Tragical Comedy, or Comical Tragedy of Punch and Judy

by George Cruikshank

The traditional puppet comedy as old as Shakespeare, about the ugly little man who happily kills everyone before he is confronted by the Devil.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Theatre, Art, Drama

37 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1972

About the author

George Cruikshank was an English caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. Born in London, he was a member of the Cruikshank family of caricaturists and artists, the son of Scottish painter and caricaturist Isaac Cruikshank.

Cruikshank's early career was renowned for his social caricatures of English life for popular publications such as The Comic Almanack (1835 - 1853) and Omnibus (1842) but later in his career, his book illustrations for Charles Dickens and many other authors reached an international audience. He created folios of prints with moralistic themes inspired by the temperance movement. The best known of these are The Bottle, 8 plates (1847), with its sequel, The Drunkard's Children, 8 plates (1848), with the ambitious work, The Worship of Bacchus, published by subscription after the artist's oil painting, now in the National Gallery, London. For Charles Dickens, Cruikshank illustrated Sketches by Boz (1836), The Mudfog Papers (1837-38) and Oliver Twist (1838). His works include: Sinks of London Laid Open (1848), Hop O' my Thumb (1853), Jack and the Beanstalk (1854), Cinderella (1854), Puss in Boots (1854) and George Cruikshank's Fairy Library (1870).

Reviews

[Alexandra Goldillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars - I wish it was longer. Act 3 scene 2 could have been extended, Punch dealt with with the executioner and the devil and that was that. If it would have been more characters to interact with Punch the scene could have gained a momentum and propelled my rating to 4 stars.
Conclusion - British hunour at it's best!

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

As others have noted in their reviews, John Payne Collier's Short History of the origins of Punch and Judy is the work of a first-class bloviator, and yet there are worthwhile insights hidden away in the text (although the extensive footnotes are basically pure white noise).

My favorite takeaway is Collier's comparison of Punch to Shakespeare's "...Richard III and Sir John Falstaff: to both of these is Punch, in disposition and talents, akin: and he, besides, combines in his own person the deformity of the one and the obesity of the other." Finding such a connecting thread between those characters is quite interesting, and quite valid to boot.

Of course, the real reason to read this volume is for the dialogue of the puppet play itself, accompanied by George Cruikshank's wonderful engravings. Collier was a notorious literary forger, so there's no guarantee that his version of the dialogue is 100% accurate, but it certainly fits the tradition well enough, and provides a chance to study and reflect on the rich and grotesque history of the feisty Mr. Punch.

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

The syntax is a bit of a drudge since it's from the 1900s, but I loved it and regret not reading it sooner. I ended up taking two pages of notes from it. The artwork is excellent. If you're a puppeteer it can only add to your craft to absorb this into your brain.

[LordSlaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brisk, engaging, enjoyable read. After seeing representations of Punch and Judy shows in a number of my favorite British sitcoms and dramas, I became curious about the story behind it all. This delightful Dover paperback is an unabridged republication of a 1929 work by John Payne Collier. The prose flows nicely and is informative and lighthearted. The inclusion of a version of the play itself is a very nice touch, as readers get to witness homicidal philanderer Mr. Punch in action. The inclusion of George Cruikshank's illustrations is the cherry on top; the drawings are fantastic in their own right and also help the reader envision the characters and the stage setting. Very happy to have this pleasant, fascinating, fun book in my library.

[hh · Rating 3 out of 5]

written originally in the 19th century and reads like it. the commentary on punch is overly erudite (does every page need a footnote referencing shakespeare? really?) and doesn't add much of anything. but cruikshank's illustrations are, as always, brilliant. and it's a treat to have a version of the performance set down. of interest to me was the abundance of references to outlaws within the text. i would only recommend this to someone who is very interested in punch and judy - and even then if you don't have a mind to deal with antique prose, you probably just want to skip straight to the good stuff. which, i think, punch would approve of.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

he even kills the devil :D

[Sem · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tough one. The illustrations are what one would expect from Cruikshank - that is, brilliant - the plays are nothing at all outside of their performance. 3 stars is a compromise rating.

[Lulu]

1828

[sydney · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5