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Farce
Farce, form of popular comedy in which laughter is raised by horseplay and bodily assault in contrived and highly improbable situations. It must, however, retain its hold on humanity, even if only in depicting the grosser faults of mankind, otherwise it degenerates into burlesque. It deals with the inherent stupidity of man at odds with his environment, and originated in the great submerged stream of folk-drama, of which few written records remain. It stands at the beginning of classical drama (see FABULA 1: ATELLANA) as well as of modern European drama, and was especially popular in France in the later Middle Ages. Among the many medieval farces that were long current, the greater part no doubt transmitted orally, the best known is Maître Pierre Pathelin (c.1470), the portrait of a rascally lawyer. Traditional farce survived in France until well into the 17th century, particularly in the provinces; it died out in Paris in the 1640s with the disappearance of the gifted trio of farce-players Turlupin, Gros-Guillaume, and Gaultier-Garguille. In his early career as an actor Molière played in farce, and its tradition exercised a great influence on his career as a dramatist. There were elements of farce in early English biblical plays, and farcical interludes were later written by scholars for production in schools and other places, but as in Italy and Germany the influence of the French farce was paramount in England, culminating in the works of John Heywood.
In the 18th and 19th centuries short one-act farces were popular on the English and American stages, usually as part of a bill which also included a five-act tragedy. They were ephemeral productions, though some of them achieved a great success, mainly through the acting of some particular comedian. In modern usage the word farce is applied to a full-length play dealing with some absurd situation, generally based on extra-marital adventures—hence ‘bedroom farce’. An early exponent of modern farce in England was Pinero, several of whose early plays in this genre have been successfully revived. A full-length farce which still holds the stage is Charley's Aunt (1892) by Brandon Thomas. In the 1920s and early 1930s there was a series of successful farces at the Aldwych Theatre, mostly written by Ben Travers, and in the 1950s and 1960s a similar series was produced by Brian Rix at the Whitehall. Thanks to its robust character, farce survives translation better than comedy, as is shown by the recent success in England of the farces of Feydeau, some of the best of their kind. |
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PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Farce." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Farce." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-Farce.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Farce." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-Farce.html |
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farce
farce, a form of popular comedy with its distant roots in the improvisations which actors introduced into the text of medieval religious dramas (the word is derived from the word farce, ‘stuffing’). Later forms include the interludes performed in the 15th and 16th cents, the classical farce of Molière, and the 19th-cent. middle-class French farce, as practised by Eugène Labiche (1815–88), Georges Feydeau (1862–1921), and Georges Courteline (1858–1929). These works have proved popular in adaptation. In England, the full-length home-grown farce emerged in the 19th cent., such as Morton's Box and Cox, Pinero's The Magistrate (1885), The School-Mistress (1886), and Dandy Dick (1887), and the farcical operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. Charley's Aunt (1892) by Brandon Thomas (1856–1914), a comedy with an excellent opportunity for cross-dressing, is still frequently performed. The term ‘farce’ is now generally used to cover a form of theatre which employs ridiculous situations, mistaken identities, split-second timing, and marital misadventures (hence the term ‘bedroom farce’). Later exponents include Ben Travers (1886–1980), whose celebrated ‘Aldwych farces’ included A Cuckoo in the Nest and Rookery Nook, both 1926; Ray Cooney (1932– ), who wrote many plays for actor-manager Brian Rix at the Whitehall; Ayckbourn, Frayn, Orton, and Stoppard. Dario Fo is notable among those who have used the farce for serious political purposes. Television has produced a new genre of serial and surreal farce in the Monty Python series, and in John Cleese's hotel comedy, Fawlty Towers.
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "farce." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "farce." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-farce.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "farce." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-farce.html |
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farce
farce light, comic theatrical piece in which the characters and events are greatly exaggerated to produce broad, absurd humor. Early examples of farce can be found in the comedies of Aristophanes, Plautus, and Terence. During the Middle Ages the term farce designated interpolations made in the church litany by the clergy. Later it came to mean comic scenes inserted into church plays. The farce emerged as a separate genre in 15th-century France with such plays as the anonymous La farce de Maître Pierre Pathelin (c.1470). In England two of the earliest and best-known farces are Ralph Roister Doister (1566) and Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors (c.1593). Instances of farcical elements, such as broad, ribald humor, physical buffoonery, and absurd situations can be found in many plays that are not termed farces, such as the comedies of Molière. In the 19th and early 20th cent. plays called "bedroom farces," best exemplified in the works of Feydeau, were popular. Usually French or modeled on the French, they had suggestive dialogue, and they usually concerned erring husbands and wives, silly servants, and mistaken identity. In the 20th cent., farce found new expression in the films of Charlie Chaplin, the Keystone Kops, and the Marx Brothers.
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"farce." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "farce." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-farce.html "farce." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-farce.html |
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farce
farce short dramatic work the sole object of which is to excite laughter. XVI. — (O)F. farce, orig. ‘stuffing’, f. farcir stuff :- L. farcīre (in medL. pad out, interlard). The latinized form farsa, farcia, was applied in XIII to phrases interpolated in liturgical texts, hence to impromptu amplifications of the text of religious plays, whence the transition to the present sense was easy.
Hence farcical XVIII. |
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T. F. HOAD. "farce." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "farce." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-farce.html T. F. HOAD. "farce." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-farce.html |
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farce
farce / färs/ • n. a comic dramatic work using buffoonery and horseplay and typically including crude characterization and ludicrously improbable situations. ∎ the genre of such works. ∎ an absurd event: the debate turned into a drunken farce. DERIVATIVES: far·ci·cal adj. a farcical tangle of events. |
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"farce." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "farce." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-farce.html "farce." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-farce.html |
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farce
farce Comic drama typified by stereotypical characterizations, improbable plot lines and emphasis on physical humour. One of the earliest examples is Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors (c.1593). French dramatist Georges Feydeau developed the ‘bedroom farce’. Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) opened up new dramatic possibilities.
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"farce." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "farce." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-farce.html "farce." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-farce.html |
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farce
farce Stuffing, hence forcemeat as a name for meats used as stuffing.
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DAVID A. BENDER. "farce." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. DAVID A. BENDER. "farce." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-farce.html DAVID A. BENDER. "farce." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-farce.html |
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farce
farce
•arse, baas, brass, carse, class, coup de grâce, farce, glass, grass, Grasse, impasse, Kars, kick-ass, kvass, Laplace, Maas, Madras, outclass, pass, sparse, stained glass, surpass, upper class, volte-face
•badass • lardass • sandglass
•eyeglass, spyglass
•wine glass • tooth glass • subclass
•hourglass
•fibreglass (US fiberglass) • underclass
•masterclass • weather glass • bypass
•underpass • wheatgrass • ryegrass
•knotgrass • sawgrass • bluegrass
•goosegrass • smart-arse
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"farce." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "farce." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-farce.html "farce." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-farce.html |
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