Concept in Definition ABC

In the art world it is called farce To that short-lived theatrical work, with burlesque characteristics, which seeks to ridicule situations that socially accepted, but the farce, through ironies and mockery, aims to expose the vices that the same involve; the latter adds to its mission to entertain and amuse the public.

Short and burlesque theatrical work regarding politics or the uses and customs of a society

It is a certainly ancient genre, since its appearance is located in ancient classical cultures, while approximately in the Middle Ages was formalized as a genre.

It emerged as an alternative to the dominant genres of those times, and that had, to a certain point, tired the public: that of mysteries and moralities.

Origin and evolution

In its origins it was common for farce to be presented as an interlude to dramatic works.

With time and its acceptance, the farce, became a well differentiated and autonomous genre.

Linked to the genre of comedy, it is impossible to understand farce without first understanding comedy precisely.

In classical Greece, the genre of comedy was born in honor of one of its most important gods such as Dionysus, who was the deity that represented wine, fun and pleasure, he is the son of the maximum god Zeus and presents a rather tacky and overflowing.

Comedy in turn was closely associated with musical expression since the music broadcast to the public joy and positive entertainment.

In the 5th century BC begin to develop the first comedies that dealt with satirizing the politics and the uses and traditions of the cities of those times.

The other side of comedy or any other genre that aims to make its audience laugh is drama, or tragedy, as the Greeks called it.

And the main difference lies in the feelings that these genres awaken, comedy relaxes, makes people laugh, cheers, while tragedy unleashes pain, nostalgia and melancholy.

It is also proven that many times more things can be expressed from humor, even harsher criticisms of the political and social conjuncture, which otherwise could not be tolerated, surely.

The characters that star in the farces are characterized by their exaggeration and extravagance, although, it is worth emphasize that the farce always remains very attached to the reality of the society in which it is inserted.

In other words, the farce shows a situation that occurs in reality but is done in an exaggerated way.

For this situation, the farce is an excellent tool when it comes to expressing social criticism but from a humorous point of view.

It is recurrent that the farce makes fun of some popular conventions and beliefs, even tends to make a fool of them with the intention of demonstrating their aspects that are not at all admirable.

For this exposition he exacerbates humor and a rather popular language, which is accessible to everyone.

Always, the farce, has a happy ending, we can never come across in the farce with an ending that produces sadness.

The idea is that the public laugh at all those limitations and setbacks that life itself sometimes proposes.

In Greece the germ of the farce was born but in the Middle Ages it settled, and although the Catholic Church was very strong at that time in the imposition of the moral and the customs he despised the farces for their mocking character, he allowed them and they grew in importance and acceptance.

Meanwhile, the cultural process of Renaissance he attributed to the farce a special and preponderant place in the consideration.

One of the best exponents of the farce has been the actor Charles Chaplin and a few centuries earlier it was the popular French playwright Molière.

Chaplin revalued the genre and flawlessly exposed it through his film production.

Entanglement or absence of truth for the purpose of deceiving others

On the other hand, in the language colloquial, we call the one a farce entanglement or absence of truth that has the mission of deceiving one person or several.

It is very common to hear that this or that person has made a sham of his life, in the sense of wanting to express that he is pretending to be a reality of life that he does not really have, but that he does to demonstrate to others an unreal position and thus obtain some Benefits.

Themes in Farce