Clowning and slapstick in Aristophanes

Bibliographic Data

ID20080298
AuthorsKonstantinos Kapparis, Ilias Arnaoutoglou, Dimos Spatharas
Year2017
Pages24-36
Publication date2017-09-22
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueStudies on Greek Law, Oratory and Comedy (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.4324/9781315611150-4
OpenAlexW2905115037
ISBN9781315611150
LanguageEN
Citations received20

Clowning or slapstick always involves someone having an unpleasant experience, and Aristophanes is a master of comic suffering. But the nature and cause of the suffering vary. It may be inflicted on him by another character, who hits him or squashes him down (jack-in-the-box clowning) or throws something at him (custard-pie slapstick). Alternatively he may bring the experience on himself by his own clumsiness or stupidity, by putting on inappropriate clothes or by mishandling some physical object or by getting into a precarious location. The spectator laughs out of a sense of relief and superiority, because he is not in the uncomfortable situation himself. When the unpleasant experience is inflicted by another character, the spectator may feel a sense of identity with the aggressor, and so feel a release from the inhibitions which generally repress his own aggressiveness

Art · Literature · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies

Tools

Open DOI