Death by Comedy

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how, printed in 1971 as part of a collection of Woody Allen?s comic stories, sketches, and plays, ?Death Knocks? describes the visit of Death to Nat Ackerman, a bald, paunchy, fifty-seven-year-old dress manufacturer. It looks at how Allen presents the two characters of the play, Nat and Death, with a first-person omniscient point of view, which sets the tone as being typical of the sarcastic, yet humorous, attitude of Euro-ethnic, New York city dwellers. It explores the idea that city life has callused the characters to shock over events that should be shocking and that the emotion of this shock is replaced by sarcastic humor throughout the play. It also discusses how Allen?s use of such idiosyncrasy lends to the overall humor of the play.

From the Paper:

"The entire play takes place in the spacious, well appointed bedroom of Nat Ackerman. Nat is relaxing in bed with his newspaper when he hears a noise outside his window. As he watches, a figure climbs awkwardly through the window. The figure's appearance and manner of dress bespeak the personification of Death but the description of his entrance, ?He huffs audibly and then trips over the windowsill and falls into the room.?, leads the reader to the assumption that, although Death is visiting, he himself seems quite human and is not an object of pure evil, eliciting fear."

More papers on Death by Comedy:

• Essay # 42886 : "Realism and Comedy in Drama"
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• Comparison Essay # 114380 : "Shakespeare's Comedies and Problem Plays"

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