American silent comedy was at its peak in the early 1900s, more precisely during the 1920s. As creative and talented as he was, Charlie Chaplin was often considered the pioneer and central figure of this type of cinema in his time. Chaplin wrote, produced, directed and starred in the majority of his films, and inspired many other actors and silent comedies that followed. In many of Chaplin's notable silent comedies, at the height of his career, scenes that depict the road in various ways constitute more than just the films' main location, as they play a much more crucial role in the development of comedy as a movie. the whole and the characters who compose it. The character of “The Little Tramp” that Chaplin created and made iconic is an embodiment not only of the trials and difficulties associated with the road, but also of the comedy and adventure that comes with it. In Chaplin's The Tramp, The Kid, City Lights, and The Gold Rush, images of the road, the characters' close interactions with the road, and the depiction of a homeless wanderer provide the comic drama which was unique and central in this renowned film genre. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an original essayAccording to his autobiography, Charlie Chaplin was born in London, England, on the evening of April 16, 1889, to two parents who were both involved on stage and in stage life. Chaplin became accustomed to theater and performing in front of others from a young age, as he frequently watched his mother perform in various shows. When his mother started to get sick, Charlie would often even fill in for her if she didn't feel ready for the show. Having a mother who was in and out of psychiatric institutions while suffering from severe malnutrition, and an alcoholic father, Chaplin had a fairly unstable and unhappy childhood. He spent some time living with his brother in Hanwell Schools for orphans and destitute children, Lambeth Workhouse, sometimes residing with his mother, then sometimes with his father, but he really lacked a stable home, much like the character of Tramp which he popularized in his films. He reveals in his autobiography that his childhood was like “moving from one back room to another; it was like a game of checkers” (Chaplin, 33). His older brother, Sydney, took it upon himself to help support his economically struggling family, but making ends meet and keeping a stable home was no easy task. Their father eventually died just as their mother was permanently admitted to an institution for her illnesses, and the two younger brothers continued to spend much of their lives fending for themselves to survive and maintain stability. Chaplin worked many jobs to earn as much money as possible to feed himself, and he joined dance and comedy troupes along the way because he decided early on that he dreamed of becoming an artist. Chaplin's mother "gave him the feeling that he had some kind of talent" and, despite the difficulties in the actor's and comedian's life, he did not give up (Chaplin, 41). Even at a young age, Chaplin greatly enjoyed the art of dancing, but knew he eventually wanted to end up in comedy because he was attracted to the idea of ​​being funny and making audiences laugh. Chaplin's autobiographical story reveals the path strewn with pitfalls of his journey. his own life that had humble and not-so-happy beginnings, but eventually led to fame, success and fame. He has worked for several companiesproduction and studios, some he preferred over others, and he eventually began directing his own silent films while simultaneously acting in them. During his difficult childhood, his mother was and remained later in life a key to his success because she “shone upon him the kindest light this world has ever known, which endowed him with literature and theater with their greatest and richest themes: love, pity and humanity” (Chaplin, 22). Chaplin often did not have enough to eat, and his family became poorer over time as his mother struggled to find steady employment or spent time in institutions. With a father dead, a mother constantly hospitalized, and a brother trying to find work any way he could to earn even a modicum of money, Chaplin began spending a lot of time alone. and was irritated and even embarrassed by the fact that he often needed help from others, so “like a fugitive, [he] kept himself aloof from everyone” (Chaplin, 71). Chaplin had a difficult life, but he never lost sight of his dream of becoming an actor and comedian. He worked as a "newsboy, printer, toy maker, glass blower, doctor's boy, etc., but during these professional digressions, like Sydney, [he] never lost sight of [his] ultimate goal of becoming an actor” (Chaplin, 76). Chaplin finally landed his first acting role in Sherlock Holmes, then got a role in the play, and he knew his luck was about to change. He felt as if “the world [had] suddenly changed, taken him into its loving arms and adopted him” (Chaplin, 77). From that point on, he inevitably experienced a few setbacks and falls along the way, as every role he was given and every salary he was promised was not always honorable, but despite this, Chaplin continued to adapt and move forward, just like his iconic character Tramp does. Chaplin believed that “you either rise to the occasion or you succumb to it,” and so he always kept going (Chaplin, 100). The birth of the "Little Tramp" character that Chaplin is known for popularizing and making iconic was a character that the actor actually saw as embodying many of his own characteristics. Chaplin began working for Keystone Studios, the place where the famous Tramp was ultimately born. Keystone Studios was looking to start a new film and wanted Chaplin to play the role of a newspaper reporter. Chaplin