ABSTRACT
The conviction that the individual is unimportant except as a part of something wider; the impulse to mix, and to seek common ground with the rest of one’s kind; social sense; these have their proper expression in art as well as in religion. In art it is not, as a rule, so exalted; but perhaps it is equally effective. The fact is that laughter is a very erratic and unreliable action, ranging from the hysterical scream or giggle to the deliberate trumpeting of disapproval or discontent, and from the loud guffaw of the vacant mind to an utterly peaceful signal of sudden sympathy or complete understanding. The end of a play or a novel is indeed important; but it must be appropriate to the rest of the plot. It is easier to form a concept from examples than from abstract formulae. The incongruity between the confidence of Bottom’s manner and the absurdity of his appearance makes good low comedy.
