Clowns in Shakespeare's Plays

Paper Summary:

By comparing the clowns that appear in the plays "Hamlet", "Macbeth", and "As You Like It", the role of the clown is elaborated as something greater than comedic relief. In all instances, the clowns play a double role that works to appeal to a particular audience of Elizabethan England, a wider social and cultural group of theatre-goers than typically present at play performances. In doing so, the clowns work to participate within the play itself, and within the audience as well. This is achieved through humour that speaks outside the context of the play and towards immediate cultural knowledge of the audience. The clown also uses this same kind of humour within the play, as a way to clarify what is happening within the story itself. The clown acts as a mediator between characters and as a mediator between the play itself and the audience. The clowns of the dramatic plays, such as "King Lear", "Hamlet", or Macbeth, the clowns' role serves to provide the audience a break from the tension and violence of the narratives as well as to address the audiences own cultural understandings of these plays. In the comedies and the dramas, the clown is always more knowledgeable about what is happening and so acts as the interpreter for the characters, and for the audience.

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