What are Fables? 

• 1. Symbolism. Characters in fables are stand-ins for humans, and their misadventures are meant to symbolize human behavior.
• 2. Anthropomorphizing. In fables, animals and even inanimate objects (like the wind, or the sun) are the main characters of the story and are given human qualities. Some animals have specific traits associated with them. For example, an owl is wise, a fox is cunning, and a lion is brave.
• 3. Lessons. Every fable has a moral lesson at the end that arises from the story. For example: “Slow and steady wins the race.”
• 4. Humor. Fables often have a humorous tone when showing the foolishness of human nature.

Fable’s have been used to tell stories for a very long time. The most famous being the Aseop’s Fables and the Grimm Brothers Fairy Tales. Aesop’s Fables were used to satirize the Church and the courts. Fables are used often to give moral direction or critics. Fable’s are written for children in most cases to teach those lessons but are also written tongue and cheek for adults to learn something to (ex. Animal Farm) 

It-Narrative:

The It-Narrative is a story told through an inanimate object. The use of It-Narrative is to showcase how people of different classes interact with an item and each other. A rich person will interact differently with a newspaper than a poor person. It is a simple way to tell the story of class, it is a way to tangibly show the audience what the key difference between the classes is. This form of storytelling allows the reader/audience to have a fly-on-the-wall without making one of the characters a gossip or adding a character that would have to be in every scene. In our modern capitalist society we have placed a lot of emphasis on objects and often personify them. Having an object be the storyteller allows the audience to see the value of that object that the writer wants the audience to see. 

 

Allegory:

Is a story, picture, or other piece of art that uses symbols to convey a hidden or ulterior meaning, typically a moral or political one. For example- an octopus over the United States is meant to be as an oil baron, that cartoon is an allegory. Both Fables and It-Narrative are forms of allegory. Allegories are used in storytelling to not be obvious about messaging, it is hard to enjoy a piece of art that is using blatant imagery to talk about a delicate subject. Like using Trump’s image to talk about American nationalists. Allegories allow the audience to engage with the play even further than would if the playwright was being literal. It wouldn’t allow for fruitful conversations because the answer would be right in front of our faces. 

 

Satire:

There are many definitions and types. However satire is basically defined as a literary art of diminishing a subject by making it ridiculous and evoking attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn or indignation.  Takes its form from the genre it spoofs. Satire is used in conjunction with allegory to make fun of something in a way that also criticizes it, without the critic is just not satire just parody. 

Theatrical forms of Clown: 

Clowning is considered a state of playfulness. It holds a very important place in theater. Clowning is often a way to express freedom and imagination on stage. Clowning is just like acting but they have to keep a high energy and high stamina level the entirety of the time they are on stage. The point of clowning is to express an idea through movement and comedy not words or drama. Traditionally meant to make the audience laugh, they can be tools to point out what the audience should be laughing at versus what they are laughing at. 

 

Bouffon: 

Bouffon was a popular form of physical comedy from the Roman Empire time period that was a mockery of people that looked different, something frowned upon in today’s society. However, in more modern contexts the bouffon is someone that is so outlandishly different that it couldn’t possibly reflect a real person. The only way to correctly do bouffon is to be over the top and extremely in the way that it can’t be traced to any person or ethnic origin. Descended from Pulcinella, which has been portrayed in many different ways over the many many years. While performed with the energy of a clown, the bouffon throughout theater and literature has been the villain. This is supposed to contrast the beautiful main villain, the villain that is gorgeous with their side-kick who is ugly in comparison.