Farce is a kind of ‘low’ comedy, and its basic elements are exaggerated physical action (often repeated); exaggeration of character and situation; absurd situations and improbable events (even impossible ones and therefore fantastic); and surprises in the form of unexpected appearances and disclosures. In farce, character and dialogue are nearly always subservient to plot and situation. The plot is usually complex and events succeed one another with almost bewildering rapidity. The origins of farce are obscure, though it may be reasonably supposed that it precedes anything merely literary. At its simplest, perhaps, it could be described as a form of prehistoric horseplay.

The first plays to be described as farces were French and belong to the late Middle Ages. The ‘stuffing’ consisted of comic interludes between scenes in religious or liturgical drama. These interpolations were usually written in octosyllabic couplets, and an average length was 500 lines. They poked fun at the foibles and vices of everyday life. This kind of comedy is well illustrated in Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale (late 14th c.)

Later in the French theatre, these farcical interludes developed into a form of their own: a one-act farce. The influence of French farce is discernible in Italy, Germany and in England where the first writer of note to use the form was John Heywood. No doubt Heywood influenced Tudor dramatists, who began to introduce farcical episodes into their plays. Something approaching farce was sometimes used in tragedy for comic relief. However, in this period, apart from The Comedy of Errors and The Taming of the Shrew, there is little that could be described as farce without some reservations. Later we have Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair (1614). And then, in the middle of the 17th c., Molière showed himself to be a master of the genre – especially with Le Malade imaginaire (1672). In Restoration comedy and 18th c. comedy there are plentiful farcical episodes, particularly in burlesque (q.v.) plays. In the 18th c. also we find a number of short farces used as curtain raisers.

A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory: J. A. Cuddon