Critical Approach to Laughter in Peter Barnes’s Laughter!

Abstract

Peter Barnes’s historical play, Laughter! (1978) deals with the notion of laughter in a critical way through its representation of two parts, Tsar and Auschwitz. Laughter in Barnes’s play does not solely function to relieve misery or pain, but, rather intensifies the suffering of the characters who are exposed to various challenging situations in the course of the play. Through the analysis of ideology and the use of power, the aim of this article is, therefore, to discuss the portrayal of laughter and its problematic nature with its double sides in Barnes’s play Laughter! in order to reveal how laughter can also be a source of agony and misery rather than elation and happiness.