Coursepack Articles for Shakespeare & Humor

This is only to remind me of the articles assigned for this course. I believe there will be overwhelmingly more for me to peruse. In the near future, all recommended articles and books will be posted here to keep track of what I read and to share with whoever shares my interest.

This is also part of my student portfolio for this course (p.20).


※The choice and the binding order of the articles are made by and belong to Professor Vivienne Westbrook. This list will be immediately removed from my blog post on her request.※

Coursepack Articles

(in its binding order)

McFadden, George. “Comic Ethos: The Classical View.” Discovering the Comic. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982. 49-79.

Jensen, Phebe. “Falstaff in Illyria: The second Henriad and Twelfth Night.” Religion and Revelry in Shakespeare’s Festive World. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 149-193.

Feinberg, Leonard. “Nonsense Humor: Aggression Against Logic and Order.” The Secret of Humor. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1978. 169-183.

Palfrey, Simon and Tiffany Stern. “From Crowds to Clowns.” Shakespeare in Parts. Oxford and New York: Oxford UP, 2007. 165-183.

Levin, Harry. “Introduction.” Veins of Humor. Ed. Harry Levin. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972. 1-16.

Gorfain, Phyllis. “Towards a Theory of Play and the Carnivalesque in Hamlet.” Shakespeare and Carnival: After Bakhtin. Ed. Ronald Knowles. London:         Palgrave Macmillan, 1998. 152-176.

Billig, Michael. “Superiority Theories: Hobbes and Other Misogelasts.” Laughter and Ridicule: Towards a Social Critique of Humour. London: Sage, 2005. 37-56.

---. “Incongruity Theories and Gentlemanly Laughter.” Laughter and Ridicule: Towards a Social Critique of Humour. London: Sage, 2005. 57-85.

Morreall, John. “Humour and the Conduct of Politics.” Beyond a Joke: The Limits of Humour. Ed. Sharon Lockyer and Michael Pickering. New York: Palgrave     Macmillan, 2005. 63-78.

Williams, Robert I. “Groundings, Groundlings.” Comic Practice/Comic Response. London and Toronto: Associated UP, 1993. 11-34.

E-text Article

David, Jessica Milner. “Introduction to the Transaction Edition.” Farce. New    Brunswick, NJ.: Transaction, 2003. 1-69. Print. (David, Jessica Milner. “Introduction to Second Edition, 2003.” PDF.)


(The choice and the binding order of the articles are made by and belong to Professor Vivienne Westbrook. This list will be immediately removed from my blog post on her request.)