8 17th c debate humour vs Wit

restoration writers

Statement by Shadwell

in favor of traditional satiric comedy

Dryden

introducing a new type of comedy

distinguishing himself from Ben Johnson

BJ was not witty but still wrote good comedy

BJ has foolish characters, imitates folly

ornaments of wit are lacking in Johnsons plays:

repartee

dialogue in which people show quickness and brilliance of mind in the way they respond to something someone just said

Dryden wants witty (in the sense above) dialogue spoken by people that are not foolish but bright and socially elevated people

letzten 3 sind wichtig

wit becomes more complicated and demanding over time

controversial concept

16th century

poem by Ben Jonson (about shakespeares photo on the portfolio)

could he have shown wit/mind as well as his face this would be the most valuable engraving ever done

since he couldn’t you have to read to know the real shakespeare

John Locke:

you associate ideas through resemblance, similarity and congruity to ideas with common feature

also distinguish ideas

wit - associated with metaphor (based in resemblances and congruity, expression of wit) and allusion

Locke favours judgement, wit misleads you without judgement

wit is pleasant and entertaining, Locke wants truth, logic

Addison:

puns are inferior

critical view/ distrust of language shown: misleading in false thinking

2 fw. oa. surface/ form of language

more criteria for true wit:

not every association through resemblance is wit

delight and surprise (should not be obvious)

Köstlers theory based on this (connecting matrices in an innovative way)

Samuel Johnson:

narrows down the concept of wit

wit of metaphysical poets is striking/ extraordinary/ new/ but kind of perverse, you reject it

18th century: wit is abandoned as a term, new term is imagination