Humour is Vital in any Comedy

“Humour is vital in any Comedy. Though Dogberry and his constables play a minor role in Much Ado About Nothing there presence is vital. To what extent do you agree with this statement?”

            In my opinion humour is unequivocally vital in any comedy. Humour is the life-blood that flows through any comedy. Although humour can be found in other literary pieces, a comedy is not a comedy without humour. In fact, comedy is defined as a narrative where the woes are looked at as amusing rather than disastrous and ends happily. Furthermore humour is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement.  Thus, it can be seen that there is a fundamental relationship between humour and comedy.

            It has been established that comedy and humour are very intricately related. Consequently we must establish the humorous elements of the comedy, “Much Ado About Nothing”. In the book, humour is expressed by Beatrice and Benedick; the “merry war” between these two can be seen as amusing because of the pure openness and harshness of the comments made between these two. For example, in the very first scene of Act 1 they greeted each other with an exchange of insults such as “God keep your ladyship still in that mind! some gentle man or other shall 'scape a predestinate scratched face” spoken by Benedick to Beatrice as to rudely tell her that she should continue her belief not to take a husband but not to save her, to save her husband from a grave mistake. Beatrice responds by saying “Scratching could not make it worse, an 'twere such a face as yours were” insulting Benedick back and saying that his face is even uglier than any man’s who could possibly be “scratched”. The little back and forth between these two major characters are quite amusing to read, but this banter does not last throughout the entire book and isn’t a dominant aspect of humour.

The major source of humour throughout the book emanates from Dogberry and his constables. Dogberry is the head of police in the town of Messina and he isn’t the brightest of men for he continually uses malapropisms such as “thou villain, thou art full of piety” and “the most senseless and fit man”. In Act 3 Scene 3 his crew of comedic relief appear in four scenes throughout the book and due to their seeming lack of professionalism, they cause the audience to be entertained as well as do the job of thwarting the villains. For example, when asked how the men should react should someone refuse to stand in Don Pedro’s name, Dogberry replies, “Why then take no note of him, but let him go, and presently call the rest of the watch together, and thank God you are rid of a knave”. In Act 3 Scene 5, Dogberry and Verges attempt to explain to Leonato that they have caught two very suspicious men and wish to interpret them. However, their attempts to communicate their message are so long-winded, foolish, and generally mixed up that they fail to convey how urgent the matter is. To the reader, who already knows that if only Dogberry and Verges were not so bad at expressing themselves the entire climax of the book may have been avoided, it may be seen as humorous. In the interrogation scene, Act 4 Scene 2, Dogberry and Verges become so annoying that Conrade becomes so angry that he insults Dogberry. The lack of respect that a criminal has for a police man is also a sign of hilarity. Finally the final comedic scene, Act 5 Scene 1, Dogberry and his men bring the villains to Claudio and the others in an attempt to have a denouement but once due to Dogberry’s lack of professionalism and mastery of language, the task proves a bit tedious. Even resulting Don Pedro asking the criminals themselves what they have done. Nonetheless the unlikely heroes get the job done in such a style that it exudes humour and amusement. 

In closing, there are two sources of comedy in the book the minor is Benedick and Beatrice, the two witty lovers who spar with a brilliant display of intellect and the major source Dogberry, Verges and his watchmen. Their brand of humour is completely different from that provided by Benedick and Beatrice, Dogberry and Verges get half their words wrong, providing humour with their ignorance. Even though most of the humour derived from mere plays on words, without the comedic aspect of Dogberry and his team the book “Much Ado About Nothing” could not be truly deemed a “comedy” for Beatrice and Benedick’s battle are not prevalent enough or amusing enough to supply the reader with comedic relief. Therefore, because of the consistent and amusing humour in the Dogberry scenes it is safe to say that his role is vital because without him “Much Ado About Nothing” is not a comedy.