Additional Information
Example A: a play
After Macbeth has murdered Duncan Lady Macbeth makes a cruel pun when saying: “If he do bleed, / I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal, / For it must seem their guilt.” (Shakespeare, Macbeth II,2,52–54)
This absolute control of language in the face of the terrible deed reflects Lady Macbeth’s cool unscrupulousness while simultaneously establishing the connection between “gild” which implies that something is covered with a thin layer of gold for instance a crown and “guilt”, which denotes responsibility for a crime. Thus Macbeth becoming king is closely linked to the murder with the pun suggesting that the gold of the crown could only be obtained through shedding Duncan’s blood.
Example B: a novel
Always mischievous, the twins Fred and George Weasley in Harry Potter have a reputation for their absolute refusal to take anything seriously. His sense of humour does not leave George even when his ear is severed in a chase, leaving a hole in his head. Asked by his mother how he feels, he answers: “Saint-like,” […]. ”You see […] I’m holy. Holey […].” (J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, London: Bloomsbury, 2007, p. 67) The pun demonstrates George’s determination not to be easily intimidated but his play on words also includes a subtle allusion to the fact that he was wounded when trying to help Harry escape since his willingness to risk his life in the fight against the powers of evil makes him a martyr and thus “saintlike”.
Example C: a poem
Thomas Hood (1799–1845) was often criticised for using too many puns, even in contexts in which his humour was regarded as inappropriate. The following lines from his poem “A Waterloo Ballad“ are an example of his play on words:
This very night a merry dance
At Brussels was to be; –
Instead of opening a ball,
A ball has open‘d me.
(The Complete Poetical Works of Thomas Hood, ed. by Walter Jerrold, Westport: Greenwood, 1980, p. 279)
Thomas Hood exploits the double sense of the word “ball” which might denote a social event but which can also stand as an abbreviation for the word cannonball. Thus in spite of its comic effect the pun on the word “ball” effectively highlights the contrast between the idle life of British society with their elegant parties and balls even during the time of the Napoleonic wars and the suffering of the soldiers wounded in battle by artillery fire.
