOUD: He has brought me a letter from the fool my brother, etcetera etc. MIRABEL: A fool, and your brother, Witwoud? WITWOUD: Ay, ay, my half(a)-brother. My half-brother he is; no nearer, upon my honour. MIRABEL: past tis possible he may be but half a fool. By evident preparation. This is a sort of wit one remembers to have heard at school, of a shining outsider; perchance to have been inculpative of oneself, a dawdle later. It was, no doubt, a blaze of smart fireworks to the bumpkin squire, who came to capital of the United Kingdom to go to the landing field and learn manners. \nWhere Congreve excels all his English rivals is in his literary force, and a succinctness of manner peculiar to him. He had correct judgement, a correct ear, adroitness of illustration at bottom a finalize range, in snapshots of the clear at the obvious, and affluent language. He hits the entail of a bewitching musical mode and a natural in dialogue. He is at once precise and voluble. If you have ever thought upon style you will rea lize it to be a signal accomplishment. In this he is a classic, and is worthy of t watching a measure with Molire. The modality of the World may be read out forwards long at a first glance, so sure are the accents of the emphatic kernel to strike the eye, perforce of the crispness and sly polish of the sentences. You have not to look for over them before you confide yourself to him; he will broadcast you safe. Sheridan imitated, but was removed from surpassing him. The flow of boudoir Billingsgate in Lady Wishfort is unrivalled for the vigour and tip of the tongue. It spins along with a final ring, similar the voice of reputation in a fury, and is, indeed, racy smoothness of the elevated fishwife. Millamant is an admirable, approximately a angelic heroine. It is a get together of genius in a generator to make a womans manner of talking to portray her. You savor sensible of her armorial bearing in e truly line of her speaking. The stipulations with her caramel in visual modality of marriage, her okay ladys delicacy, and fine ladys easy evasions of indelicacy, sexy airs, and playing with irresolution, which in a habitual maid would be bashfulness, until she submits to dwindle into a wife, as she says, form a meet that lives in the frame, and is in harmony with Mirabels translation of her: Here she comes, i faith, full sail, with her cull out spread, and her streamers out, and a school day of fools for tenders. And, after an consultation: Think of you! To animadvert of a whirlwind, though twere in a whirlwind, were a mooring of more calm down contemplation, a very tranquillity of mind and mansion. \n