'Love's Labor's Lost', 'Twelfth Night', 'The Winter's Tale', and 'The Tempest': The awareness of death as a catalyst to wisdom in Shakespeare's comedies

Throughout the history of literary criticism, comedy has often been disparaged as less worthy than tragedy, epic, or lyric, an unflattering characterization that began in the ancient world and continues today. However just or unjust this assessment may be when applied to an entire genre, it is possible to maintain that Shakespearean comedy hardly deserves such harsh judgment. Several recent studies, for instance, have discerned even in his apparently most lighthearted plays an interior movement toward the serious action of regeneration.; But even such astute commentaries miss the encounter with mortality almost invariably preceding or accompanying this regeneration. Shakespeare's comic characters often attempt to reform their societies or overcome their own weaknesses only after experiences with mortality. This confrontation with death as a catalyst to wisdom, which has received little emphasis from critics, is a feature of the dramas meriting greater consideration.; Plays chosen from the beginning and end of the dramatist's career indicate Shakespeare's concern with death as a frequent presence in his comic world. In Love's Labor's Lost, Marcade's announcement that France's King has died impels the Princess to diagnose the defects of Navarre's court. In Twelfth Night, the apparent drowning of Sebastian prompts Viola to advise others to live well. In The Winter's Tale, labeled a comedy in the First Folio, Leontes acknowledges the destruction he has caused only after hearing his son is dead. And in The Tempest, also labeled a comedy in the First Folio, Prospero's perilous sea voyage and the usurpation of his dukedom teach him to be a vigilant ruler.; Death is in fact a mighty power in Shakespearean comedy and a catalyst to knowledge, for when characters hear about the demise of another, or are threatened themselves, they often respond by learning to live more wisely. Understanding the crucial role of death's presence in the plays, therefore, reveals the depth and richness in Shakespearean comedy and leads to a greater understanding of the significance of comedy in general.