COMEDY OF HUMOURS

 COMEDY OF HUMOURS

Introduction
Comedy of Humours is a special type of comedy that became popular in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. It focuses on characters who behave in extreme or foolish ways because of a dominant trait or obsession. This kind of comedy is not just meant to make people laugh. It also shows the absurdity of human behaviour and tries to correct it through satire. The word “humour” here does not mean laughter. It comes from a theory in ancient medicine, where human personality was believed to be controlled by four fluids or humours in the body.

 

The Humour Theory

The Comedy of Humours is based on the belief that the human body contains four basic humours: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. When these humours are balanced, a person is healthy and normal. But when one humour dominates, the person becomes unbalanced in nature. For example, too much blood makes a person cheerful and careless. Too much black bile makes them sad and serious. The comedy arises when a character is fully driven by just one humour and cannot behave in a balanced way. This results in exaggerated personalities and foolish actions, which the audience can both laugh at and learn from.

 

Origin and Development

The term was first used by Ben Jonson, one of the greatest playwrights of the early seventeenth century. He created characters who were ruled by one single passion, mood, or desire. He believed that such characters could be used to show the problems of society. His idea was to correct social evils through laughter. The Comedy of Humours became a popular form of realistic comedy that focused more on types than on individual personalities. This made the plays closer to real life, but also satirical in tone.

 

Main Characteristics

This type of comedy has some clear features. It builds its plot around fixed character types, not deep or changing individuals. Each character is driven by one strong emotion or quality like greed, jealousy, or pride. The plays often show city life and common people. The language is realistic and witty. The humour is not based on farce but on the inner foolishness of the characters. The tone may be sharp or bitter, as the writer tries to expose wrong attitudes. Often, these plays end not with romance or marriage, but with correction or punishment of the faulty characters.

 

Ben Jonson and the Comedy of Humours

Ben Jonson is the central figure in this form of comedy. His play Every Man in His Humour (1598) is the best example. In this play, each character is guided by a dominant humour. One man is obsessed with honour, another with suspicion, another with learning. The comedy comes from their inability to behave like normal people. Jonson's other plays like Every Man Out of His Humour and Volpone also follow this method. He used this style not just for fun, but to improve society. He believed that exposing foolishness could make people wiser.

 

Other Writers and Examples

Though Ben Jonson created and perfected the Comedy of Humours, later writers also followed his style. Thomas Middleton, John Marston, and George Chapman wrote plays where humour-driven characters acted out their fixations. Even Shakespeare used this method in some of his characters. For example, Malvolio in Twelfth Night behaves like a man ruled by pride and self-love. Though Shakespeare did not strictly follow the humour theory, he knew how to use fixed character types to create comedy.

 

Impact on English Drama

The Comedy of Humours made English comedy more realistic and meaningful. It moved away from romantic and ideal characters and focused on real people with faults. It helped develop the comedy of manners in the Restoration period and the modern idea of social satire. Writers began to use drama not just to entertain, but to examine the human mind and behaviour. It showed that comedy could be both sharp and serious. This form created a tradition of character-driven drama in English literature.

 

Conclusion
The Comedy of Humours brought a new kind of laughter to the English stage. It was based not on silly events but on human nature itself. It used the idea of bodily humours to explain why people act foolishly. Through characters who are extreme and unbalanced, it revealed the dangers of obsession and the need for self-control. Ben Jonson turned this idea into a powerful comic form that taught lessons while making people laugh. Its influence lasted for centuries and shaped the future of English comedy.

References
Long, William J. English Literature: Its History and Its Significance for the English-Speaking World. Anboco, 2016.
Albert, Edward. History of English Literature. Oxford University Press, 2005.
Nicoll, Allardyce. British Drama: An Historical Survey from the Beginnings to the Present Time. George G. Harrap & Co., 1925.

 

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