Chaplin's Tramp is not only a mythical character but also an expression of his use of humour for political purposes. A mythical character exists beyond the stories that are told of him/her. According to André Bazin (Bazin, 1967. 144), the persona Charlie Chaplin created and impersonated in most of his films, the Tramp, is such a character, for his life extends beyond the films in the consciousness of the viewers.
Chaplin devised the most recognisable character in the history of cinema (with his cane, moustache and bowler hat) and fleshed him out with unique movement, walk and behaviour. We know nothing of the Tramp’s life (every film is a new beginning), yet his recognisable characteristics provide him with an unprecedented familiarity. Consequently, he gets enough depth to seem real and to be a mythical character.
Chaplin’s stardom and his recognisable persona were mutually beneficial for his career, as they reinforced his myth. A similar phenomenon can be observed with Woody Allen, who devised a similar persona to the Tramp and played it throughout his career, with the result that his audience tends to confuse him with his persona. In the same way, Charlie Chaplin’s audience tends to project their love for the Tramp onto Chaplin himself and vice-versa, thereby blurring the line between reality and fiction and enhancing the mythical charisma of the Tramp.
Aristotelian Identification with the Myth: the Tramp's Worldview
Contrary to popular opinion the tramp is a tragic character. By definition he is socially determined to fail: the child is taken away from him in The Kid, the girl rarely falls in love with him if she knows he is a tramp (cf. The Vagabond, The Gold Rush, The Circus…). This is the very reason the Tramp has been characterised as the most poignant image of humanity. By evoking empathy in his audience, he encourages viewers to identify with him.
We undergo these emotions when watching Chaplin’s comedies because he added an Aristotelian tragic element to the genre. According to Aristotle (Aristotle, Poetics 1449b27-8), when watching a tragedy, we identify with the main character and experience emotions of fear and of pity (fear of the tragic outcome and pity for the suffering of the character) that lead to a final catharsis (i.e. purging) of our own soul. Chaplin’s films are ultimately comedies (with the exception of Limelight and A Woman of Paris), and this scheme does not exactly apply, yet a very similar phenomenon takes place. The Tramp is an image of humanity, so we can all identify with him and consequently hope and fear for him. The boxing match in City Lights is a very good example of this pity and identification: as spectators we know he cannot possibly win, but our empathy and hope make his failure even more painful to watch.
Bazin (Bazin, 1967. 145) also makes a valid point about the Tramp’s world view. The Tramp has no conception of time; he lives each moment without remembering the past or worrying about the future. Functioning communities being based on repetition, society has no place for him (this becomes apparent in his failure to adapt to the regularity of factory work in Modern Times). In fact, each time he relies on the stability of natural laws, he fails as if he was being punished for transgressing his own law of living the moment (Bazin, 1967. 152).
Therefore, he has two features that point to a strong survival instinct: the optimism of someone who lives in the “now”; and the persistence of someone who tries to shape the world according to his wishes (Bazin, 1967. 146 f.) (e.g. in order to hide from something disastrous, he simply closes his eyes to make it disappear).
Humour and Social Engagement: the Tramp's Survival Instinct
Chaplin turned slapstick comedies into poetic stories about the human condition. In spite of their genre, his narrations touch upon significant social and political issues (war in Shoulder Arms, poverty and domestic violence in Easy Street, fascism in The Great Dictator…). The Tramp is not simply a clown, he is a fully fleshed human being, realistic in spite of his unusual walk, occasionally sad, always lonely and full of empathy. It would take a whole analysis of the nature of his gags to prove this point, but I suggest that Chaplin introduced the idea of identification and compassion into the slapstick style, thereby revolutionising the relationship of the public to cinematographic characters.
There are several reasons to use comedy for the treatment of controversial issues. Firstly, it is an easy way to avoid censorship. Secondly, comedy heightens the extent of tragedy since if both elements coexist they magnify each other. Finally, humour is the last resort to make people reflect on a serious issue when all other means fail: tragedy can become unbearable (especially when it is as real as in the production years of The Great Dictator) and the use of humour is an effective way to keep the debate alive.
According to Charlie Chaplin “humour […] heightens our sense of survival and preserves our sanity” (Chaplin, 1964. 210). His genius consists in treating humour not as an end in itself but as a means to a nobler end: the portrayal of humanity through the character of the Tramp; and the preservation of his sanity (and by extension of humanity's) in a difficult century.
Sources:
A. Bazin, 1967. What Is Cinema? transl. by H. Gray. Cambridge University Press
C. Chaplin, 1964. My Autobiography. Penguin Modern Classics (repr. 2003)
Kassel. 1965 (ed.). Aristotelis de arte poetica liber. Oxford: Clarendon Press (repr. 1968)
The Vagabond, 1916. Film. Directed by Charlie Chaplin. USA: Mutual Film Corporation
Easy Street, 1917. Film. Directed by Charlie Chaplin. USA: Mutual Film Corporation
Shoulder Arms, 1918. Film. Directed by Charlie Chaplin. USA: First National Pictures
A Woman Of Paris, 1923. Film. Directed by Charlie Chaplin. USA: United Artists
The Gold Rush, 1925. Film. Directed by Charlie Chaplin. USA: United Artists
The Circus, 1928. Film. Directed by Charlie Chaplin. USA: United Artists
City Lights, 1931. Film. Directed by Charlie Chaplin. USA: United Artists
Modern Times, 1936. Film. Directed by Charlie Chaplin. USA: United Artists
The Great Dictator, 1940. Film. Directed by Charlie Chaplin. USA: United Artists
Limelight, 1952. Film. Directed by Charlie Chaplin. USA: United Artists, Image Entertainment
Ophélie Wolf - Hello and thank you for reading this! I am a recent graduate from the Department of Philosophy, King’s College London. Writing ...