didn't like the costume he was supposed to wear for his role, so he decided to take matters into his own hands and create his own costume. While in the locker room, he chose to dress in "baggy pants, big shoes, a cane and a derby hat." [He] wanted everything to be contradictory: the loose pants, the tight coat, the small hat and the big shoes” (Chaplin, 145). Remembering being told he looked younger than expected, he added "a little mustache, which [he believed] would add age without hiding [his] expression" (Chaplin, 145) . The Tramp's costume came together in one instant in the wardrobe, but Chaplin did not know, in that fleeting moment, how famous he would soon become. By the time the costume and makeup came together and the actor entered the stage, the Tramp was officially born. Chaplin felt that this character made him “feel the person he was” as he strutted and paraded around swinging the cane (Chaplin, 145). The studio was immediately captivated and excited by Chaplin's humor and the ingenuity of the character he created and his costume. Chaplin explained the character he had just givenlife as “a tramp, a gentleman, a poet, a dreamer, a lonely man, always full of hope of romance and adventure. He would have you believe that he is a scientist, a musician, a duke, a polo player. However, he does not hesitate to pick up cigarette butts or steal candy from a baby” (Chaplin, 146). In a way, the Tramp was Chaplin. He was a sometimes unlucky man, moving from place to place without an established home, but always with a good heart as he always moved forward. He was a man capable of adapting to any situation as a multi-faceted figure of determination and perseverance; someone who could be something one day and something completely different the next. Chaplin truly embodied the role and fulfilled it fully when he considered himself “a tramp who just wanted a little shelter” (Chaplin, 146). The "Little Tramp" came to life as quickly as Chaplin had created it, and it became the character and role he played in many of his silent comedies from that point on. The actor and comedian thought that Tramp was "different and unknown to the American, and even unknown to [himself.] But with these clothes, [he] felt that he was a reality, a living person." In fact, he sparked all kinds of crazy ideas that [he] would never have dreamed of until [he] was dressed and made up as a Tramp” (Chaplin, 147). Chaplin eventually left Keystone Studios, the official birthplace of the Tramp, worked for various other studios and eventually worked directing and acting in his own films in which he starred as the infamous comic character and wanderer. Chaplin is known for popularizing “The Tramp”. "character not only in his short film, The Tramp, but also in several of his other films. The drifter and drifter character he plays in these films is one who travels from one place to another without a fixed abode. Often in his comedies, Chaplin seeks work on the streets to survive, without any consistent means of supporting himself, as he did in his youth. In the opening scene of The Tramp, Chaplin describes this well as he walks down a dusty dirt road with no clear direction as to where he is going as he gets hit by several cars and ends up finally on a farm. In the process of helping a woman fend off thieves trying to steal her hard-earned money, Chaplin's Tramp character is invited to her home, where his father promises to treat him to dinner once he earns his right to a meal while training on the field. fields (The Tramp). Tramp's character is a bit of a mischievous beggar, but he's also a man with good intentions. He turns out to be a terrible field worker with little to no work ethic, and finds himself caught by the thieves from earlier in the film who try to steal money from the father and try to trick them (The Tramp). The film's comedy is largely seen through the lives of the film's drifter and thieves characters who live on the streets and have a precarious lifestyle dependent on the road. After the thieves run away without the stolen money and the woman Chaplin helped in previous scenes is reunited with her returned fiancé, the tramp realizes it is time to leave and find his way back ( The Tramp). The final scene is much like the opening as Chaplin hits the road again, presumably looking for more work to prepare his next meal (The Tramp). Chaplin's The Tramp is a silent film that depicts the road as a place of "mere passage", as Chaplin stops and meets people along the way, lives a littleadventure, then continues his journey as a character who continues to move forward. One of Chaplin's early comedies, The Kid, further shows the actor playing the role of the Tramp, but this time he has a sidekick. In the opening scene, a struggling mother walks down a road with a baby whom she puts in an abandoned car on the side of the street, as she turns away to continue walking down the road (The Kid). Chaplin finds the baby with a note saying, "Please love and care for this child", and despite his reluctance at first to claim the baby, he ultimately decides to keep it and raise it as his own (The Kid). The film takes place five years in the future, and the Tramp and the young orphan have formed a real camaraderie. The orphan is used to life on the streets and seems to appreciate the freedom he has. When another street child steals a stuffed dog that a woman, who will become his biological mother, gave him as charity, he begins to fight the boy and the whole neighborhood gathers to watch ( The Kid). The orphan boy in the comedy reveals the culture of "street children" which can be attributed to life on the road, as survival on the harsh streets creates a specific way of life. The most notable road image in the