Difference Between Comedy and Drama

These genres or styles are contrasting and in some cases may present subgenres. Currently, these have been taken from the theater to cinematographic or television works, which has given them greater popularity in the age of telecommunications.

In view of the above, it is in our interest to show the characteristics of comedy and drama to establish, consequently, the basic differences that exist between them.

Comedy

Comedy is a subgenre of drama in which conflicts between characters are presented lightly and around ordinary characters.

Two main types of comedy are distinguished, high comedy, which consists of the satire that criticizes life and on the other hand, low comedy, which introduces issues such as mistaken identity and misunderstandings into the plot to create humorous situations.

In the same order of ideas, the purpose of comedy is to provoke laughter in the viewer through the representation of everyday scenes and with light, natural characters of medium to low social status.

Likewise, among some characteristics of comedy that we can find is that the characters are popular, taken from real life, from lower social classes or from government spheres. This seeks to ridicule the behavior of public figures, makes them laugh, correct vices, freely express ideas, among others. In the same way, regarding the theme, it generally presents ridiculous, absurd and vulgar facts. He proposes honesty and harmony as a solution and also presents an ingenious, comical, simple and sometimes vulgar and even coarse language.

Drama

A drama is a theatrical genre or fact in which a conflict develops between one or more characters, who are immersed in a specific situation. There are two subgenres of drama, tragedy and comedy. Likewise, the drama in any of its subgenres has different types of works according to its characteristics, among them are mentioned:

• Historical drama : reflects historical episodes or processes.
• Liturgical drama : reflects sacramental acts.
• Lyrical drama : they are based on the depth of the text.
• Social drama: it is part of the social struggle and issues of social interest.
• Drama of passion: they are works related to love.
• Abstract drama: does not follow the logic of actions.

On the other hand, among the fundamental characteristics of the drama we have that the characters are not always popular, since they are generally historical, literary and very complex. You can present the events in a comic or fateful way and also the theme has greater consistency in the story told. This is because their facts are more objective and finally, the language can be formal or colloquial with expressions of lofty thoughts.

As can be seen, there are important differences between comedy and drama, which are indicated in the following table: