Bring out the comic elements in the play, The Tempest.

There is plenty of humours in The Tempest written by William Shakespeare. His comic genius is amply illustrated here. The humour in this play is rather crude. Here much of the humour is farcial, However, we have some real wit in some of the remarks of Gonzalo, Antonio and Sebastian. 

In the very beginning scene, Gonzalo pokes fun at the boatswain by saying that the boatswain’s very face shows that he would die not by drowning but by hanging on the gallows. Gonzalo says that there is no drowning mark upon the boatswain’s face, and the boatswain’s very complexion is perfect gallows. Gonzalo makes another witty remark when he says that he would like to die a dry death, and that he would gladly give a thousand furlongs of sea in exchange for an acre of barren ground. Antonio and Sebastian show their wit by making fun of Gonzalo. In a running commentary, they mock and scoff at the old lord Gonzalo who means no harm to anybody and who excites the jealousy of these two men by his sheer goodness. 

The main source of humour in this play is the drunken behavior of Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo. But in this case Trinculo makes a remarks which are really witty.