1. Tragicomedy and Theater of the Absurd Vanessa Clayberg and Paul Johnson

2. Tragicomedy Tragicomedies fall in the middle of the tragic/comic spectrum, in that they focus on high and low characters and situations and that they bring a potentially tragic plot to a happy resolution, at least for the protagonist, through a sudden reversal of fortune or the reformation of the protagonist's opponent.

3. Examples of Tragicomedy Shakespeare's The Tempest: Prospero and his daughter Miranda are betrayed and banished to live on an island by his brother Antonio and Alonso, King of Naples. The play ends when a shipwreck bring Prospero's betrayer in front of him for judgement. Edward Scissorhands (Movie): In the end of the film, the whole town turns on Edward, but the kindness of Kim and a police officer allows him to escape from the towns pursuit.

4. Theater of the Absurd Theater of the absurd questions the meaning of life in a universe seen as godless and which has overthrown such accepted conventions as a well-established setting, logical dialogue, and a fully resolved conflict. The story involving theater of the absurd may take place in an undisclosed location or have a cliff-hanger ending. Influential playwrights of the theater of the absurd are Eugene Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, and Harold Pinter.

5. Examples of Theater of the Absurd Beckett's Endgame takes place in a desolate room that overlooks a barren landscape. The cause of the isolation is unknown. In Harold Pinter's play The Room, the main character Rose is kept inside of a room by unknown forces. And outsider named Riley then invades her space and causes her distress.