gallows humor

Gallows humor is a type of humor that arises from stressful, traumatic, or life-threatening situations; often in circumstances such that death is perceived as impending and unavoidable. It is similar to black comedy but differs in that it is made by the person affected.

Nature and functions of gallows humor

Sigmund Freud in his 1927 essay Humour (Der Humor) puts forth the following theory of the gallows humor: "The ego refuses to be distressed by the provocations of reality, to let itself be compelled to suffer. It insists that it cannot be affected by the traumas of the external world; it shows, in fact, that such traumas are no more than occasions for it to gain pleasure". Some other sociologists elaborated this concept further. At the same time, Paul Lewis warns that this "liberating" aspect of gallows jokes depends on the context of the joke: whether the joke is being told by the threatened person themselves or by someone else. ^[1]

Examples

There is an apocryphal story of a condemned man being led into the execution chamber. The condemned prisoner points to the electric chair and asks the prison warden: "Are you quite sure this thing's safe?".

From William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 1:

Mercutio is stabbed in a swordfight by Tybalt, Juliet's cousin:

Romeo: "Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much."
Mercutio: "No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church-door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve: ask for me to-morrow, and you shall find me a grave man."

As Sir Thomas More climbed a rickety scaffold where he would be executed, he said to his executioner: "I pray you, Mr. Lieutenant, see me safe up; and for my coming down, let me shift for myself."

Author and playwright Oscar Wilde was destitute and living in a cheap boarding house when he found himself on his deathbed. There are variations on what the sentence exactly was, but his reputed last words were, "My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death; one or the other of us has got to go."

Murderer James French has been attributed with famous last words before his death by electric chair: "How's this for a headline? 'French Fries'".

A famous example of gallows humor is the conclusion to Monty Python's Life of Brian, in which a group of crucified criminals joyfully sings "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life".

Social uses

It is argued that gallows humor often occurs in societies whose inhabitants have limited means of expressing discontent, yet in which significant discontent is experienced. In these instances gallows humor can provide an outlet for airing subjects which people may feel is safer than open dialogue.

In her ethnography Death without Weeping: The Violence of Everyday life in Brazil (1993), anthropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes describes the use of gallows humor by the inhabitants of an impoverished shantytown in northeastern Brazil.

References

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: last words

Look up gallows humor in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.