Social Class and Difference in Theatrical Comedies

Social Class and Difference in Theatrical Comedies

Class difference is an inevitable constitute of literary work. A drama that reflects the social construct of time is an indispensable source to understand class and societal structure of an era. In an attempt to portray, the world dramatists demonstrated the littlest equations that set the people apart. Most prominent of these are the servant-master relationship. The relationship between a servant and the master demonstrates a lot about the class structure and the class difference that is portrayed through the characters. The social class and difference in the three plays are analyzed in this essay. The plays are Tartuffe by Moliere, The Way of the World by William Congreve, and A Mid Summer’s Night Dream by William Shakespeare. I believe that there existed a subtle class tension in the master-servant relationship portrayed in the three dramas and that there is a deliberate attempt made in covertly showing that the servant was more knowledgeable than the master.

The first attempt to define the class distinction in the servant-master relation in the three plays it is important first to know the characters. First, I begin with Shakespeare’s Midsummer’s Night Dreams. The characters that I choose for discussion in the essay are Puck and Oberon. Puck is the mischievous trickster who is actually an elf in the Shakespearean drama about Anglo-Saxon mythological characters. Puck initially is introduced as the “shrewd and knavish spirit” that plays the part of a jester to Oberon, the king of fairies (Shakespeare). Puck is the one who messes up the drama of the lovers’ stories and creates confusion regarding who loves who. Puck describes himself in Act 2, Scene 1 of the drama as follows:

I am that merry wanderer of the night.
I jest to Oberon and make him smile
When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile,
Neighing in likeness of a filly foal:
And sometime lurk I in a gossip’s bowl,
In very likeness of a roasted crab,
And when she drinks, against her lips I bob
And on her wither’d dewlap pour the ale.
The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale,
Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me;
Then slip I from her bum, down topples she,
And ‘tailor’ cries, and falls into a cough;
And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh,
And waxen in their mirth and neeze and swear
A merrier hour was never wasted there. (Shakespeare Act 2, Scene 1)

Puck is actually Oberon’s servant, who is angry with his queen Titania. Oberon sends Puck to fetch the flower that has been hit by the Cupid’s arrow and use its juice to fix the love confusion between two Athenian lovers who were present in the forest. Puck is the main character of the play, which does not have any major protagonist. Puck makes the mistake of putting the juice on the wrong lover and creates all the confusion and comedy in the drama. Puck infuses humor into the play and sets it into motion by making intentional shenanigans of the character of humans. Puck, who transformed Bottom’s head into that of a donkey and intentionally smeared Lysander’s eyelids with the love potion instead of Demetrius, demonstrated such witty jests. The witty presence of Puck, his magical fancy, and his suggestive language makes the play more effervescent.

In contrast to Puck’s charming, humorous, witty character is that of his master’s. Oberon is the king of fairies, and husband of Titania. The play shows different facets of Oberon’s character. First, he is a man who believes he has an obligation to do the right matchmaking and bring the four lovers together. In his quest, he asks Puck to help the Athenian lovers with a love position so that they can come together. Oberon, on the other hand, is portrayed as a power-hungry master who even tricks his own wife into getting his way. He tricks the four lovers into having a good laugh at their expense. He actually abuses his powers to amuse himself. Shakespeare describes Oberon as flamboyant and frivolous with women and one who had many open affairs. Therefore, Oberon is described essentially as a king who likes to utilize as well as abuse his power and authority.

Through this characterization, the class distinction between Puck and Oberon is set, the former being the servant and the latter the master. Puck is a dutiful servant who keeps his master’s wish by fetching the love potion and dropping it on the Athenian lover’s eyelids:

Through the forest have I gone.
But Athe