Laughter and ridicule

Use in the book

The disappointed-expectation account concerns confidence belied by an outcome, especially when confidence is displayed in bearing. The later mask formulation similarly couples comic effect with something seriously worn; seriousness is part of the mechanism. Molière’s composure belongs to the maker rather than the audience: he makes others laugh while not laughing himself. This difference prevents laughter from being treated as emotional contagion alone. The naïveté fragment then separates exposure from desert: innocent unreflecting trust risks ridicule but merits none. A social response can therefore be explained without being endorsed.

Places to read

1. I, p. 325–326, entry 10, ¶1Laughter is linked to expectation disappointed by the outcome.
2. II, p. 916, entry 1, ¶1Misreckoning and a seriously worn mask explain distinct aspects of comedy.
3. II, p. 610, entry 1, ¶6The comic author’s composure differs from his audience’s laughter.
4. I, p. 435, entry 1, ¶1Naïveté risks ridicule without deserving it.

Translation in this edition

The English translation retains in cold blood for sangfroid as composure and comic author for un grand comique. Misreckoning at II.916 is a qualified rendering of mécompte, retaining disappointed expectation and mistaken reckoning rather than reducing it to a joke. The lexicon reports Joubert’s universal formulation without claiming it as established psychological science.