Comedy and Tragedy are both types of drama, but they are also clearly different. Explore how these two are similar OR different.
Drama
Full Answer Section
Differences
- Goal: The goal of comedy is to make the audience laugh. The goal of tragedy is to evoke pity and fear in the audience.
- Techniques: Comedy uses humor to achieve its goal. Tragedy uses pathos, or the arousal of pity and fear, to achieve its goal.
- Theme: Comedy often explores themes of love, marriage, and social order. Tragedy often explores themes of death, fate, and the human condition.
- Setting: Comedy typically takes place in a lighthearted setting, such as a palace or a town. Tragedy typically takes place in a more serious setting, such as a battlefield or a plague-ridden city.
- Characters: The characters in comedy are often exaggerated or cartoonish. The characters in tragedy are often more realistic and complex.
- Resolution: The resolution of a comedy is typically happy. The resolution of a tragedy is typically unhappy.
Sample Answer
Comedy and tragedy are both types of drama, but they have different goals and use different techniques to achieve those goals.
Similarities
- Both comedy and tragedy are forms of drama, which means that they tell stories about people in conflict.
- Both comedy and tragedy use dialogue, character development, and plot to tell their stories.
- Both comedy and tragedy can be funny or sad, but they use humor and sadness in different ways