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    18 Analysis ofLaughter.

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    Analysis Of Laughter

    The pleasures of the ludicrous belong to the imaginative enjoyments ;—to that class of emotions which arise in

    company with ideas involving no reference to the anticipated future—which are distinguished from the excitements of definite and general passions— -Hopes-Loves Desires—by being purely _aspective—having their

    proper food and pabulum in present contemplation . Ludicrous incongruities therefore are such as excite , independently of the presentation of any prospect of future jeopardy or enjoyment , and subsist under sufferance of

    the stronger passions associated with these . The introduction of this stimulant consideration removes the contrast to the objects of serious

    interest—prospective passion . Ihe feeling of the ludicrous produced by a caricature may thus be dissipated at once , and superseded , when we discover our own portrait amongst the victims .

    The artistical modifications rendered necessary by this principle are numerous . It is through the necessary absence of the stimulus of personal interest , that the vividness of

    exhibitions of humour must bemay be—enhanced by considerable exaggeration—and laughable contrasts may be produced by the apposition of trivial circumstances to the images of situations , which , if real , would be dreadful—and of which we

    Should shrink from the idea , if we regarded them as simply possible . Follow the parallel

    Analysis Of Laughter

    currents of feeling . The sight of preparations for a duel ex * cites in a spectator ( _puttingprincipals out of the question ) a

    passion of fear , intense anxiety . passion 01 rear , intense anxiety . The representation of such proceedings on the stage may excite intensely , but pleasurably , The removal of the sting of apprehension leaves the imaginative faculty in its desirable state of exaltation .

    Transfer the subject to a caricature , such as lies before me , a cockney quarrel ; most nervous combatants , seconds painfully officious , and marksman * - ship most preposterous . The introduction of contrasted

    associations has sunk the _subhmd to the ridiculous . The artist secures his laugh by pushing the painful beyond the possible ;

    he thus relieves our willing mind , and sets us at liberty to enjoy a laugh without com * punction . A finer process still is available , as in the dilemma

    of Vlola , beset and surrounded . The distress and perplexity of an object of sympathy affords high delight by the assurance we derive from a skilful

    management of tone , that nothing serious ensues , and that very soon all will laugh together . The definition now contracts into smaller space . Ludicrous incongruities are such as are

    suddenly recognized between dignified and mean , or , more generally , between important and trivial circumstances , or ideas which do not engage the serious prospective passions . But a farther correction is re *

    18 Analysis Oflaughter.

    18 Analysis ofLaughter .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 1, 1837, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/mrp_01071837/page/16/