What is Dramatic relief / Comic relief ?

Dramatic relief is a significant technique employed by the dramatists in the construction of drama. It is a comic or humorous scene, or incident or speech introduced in the course of a serious fiction or drama to provide relief from emotional tension or intensity and at the same time by contrast, to heighten the seriousness of the story. When intense action in a play agitates and excites the spectators to a degree that the strain becomes unbearable, the dramatist puts in scenes or actions which help to relieve the tension. The scenes intended for dramatic reliefs have a number of functions to perform. 

They add variety to the action of the play and help it not to be dull and monotonous. They provide emotional relief to the spectators and enhance the entertainment offered by.the play. They also, by way of contrast, add to the intensity of the impression of events before and after them. The most striking example of dramatic relief in Macbeth is certainly the speech of the drunken Porter. It follows the breath taking and awe-inspiring scene of Duncan’s murder which marks the crisis in the play.