Characters comic

Helium, like the other members of its family, is an inert gas often used in balloons on account of its low density, and when inhaled results in a comic transposition of the human voice to a significantly higher register (not a realistic way to mimic counter-tenors, but very effective in well-loved Walt Disney cartoon characters) ... 

And then—to begin scene three—another dream miracle happens I arrive at a splendid mansion that has been elaborately decorated with life-size comic characters of people painted on every wooden door and wall panel. Now this is psychedelic Why Because the colors are so vivid, the characters so lifelike, and so psychologically revealing. I am gushing praise to my hostess, a sophisticated lady with a long dress, when she says mysteriously, You are always so subtle and so accurate in your recognition of deeper realities. ... 

Jonson has intended some comment upon the fact that the vulture is a lawyer. Mosca wisely appeals to Voltore s greed by referring to his weakness for things in writing, specifically, Volpone s will. It is a fine comic insight into human character. 

Once again, Jonson refers to the theater of his time. Lady Vanity of the morality drama was played as a courtesan, but she was also a figure of fun. Jonson wanted the comic parallel to his character made clear. Celia is vain about her innocence, and Corvino thinks she is impure. 

It is also important to note Corvino s excessive, lengthy, and jealous tirade on fidelity, his quick reversal of form, and, finally, his warm sympathy for his wife. These emotional transitions demand a sophisticated comic touch and a delicate sense of timing, attributes found only in great character actors. 

In the last analysis, it is not Mosca s audacity or Volpone s cunning performance that cuckolds Corvino. It is his own comic flaw that exposes him to this final humiliation. The flaw is greed. All of the characters in Volpone are brought down by this trait. 

The soliloquy is an important theatrical device. It enabled the playwright to comment on the action of the play as well as to reveal the inner thoughts and feelings of the speaker. In this case, Jonson employs it as a quiet interlude before the plot begins to hurdle out of the characters control to a final comic conclusion. Up to this point, as Mosca s attitude suggests, the villains are the complete masters of events. Things are about to get out of hand. 

The three short street scenes are a comic repetition of Mosca s mocking of the gulls, but Jonson has a reason for it. He wants the audience to see that even gulls can be insulted too much. The audience thinks the gulls are so frustrated they will eventually explode. If they do, the truth will hurt all of the characters in the central plot. 

One critic has written that Volpone almost becomes human and that the sentence is leveled against a human rather than a comic character. At any rate, Jonson has been able to bring Volpone to life for the stage. 

There is excellent comic sense in the simplicity and single-mindedness of Yolpone s character. His insatiable desire to trick people is characteristic of the figure of the fool. Yolpone is a nobleman, but he shares the same human nature as the lowly fools of his household. They are naturally deformed Volpone is the cause of his own deformation. The plot shows his fall from the position of Venetian nobleman to the social position of a fool. Volpone s character flaw, the desire to trick people, has brought him to the final curtain. He starts out playing the fool and ends up by being one. He fulfills Mosca s prescription of people "Almost all the wise world is little else, in nature, but parasites or sub-parasites."... 

The irony of Corbaccio s spiritual condition is wrapped up in his physical condition He really expects to outlive Volpone and inherit his wealth This comic character flaw is not physical blindness but spiritual blindness. 

What dramatic comic value did Jonson hope to suggest by using the characters of Nano, Androgyno, and Castrone ... 

Austen s emotional range is mainly displayed in her social satire. Her novels are populated with comical and vicious characters whose pride, vanity, envy, malice, indolence, and other petty emotions are vividly conveyed in dialogue and monologue the like of which has never been written. I shall consider three emotions that loom large in Austen s universe pride, vanity, and boredom. 

In The Red Balloon, the young hero is slight but wiry, with an elfin, dreamer s face. We first see him as a very small figure in a very large square, dominated by massive stone houses. His outsized briefcase reminds us of the sort of small humiliations unfeeling adults can visit on children. In addition, it lends the boy a somewhat comical air. The balloon, of course, is red— the color of blood, the color of life, the color of trouble. In the context of the film, it is not only the main character s friend but his double, his secret self. 

Curly is not just comic relief in the film but a secondary character who plays an important role in the last third of Chinatown. The emotionalism and lack of guile we see here and in the rest of this first scene make him an ideal target for Gittes manipulation later, when the detective desperately needs help in arranging a getaway. 

The mockumentary is one particular comedic story frame the writer has other options to choose from, as well. Comedy runs the gamut from farce, which is principally visual, to more sophisticated forms, where character and dialogue are more important. If the idea is character oriented, what are the characteristics that lend themselves to comic opportunity If they are physical, the comedy is aimed at the character to put it another way, we laugh at the character. If the characteristics are more behavioral, we have a broader band of comic opportunity. We needn t laugh at the character, but we may laugh with the character. How does the source of humor blend with your attitude about the idea If we laugh at your character, in other words, does it undermine or support your idea ... 

We turn now to the two extreme forms of complex characters the comic character and the tragic character. 

The comic character and the tragic character are essentially mirror versions of one another. The comic character is, however, more flexible, in that the writer can employ irony through the character. The comic character will also allow you a range of feeling much broader than the tragic character will allow. For example, you can present the comic character as a clown who reflects on his or her behavior, or as a fool who can reflect on the behavior of those around him or her as well. Although you may present both the fool and the clown as victims, they are far less victims than is the tragic character. There are even narrative circumstances under which the writer can present the fool as a hero, at least in relative terms. 

The comic character also has potential for a measure of charisma or appeal, because he or she tends to stand apart from peers, whether as a result of their scorn or by the character s choice. 

Finally, the benefits of humor in the narrative accrue more readily when the main character is a comic character. The result may be charm, or it may be biting satire. In either case, the comic character tends to energize the narrative in a variety of positive ways. 

Ironman. A triathlon race held once a year in Hawaii that includes an ocean swim, a bike ride, and a marathon foot race. The event takes its name from a comic book character with great athletic endurance. Our quarterback is a regular ironman when it comes to getting that ball down the field. 

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