ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Evidence: traditionally, Errors has been dated quite early, and has often been seen as Shakespeare’s first comedy, perhaps his first play.

Detailed explanation-2: -The list of Comedies included Measure for Measure and The Merchant of Venice, plays that modern audiences and readers have not found particularly ‘comic’. Also included were two late plays, The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale, that critics often now classify as ‘Romances’.

Detailed explanation-3: -Shakespeare comedies (or rather the plays of Shakespeare that are usually categorised as comedies) are generally identifiable as plays full of fun, irony and dazzling wordplay. They also abound in disguises and mistaken identities, with very convoluted plots that are difficult to follow with very contrived endings.

Detailed explanation-4: -Clever plot twists: Shakespearean comedy always involves multiple plot lines, cleverly intertwined to keep the audience guessing. These unexpected twists are always straightened out in a happy ending. Use of puns: Shakespeare was a master of wordplay, and his comedies are filled with puns and witty language games.