Shakespeare, Marston, and Getting to Moral Clarity through Comedy

Abstract

ABSTRACT ‘Uneasy comedy’ can be a surprising source of moral insight. Comedies like John Marston’s The Dutch Courtesan and Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well provoke uneasy laughter, laughter mixed with anxiety and moral concern – concern especially at how characters manipulate and deceive others to achieve certain outcomes. But the characters claim this deception is justified. They argue that their situation calls for a particular moral framework – one based on the achievement of desirable ends, rather than one based on autonomy and consent – and that their actions count as moral within that framework. The issue is that their arguments partially but don’t completely succeed. A key moral piece seems to be missing – but what is it? Is the problem with the characters’ actions or with the framework? To answer that question, we must determine how one would act morally within that framework and when it would be the right one to use. We must ask, essentially, how the story would have to change before we could laugh more freely. Uneasy comedies bring moral clarity through their suggestions about the different moral frameworks called for by different life contexts and what it takes to act worthily within those frameworks.