Japes, Jokes and Jackanapes

I'll admit to being a tad lax, or lazy with posting lately. I have several assignments that are due in the next three weeks (four essays), which I am trying to balance. The topics range from the fabricated image of Louis XIV, the ghost in Hamlet, to multiple frame narratives in Kalki, and the significance of realism and comedy in the Wakefield Second Sherpherds' Pageant.

Right now I'm reading the Wakefield Second Shepherds' Pageant - a play about shepherds and the Nativity scene. Out of all the English 15th century religious plays we've read, I am rather fond of this one. It's probably the comedy factor triumphing over the typical plays laden with doctrine and typology. The esssay question for this play consists of:

Discuss the significance of realism and comedy in this play. How do these elements relate to the overall goal of representing the story of the Nativity for its audience?

Concerning comedy, I'd connect it to the idea of Christ's Nativity as the 'birth' of
'redemption' for Mankind - as I remember from my Shakespeare class, comedy is all about the redemption of 'low' characters through laughter and ridicule. After all, comedy has the power to purge the soul's woe with laughter; a divine power, that brings about a change in fortune, in this case for the better. Comedy seems to be connected with the supernatural aspects of Christ. As I remember Professor Paolucci remarking that Christ embodies the ideas of tragedy ('tragos' the 'scapegoat' or sacrificial goat) and comedy ('redemption'). Even the aspect of 'realism' reinforces this, I believe, as Christ is born to the poor family of Joseph and Mary.

Since I haven't finished reading the play, I realize these ideas are a bit preliminary. In the mean time I'll be working on the various essays I have due. Expect to see my ideas posted in the upcoming days and/or weeks as I wrestle with each idea.