Knock, knock! Who's there?
Recently I can't help but notice that IT.Crowd is really a TV series with rich cultural references. Unlike American series, it contains lots of details of classical literature&music. That is among the reasons why I love this British series.
Take S02E02 as an example:
Here is a priest delivering a speech at a funeral, talking about the approaching footsteps of the Reaper. He speaks in such a dramatic and threatening way that not only frightens Roy, who fears the forthcoming death as he has been told that he is going to die at 3'o clock in the afternoon, but also the viewers. It reminds me of the famous "porter scene" in Macbeth, in which a porter hears the knocking sounds. And this scene leads to the unraveling of King Duncan's death.
Porter:
Here's a knocking indeed! If a man were porter of Hell Gate,
he should have old turning the key. [Knock] Knock, knock,
knock! Who's there, i' th' name of Belzebub? . . . [Knock] Knock,
knock! Who's there, in th' other devil's name?
(Macbeth Act 2, scene 3, 1–8)
The "knock-knock joke" attained its popularity in around 1936. It is probably the best-known format of the pun, and is a time-honored "call and answer" exercise. In these days of decline, "Knock, knock! Who's there?" calls forth yawns more often than giggles, and chiming "Knock, knock!" is merely a cute substitute for actually knocking on someone's door.
Although there's no direct line of descent, it's possible that the birth of "Knock Knock" jokes owes more than a little to the famous "porter scene" in Macbeth. The clownish porter tends the gate at Macbeth's castle, where that notable thane has just successfully murdered the king of Scotland.
In the previous scene, in which Macbeth and his wife complete the deed, the knocking sounds that eventually rouse the porter scare the conspiratorial couple out of their wits: knocking is the sound that crystallizes their guilt. The porter's joking reference to "Hell Gate" has, then, some resonance: Macbeth's castle is and will remain the diabolical duo's headquarters, and the scene of numerous hideous crimes.
The joke also refers obliquely to an earlier dramatic form in which Hell Gate was an actual prop, and in which the drama of temptation, sin, salvation, and damnation was materialized to edify the common people, Macbeth supplies the tradition with psychological depth.
Sources:
http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/knock-knock-whos-there
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock-knock_joke
For the entire Act 2:
http://nfs.sparknotes.com/macbeth/page_62.html
For theatrical performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ybDZ3jlyFE&list=HL1393261759&feature=mh_lolz
Take S02E02 as an example:
 |
Here is a priest delivering a speech at a funeral, talking about the approaching footsteps of the Reaper. He speaks in such a dramatic and threatening way that not only frightens Roy, who fears the forthcoming death as he has been told that he is going to die at 3'o clock in the afternoon, but also the viewers. It reminds me of the famous "porter scene" in Macbeth, in which a porter hears the knocking sounds. And this scene leads to the unraveling of King Duncan's death.
Porter:
Here's a knocking indeed! If a man were porter of Hell Gate,
he should have old turning the key. [Knock] Knock, knock,
knock! Who's there, i' th' name of Belzebub? . . . [Knock] Knock,
knock! Who's there, in th' other devil's name?
(Macbeth Act 2, scene 3, 1–8)
The "knock-knock joke" attained its popularity in around 1936. It is probably the best-known format of the pun, and is a time-honored "call and answer" exercise. In these days of decline, "Knock, knock! Who's there?" calls forth yawns more often than giggles, and chiming "Knock, knock!" is merely a cute substitute for actually knocking on someone's door.
Although there's no direct line of descent, it's possible that the birth of "Knock Knock" jokes owes more than a little to the famous "porter scene" in Macbeth. The clownish porter tends the gate at Macbeth's castle, where that notable thane has just successfully murdered the king of Scotland.
In the previous scene, in which Macbeth and his wife complete the deed, the knocking sounds that eventually rouse the porter scare the conspiratorial couple out of their wits: knocking is the sound that crystallizes their guilt. The porter's joking reference to "Hell Gate" has, then, some resonance: Macbeth's castle is and will remain the diabolical duo's headquarters, and the scene of numerous hideous crimes.
The joke also refers obliquely to an earlier dramatic form in which Hell Gate was an actual prop, and in which the drama of temptation, sin, salvation, and damnation was materialized to edify the common people, Macbeth supplies the tradition with psychological depth.
Sources:
http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/knock-knock-whos-there
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock-knock_joke
For the entire Act 2:
http://nfs.sparknotes.com/macbeth/page_62.html
For theatrical performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ybDZ3jlyFE&list=HL1393261759&feature=mh_lolz