film occurs when the orphan is taken away by the authorities and Chaplin watches him being chased down the road while standing on the roof of the flophouse in which he and the boy were staying (The Kid). Chaplin jumps from the roof into the back of the car to retrieve the young boy who became his son, and they hit the road together (The Kid). Chaplin was never an orphan, but he spent time in an orphanage with his brother at a time when his parents were unable to raise them. The actor was used to a difficult life and fending for himself, and this film reveals a familiarity with that. The road is a place of home and shelter in this film as the tramp and the orphan both find comfort in each other and grow to view each other as family. City Lights is considered one of Chaplin's most famous comedies, and he returns once again acting as the wandering, wandering character that audiences had come to know and love. As the main setting of the silent film, the road provides a means for the film's characters to meet in unlikely ways and influence each other's lives. City Lights presents the streets as an urban space that connects people in a way that changes the course of each of their lives in powerful ways, while creating an atmosphere of comedy. Chaplin meets a blind woman who makes a living selling flowers on a street corner and immediately falls in love with her one day while he walks aimlessly through the streets, most likely trying to find a way to find money. money (City Lights). In another scene, the tramp walks the streets again without really knowing where he is going and crosses paths with a millionaire who is trying to commit suicide (City Lights). The tramp arrests the man and they form a friendship that lasts for the duration of the film. The images of the road present in City Lights serve as a means by which diverse and very different lives interconnect with one another as the characters begin to bring about change among the people they encounter on their journey of life. Chaplin fights in a wrestling match with a man much larger than himself and works on a farm to earn money to pay the blind woman he met on the street to have eye surgery, but ends up by getting money from the generous millionaire to pay. instead (City Lights). Chaplin, in many situations, prevents the millionaire from getting drunk andto commit suicide, and ends up becoming a much-loved and trusted friend (City Lights). The tramp seems to find himself in abnormal situations that create an atmosphere of comedy, and despite the setbacks encountered by Chaplin's character, he perseveres and makes do with what he has, just as the actor had to do many times. stages of his life. Gold Rush is a silent comedy that focuses on the Tramp's travels through the snow-capped Sierra Nevada Mountains to search for gold during the Klondike Gold Rush. The opening scene shows Chaplin waddling through the snow in an almost ballet-like manner as his shoes too big for his feet tower over him (The Gold Rush). Due to bad weather and a blizzard, the Tramp finds himself trapped in a cabin with a fellow gold prospector and a fugitive and a quarrel ensues between the three men, and eventually the fugitive is thrown out of the cabin, into the storm (The Gold Rush). In one of the film's most iconic scenes, Chaplin's character attempts to prepare a Thanksgiving meal for himself and his fellow prospector, despite the fact that food sources are lacking in such extreme weather conditions. However, given the Tramp's imagination, that doesn't stop him. He boils his boot in a pot, places it on a plate on the table between him and the other man, serves the shoelace as if it were a spaghetti noodle and cuts the boot in two vertically (The Rush towards gold). The man takes the top half of the boot, and Chaplin eats the other, acting as if the needles holding the shoe together were meat bones (The Gold Rush). The Tramp is a character who quickly adapts to any situation around him and doesn't let any inconvenience get in his way. The scene is iconic in part because of its blatant humor and the fact that the two prospectors bite the boot, but also because the Tramp's shoes are so important to his character as a whole. Shoes that are too big for his feet allow him to walk the way he does, much like a waddling duck. His shoes are also the means by which he interacts directly with the road because they are what propel him forward and make him move from one place to another, as wanderers do. Another iconic scene from the silent comedy is when Chaplin's character invites the saloon girl he has fallen in love with to dinner at his cabin. She brings some of her friends and, in an attempt to impress them, he takes two buns and stabs each of them with a fork (The Gold Rush). He makes the rollers dance, making them appear like shoes and the fork handles like legs (The Gold Rush). The film ends with the two prospectors finding gold in their cabin and becoming richer than they could ever have imagined. However, all the Tramp can think about is finding his saloon girl (The Gold Rush). On a ship back to the United States, he eventually finds her and they rekindle (The Gold Rush). Chaplin's Gold Rush shows the difficulties associated with traveling through the mountains of Alaska and especially the Chilkoot Pass. With the blizzard and dangerous weather conditions, the journey can be somewhat perilous, but Chaplin as the Tramp brings an atmosphere of comedy. The road gives the Tramp an adventure, and he wouldn't be the comic character he is if he didn't venture there. In American silent comedies, and in Chaplin's films in particular, the road is much more than just a place for the journey. a tragedy is going to take place. In popular films such as The Tramp, The.