comedy vs. tragedy

Up until this point in this class, we have focused on many different ancient tragedies. However, while reading Lysistrata, I quickly realized that this play is gravely different from the rest – it is a comedy. This made me wonder what makes Lysistrata so different from all the tragedies. Sure, the script is comical, but what specifically lightens the mood?

I have been able to conclude that there are two characteristics of the dialogue in this work that help to brighten the ambience of the play and essentially make this work so enjoyable. The first is the blunt of witty diction. On many occasions the characters in the play are sarcastic, vulgar, or even make brutal threats. “I’ll tear the living guts out of you with my teeth,” yells a woman at one of the men. “Come, you wretch, lie down and stop bringing me things,” demands Cinesias at one point. These are two instances in which the dialogue is so informal that it is considered funny. One might say that the audience laughs at these particular moments in time because it is uncomfortable to interpret these lines seriously; but either way, the bluntness in these lines evokes laughter and lightens the mood of the performance.

A second element that helps lighten the mood and adds to the comedy of the play is the quick moving dialogue. In other works we’ve studied, there are fewer actors on the stage. As such each actor usually speaks in long monologues and very rarely has a single line of dialogue at a time. An example of this is in Agamemnon, Lines 561-588. Clytemnestra takes twenty-seven lines to explain that she is anxious for her husband’s return from war. In Lysistrata, however, there are usually many characters on stage at one time. The dialogue seems to jump quickly from mouth to mouth as new information in the plot is rapidly introduced to the audience. Lysistrata Lines 1000-1013 display this nicely as each actor has only a phrase or two. With such an active dialogue, the audience’s attention is easily maintained by the actors; thus, they are more engaged throughout the play (ie, cognizant of jokes and subtle humor). In effect, this quick dialogue prepares the audience for a funny show.
Therefore, I find that it is not only a sad or funny plot that determines if a play is a tragedy or comedy. In the case of Lysistrata, we can see that the dialogue and its style can help to create a more comical or light-hearted play.