Is Merchant of Venice a comedy or a tragicomedy? (1 Viewer)

[SecretSpectre]

I have seen a good few sources claiming it is a tragicomedy, but I don't see the tragic element. Nobody dies in the play. However, common sense dictates it is taboo to call a play about a Jew getting deleted from society a comedy. Will I lose political correctness points for calling it a comedy?

 

[synthesisFR]

idk i watched it in year 8 but i think it is a tragicomedy
comedy part from the girls dressing up as guys when going to court or smth and there is a wedding at the end i think
then ofc the tragedy part coming from shylock and the whole conflict

 

[Masaken]

I have seen a good few sources claiming it is a tragicomedy, but I don't see the tragic element. Nobody dies in the play. However, common sense dictates it is taboo to call a play about a Jew getting deleted from society a comedy. Will I lose political correctness points for calling it a comedy?

nothing to do with modern PC - the tragedy is that shylock is both the victim and the villain (his judaic identity is villainised as was common back in that era, but in trying to defend it and stand up to that villainisation he only doubles down on what the christians assume him to be (evil) by choosing to opt for revenge and to kill antonio. in trying to liberate himself from the role of a victim, he ends up being a villain and that's what the tragic part of mov is

tragedy and comedy meant different things back in shakespeare's time. comedy was less haha funny but rather ironic and cheeky if you get what i mean. tragedy did include death but it was defined as having a disastrous/catastrophic event at the end. there's the comedy part of it ending with marriages with one distinct plot line (jessica+portia+etc) and a tragedy through shylock's path to villainy and then his loss of autonomy (the other distinct plot line in mov)