Tragedy and comedy are in the essence close to each other. Each is inseparable part of human life, and each is bound to intense emotions. In literature, tragedy and comedy may illustrate the same point and use similar devices to achieve strikingly opposite effects, especially if the plot is based on a love story. Works of the master of both tragedy and comedy William Shakespeare can illustrate this proximity of the tragic and the comic. Let us look at his "Romeo and Juliet- and "Much Ado about Nothing,"" a tragedy and a comedy, respectively, to see the similar literary devices used by Shakespeare in two genres, which are considered to be the exact opposite of each other. .
Both "Romeo and Juliet- and "Much Ado about Nothing- tell the audience about love stories that evolve throughout the plays. .
In both dramatic works, the Masque is a key element furthering the infatuation of the lovers. However, while tragic characters Romeo and Juliet fall in love, comic personages Benedick and Beatrice have a teasing dialogue in which both of them exercise their wit and finally admit that they love each other. .
In both plays, the masque is the setting where the plots of love stories emerge. The setting is perfect for such a development: characters find each other in the crowd of people in disguise. The masks help them ignore the reasons that keep them apart, comic reasons in the comedy, and tragic in the tragedy. .
The disguise pre-determines the further development of the plot. In "Romeo and Juliet,"" Romeo decides to go to the masque hosted by the Capulet, the family hostile to his own, because he believes his disguise would keep him from being recognized. Upon entering he sees Juliet and right away, he knows it is love. Romeo wouldn't be welcome at the Capulet house, and he enters only because he is disguised by a masque costume. Thus, if not for the costume, he might not have met Juliet, which makes the masque crucial for the tragic story of forbidden love.