2011-10-29
Explanation
In this comic, a man compares his love to "the scene in Hamlet where he flies into the clouds and dances in the constellations as harps and flutes make a crescendo of joy." His partner looks flattered at first. In the second panel, the man notes, "That scene doesn'''t exist." In the third panel, the woman responds with a knowing, pained expression: "Exactly."
The joke operates on two levels. On the surface, it seems like a romantic, literary comparison -- but once you realize the scene described never happens in Hamlet (a famously bleak tragedy about murder, betrayal, and existential despair), the comparison becomes a cutting statement about their relationship. The woman'''s "Exactly" confirms that she already knows their love is fictional -- it doesn'''t exist, just like the scene he described.
The votey panel shows the cartoonist (Weinersmith) saying "It'''s a literature joke" while a woman behind him says "No it isn'''t," echoing the comic'''s own structure -- the claim of being something is immediately undercut. It'''s a meta-joke about the comic itself, since calling it a "literature joke" is a stretch when the real punchline is about a failing relationship.