Course work theme: Humor and satire in Shakespeare’s comedies. Done by: Abdurakhimova Nilufar Research adviser: Gaziyeva Saida Chirchik 2022 Content introduction chapter I. Shakespeare’s life and works

Misconception
In Shakespearean comedies much that is funny arises from the misconceptions of lovers. In Much Ado about Nothing the friends of Benedick, whom we have seen mocking Beatrice and scorning love, arrange for him to overhear them talking about how desperately Beatrice in fact loves him. The trick is enjoyably justified when he next meets Beatrice and determinedly interprets her rudeness as concealed affection. Yet the trick takes us further. Once Beatrice has been deceived by her friends in similar fashion, these two characters, who both once disdained the follies of courtship, are on the path to love and marriage. All this deception would not be amusing if we could not feel confident that it will produce a happy resolution In the play’s sub-plot, the deception of Claudio by Don John indicates how a deceived lover might, in another kind of play, be on his way to creating a tragedy. Interwoven with the plot of Benedick and Beatrice’s love story is the drama of so-called ‘love’ (Claudio for Hero) turned into murderous hate. However satisfying the former courtship, it is shadowed by the vengefulness of the untrusting Claudio.
For the most part, Shakespeare’s comedies rely on benign misunderstanding and deception. They therefore put a premium on dramatic irony, where we know better than the perplexed lovers. An outstanding example is A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where we understand the magic of the love potion, mistakenly applied by Puck to Lysander’s eyes, and can relish not only the love talk he spouts to Helena, but her befuddlement. When Puck, in an effort to remedy his mistake, squeezes the juice onto Demetrius’s eyes and he, waking to see Helena, also pours forth professions of love for her, we hear how easily and eloquently men can think they love one woman or another. Hermia, who thought that Lysander loved her, is furiously jealous while Helena is convinced that there is a conspiracy to deceive her. We laugh at their perplexity because we know that the magic that produced it will eventually resolve it and ensure a happy ending. The lovers will return from the forest, that place of confusion and transgression, to the institution of marriage.