ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -John Ruskin says Shakespeare in his comedies has only heroines and no heroes.

Detailed explanation-2: -Answers 2. Strong female characters show up in comedies like “AS you like it” because Shakespeare seems to have felt they were more sensitive and logical when it came to matters of the heart. While men scurried about in moral quandaries, women seemed to have natural sensibilities that men lacked.

Detailed explanation-3: -Johnson elaborates about Shakespeare’s characters, “Shakespeare has no heroes; his scenes are occupied by men”. It means that Shakespeare’s characters are of general kind and are not restricted by customs and conventions of any one society.

Detailed explanation-4: -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-5: -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.