On this page
-
Text (1)
-
24 Analysis ofLaughter.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Analysis Of Laughter
Wit lias been defined pretty closely as ( i the perception of connection ( or the pointing of it put ) between ideas apparently remote . " But what else does
the ludicrous , when it insists that between the remote ideas of a mouse and grass , there is the connecting circumstance , " that the _cat'll eat it— ( cattle eat it ) " The difference , of which the notation excludes such
instances , and completes the definition of wit 5 is that in a ludicrous alternation the surprising congruity is recognised to be false ;—in a witty , the congruity
which excites the surprise is assented to , is rested in , as true . Laughter is excited by the exposure of a gross fallacy ; and the feeling of wit at which we do not laugh , by the exhibition
of a fine reality . The worse a pun is , the better it is , is the constant feeling and remark ;—but truth most perfect is the soul of wit ; and his was the wit of passion , who told his mistress ,
" I eould not love thee , dear , so much , Loved I not honour more . " A courtier of Charles the profligate , defined wood— " A natural excrescence of the earth
provided by God for the payment of debts , "—Wit , keen wit , grew from the ludicrous , when another courtier of the merry monarch , ( merrily catching moths with the Duchess of
Cleveland , while the Dutch were in the Medway !) defined the useless establishment at Tangier—bi _$ fruitful in pensioned offices —( so e _# rly was
Analysis Of Laughter
colonial policy perfected ) arid the standing pretext of supply , as an analogous natural excrescence of the Government , provided similarly for the quittance of obligations . The " richness" of a bull is
derived from infolded wit— -from fine truth inclosed in the perplexed expression . — " I conceive , Mr Speaker , " said Sir Boyle Roche , " that we ought
to sacrifice a part , or even the whole of the constitution , to save the remainder . " Laugh at the ambiguity — the blunder , first;—and the coarse flash vanishes : —a steady spark shines
ever . On the causes which produce the superior pleas urableness of wit it is not necessary to enlarge ; and space fails for hints as to the allowable employment of its stimulant
powersor for exposition of peculiarities , aptitude for enjoyment or origination—for the heads of its history—characteristics of most eminent professors , or statistics of its present state and distribution . 1 have now
blown my proposed bubble at least a sufficient size . Whatever degrees ot the other desiderated qualifications , regularity and durability , it may possess , probably will not be alteredmore than were the relations of
the sides of the Mussulman ' s triangle , by my making it larger . Those who would pursue the subject will find much to interest them in the essays appended to Professor Miller ' s admirable work on English
24 Analysis Oflaughter.
24 Analysis ofLaughter .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 1, 1837, page 24, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/mrp_01071837/page/22/
-