Romantic comedy
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| '''Romantic comedy''' is a [[hybrid genre]] in which a story about [[romantic love|romance]] is presented in a [[comedic]] style. Works in this genre are generally considered [[light-hearted]], and are sometimes associated with the vaguely derogatory terms "[[chick lit]]" or "[[chick flick]]", meaning "primarily aimed at a [[woman|female]] audience". | '''Romantic comedy''' is a [[hybrid genre]] in which a story about [[romantic love|romance]] is presented in a [[comedic]] style. Works in this genre are generally considered [[light-hearted]], and are sometimes associated with the vaguely derogatory terms "[[chick lit]]" or "[[chick flick]]", meaning "primarily aimed at a [[woman|female]] audience". | ||
| + | ==History== | ||
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| + | The ''Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms'' defines romantic comedy as "a general term for comedies that deal mainly with the follies and misunderstandings of young lovers, in a light‐hearted and happily concluded manner which usually avoids serious satire". This reference states that the "best‐known examples are Shakespeare's comedies of the late 1590s, ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'', ''[[Twelfth Night]]'', and ''[[As You Like It]]'' being the most purely romantic, while ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'' approaches the [[comedy of manners]] and ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'' is closer to [[tragicomedy]]." | ||
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| + | Comedies since [[Ancient Greek comedy|ancient Greece]] have often incorporated sexual or social elements. | ||
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| + | It was not until the creation of [[Courtly love|romantic love]] in the western European [[Middle Ages|medieval]] period, though, that "romance" came to refer to "romantic love" situations, rather than the heroic adventures of medieval [[Romance (heroic literature)|Romance]]. These adventures, however, often revolved about a knight's feats on behalf of a lady, and so the modern themes of love were quickly woven into them, as in [[Chrétien de Troyes]]'s ''[[Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart]]''. | ||
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| + | [[Shakespearean comedy]] and [[Restoration comedy]] remain influential. The creation of huge economic social strata in the [[Gilded Age]], combined with the heightened openness about sex after the [[Victorian era]] and the celebration of [[Sigmund Freud]]'s theories, and the birth of the film industry in the early twentieth century, gave birth to the [[screwball comedy films|screwball comedy]]. As class consciousness declined and [[World War II]] unified various social orders, the savage screwball comedies of the twenties and thirties, proceeding through [[Rock Hudson]]–[[Doris Day]]-style comedies, gave way to more innocuous comedies. This style faded in the 1960s, and the genre lay mostly dormant until the more sexually charged ''[[When Harry Met Sally]]'' had a successful box office run in 1989, paving the way for a rebirth for the Hollywood romantic comedy in the mid-1990s. | ||
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| + | The [[Cinema of France|French film industry]] went in a completely different direction, with less inhibitions about sex. [[Virginia Woolf]], tired of stories that ended in '[[Happy ending|happily ever after]]' at the beginning of a serious relationship, called ''[[Middlemarch]]'' by [[George Eliot]], with its portrayal of a difficult marriage, "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people." | ||
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| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| - | * [[Romantic comedy film]] | + | |
| - | * [[Category:Romantic_comedy_anime_and_manga|Romantic comedy anime and manga]] | + | |
| * [[Pride and Prejudice]] | * [[Pride and Prejudice]] | ||
| - | Romantic comedies differ according to the date in which the plays or novels are written, for these two words--romance and comedy--are Greek words originating 400 a.d. to specify forms of drama--another Greek word; originating 400 b.c. as a specification for plays involving tragedies between protagonists and antagonists | + | |
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Revision as of 10:46, 28 October 2014
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Romantic comedy is a hybrid genre in which a story about romance is presented in a comedic style. Works in this genre are generally considered light-hearted, and are sometimes associated with the vaguely derogatory terms "chick lit" or "chick flick", meaning "primarily aimed at a female audience".
History
The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms defines romantic comedy as "a general term for comedies that deal mainly with the follies and misunderstandings of young lovers, in a light‐hearted and happily concluded manner which usually avoids serious satire". This reference states that the "best‐known examples are Shakespeare's comedies of the late 1590s, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, and As You Like It being the most purely romantic, while Much Ado About Nothing approaches the comedy of manners and The Merchant of Venice is closer to tragicomedy."
Comedies since ancient Greece have often incorporated sexual or social elements.
It was not until the creation of romantic love in the western European medieval period, though, that "romance" came to refer to "romantic love" situations, rather than the heroic adventures of medieval Romance. These adventures, however, often revolved about a knight's feats on behalf of a lady, and so the modern themes of love were quickly woven into them, as in Chrétien de Troyes's Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart.
Shakespearean comedy and Restoration comedy remain influential. The creation of huge economic social strata in the Gilded Age, combined with the heightened openness about sex after the Victorian era and the celebration of Sigmund Freud's theories, and the birth of the film industry in the early twentieth century, gave birth to the screwball comedy. As class consciousness declined and World War II unified various social orders, the savage screwball comedies of the twenties and thirties, proceeding through Rock Hudson–Doris Day-style comedies, gave way to more innocuous comedies. This style faded in the 1960s, and the genre lay mostly dormant until the more sexually charged When Harry Met Sally had a successful box office run in 1989, paving the way for a rebirth for the Hollywood romantic comedy in the mid-1990s.
The French film industry went in a completely different direction, with less inhibitions about sex. Virginia Woolf, tired of stories that ended in 'happily ever after' at the beginning of a serious relationship, called Middlemarch by George Eliot, with its portrayal of a difficult marriage, "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people."
See also
