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Question: “Comedy, nonetheless attempts to throw a normalising arm around all and sundry, through resolutions that feel pleasing precisely because they reinforce what we’ve been taught about the natural order of things.”
To what extent does the ending of Jerusalem reinforce the ‘natural’ order?
Grade A, 1st Year, College, English Literature
Answer: Comedy’s attempt to “reinforce what we’ve been taught about the natural order of things” is quite problematic as the social norms and rules that are emphasized in society change in accordance to time. For instance, our customs today are not the same as those of the 15th Century or in a foreign country for that matter. It is the theme of Time that highly influences the plot of Jerusalem – where society (in particular, the New Estate) is thriving to move forward and adjust with industrial and technological progress, whereas Johnny conflicts with this idea and nostalgically wants to revive ‘Merrie Olde-England’. These clashes between what each individual perceives as ‘natural order’ makes Comedy a very subjective genre where the endings are usually satisfactory to only a segment of the audience. In Jerusalem, it would be safer to say that the ‘natural order’ we are mo...(short extract)
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- Subject: English Literature
- Course: English Literature
- Level: A-Level
- Year: Not applicable
- Mark: 70%
- Words: 1898
- Date submitted: December 27, 2015
- Date written: April, 2015
- References: Yes
- Document type: Essay*
- Essay ID: 7029
