Release date is 2021-04-11

The cause of laughter -- Wit, irony, humor -- Dogberry, Malvolio, Trolius and Cressida (Ajax), Bottom, Touchstone -- Falstaff: his companions; Americanisms -- Hamlet -- The porter in "Macbeth", the clown in "Twelfth night", the fool in "Lear" -- Women and men: Maria, Helena, Imogen, Constance -- Lord Bacon and the plays, Shakspeare's women, love in Shakspeare -- Portia -- Helena; Ophelia -- Macbeth -- Blonde women: Lady Macbeth.

Chris Curnow, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

"Wit, Humor, and Shakspeare: Twelve Essays" by John Weiss is a collection of essays written in the late 19th century. The book explores various aspects of wit, humor, and the literary works of Shakespeare, delving into how these themes intersect with human experience and understanding. Weiss reflects on how laughter and humor are uniquely human traits, with implications for social interactions and personal reflections. The opening of the collection begins with the essay "The Cause of Laughter," where Weiss examines the nature of laughter, suggesting that it stems from man's unique neurological and social capacities. He discusses the evolutionary origins of laughter and the physical responses associated with it, pointing out how it distinguishes humans from other animals. Through a variety of anecdotes and observations, he also highlights how humor arises from incongruities in life, ultimately connecting these reflections to the works of Shakespeare, who adeptly captures the complexity of human emotions and social dynamics in his writing. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

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