How does "Nothing is funnier than unhappiness" (Beckett) as applied to children's comedy relate to Romeo and Juliet?Previously I asked a question...

Part I

The quote "Nothing is funnier than unhappiness" is a quote from Samuel Beckett's one-act play Endgame, a play set in annihilation and absurdity. The presuppositions of the play (and by extension, of the quote) are that there is no happiness in life, paramountly because there is no God. Absurdist theater propounded the notion that logic and communication are pointless because all attempts break down to "disharmony," or the "absurd." Hence, the above quote, spoken by a dust-bin cleaner, is a satire; yet satire starts from a truth and then addresses that truth ironically or sarcastically (actually, sarcasm is a form of irony).

As I understand it, you are examining comedy in children's literature, which, I take it, includes Young Adult literature as Romeo and Juliet is suited to young adult readership. And you are in particular examining the relationship of the particular quote, "Nothing is funnier than unhappiness," to children's literature, with the objective in mind to explore how it does or does not play out as a truism in Children's comedy. Is this correct? If it is, then perhaps we can explore a little further.

In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo's misery over the fair Rosaline  (Act 1, Scene 1) is a source of amusement to Romeo's friends and the inspiration for some witty repartee (Act I, Scene 2). The reason some may see Romeo's unhappiness regarding Rosaline as amusing is because it is the unhappiness of a common dilemma, and he employs common and, in some ways, preposterous reactions to it. As another illustration, Juliet's coming and going on the balcony once her Nurse appears on the scene (Act II, Scene 2), has a comedic touch to it because her unhappiness at having to part from Romeo is, again, the unhappiness of a common dilemma and she is employing common and somewhat preposterous responses to it in trying to manage to be both here and there at once.

These instances of unhappiness are mild ones and in no way are they represented by Shakespeare as life destroying or life threatening instances of unhappiness. Later, when Romeo's and Juliet's unhappiness does become life destroying and threatening, there is no shred of humor suggested by Shakespeare in any regard. This analysis seems to indicate that if the Beckett quote is true, it is true only for mild forms of unhappiness, forms that are virtually inescapable as part of the universal human experience (lost love who didn't love you, being harried by divided interests).

Part II below (I hope).