Humor And Humour Of The Picture Of Dorian Gray - 1368 Words

On why humour is about power, control and the balance of intellect and emotions In ancient times, humour or comic was strictly censored. In places like Greece and Egypt, jokes were even forbidden in social situations. Considering the almost taboo nature of humour, it s hardly surprising that humour never received particular attention from ancient scholars. Plato was averse to humour as jokes and sarcasm were not encouraged and men and women were expected to be serious rather than frivolous about all issues. Some ancient scholars went to the extent to argue that humour could lead to sarcasm, disrespect, vulgar or volatile discourse and finally anger, resentment and even murder. Despite this, there is some interesting anecdotal evidence†¦show more content†¦A recent example of humour gone badly is the case of Charlie Hebdo. The magazine has been under repeated attacks as their humorous cartoons on Prophet Muhammad and on the aftermath of Italian earthquake were considered in bad taste and insensitive. The concept of humour has been anthropologically tied to the aggressive and mocking behaviour of apes. However, historically humour has been linked with a type of play so humour is primarily applied to situations that are comic. However, laughter has often been associated with scorn, mockery, and sarcasm. Philosophically, humour has been explained with the superiority theory, the relief, and incongruity theory. Superiority theory suggests that humour and ridicule are often used against an adversary as by joking about someone, we establish our superiority. This theory suggests that laughter helps us to establish superiority. The Relief theory suggests that humour is a form of relief of the nervous system and laughter acts as a valve and helps in relieving the pent-up nervous energy. The relief theory is a popular theory in philosophy and is congruent with the Freudian theory of humour as Freud argued that humour is the release of sexual energy and repressed unconscious thoughts and emotions on hostility and sexuality are often given vent through laughter and jokes. This means that if you feel sexually attracted to someone or feel hostility towards someone, you ll tend to joke to release some of thatShow MoreRelatedThe Picture of Dorian Gray and the Turn of the Screw in the Gothic Genre4189 Words   |  17 PagesOscar Wildes The Picture of Dorian Gray and Henry James The Turn Of the Screw are key examples of the way in which gothic texts use and adapt the conventions of the genre. These changes occur due to the authors own personal context and values. The inexorable link between text, context and values is expressed through the way in which both authors choose to manipulate, redefine and introduce new conventions to the gothic. Oscar Wildes first and only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was written