Whatever Works: Structure and Topics of Comedy

Abstract

In the discussion of the structure of comedy, I mostly follow Evanthius’s distinctions.¹ I have already mentioned all four of them: prologue, protasis, epitasis and catastrophe. In the present chapter I reveal how the first three function (catastrophe is addressed in the following chapter) with reference to several known comedies. This also includes a discussion of several comic topoi, or “topics”—the strategies of “argument” central to any comedy that lead to hilarity, confusion, and much laughter but also ensure resolution in a good ending. These strategies reveal that, often, in comedy “whatever works,” and yet—not just anything goes.