All stories are made up of three basic elements: Drama, Romance, and Comedy. It is the balance between these that set the over-all nature of the story. Removing or relying on any one factor causes the story to become a farce, even if it's meant to be a drama.
Drama. What is it? What it isn't is car chases, explosions, massive destruction, and trite dialog. Drama is the serious action in the story, whether it be the mundane process of going up the stairs or the extreme result of falling down those stairs and dying of a broken neck.
Romance. Yes, it's what you think it is. But it's also not what you think it is. The movie Lawrence of Arabia (1962 - based on T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom) was criticised for not having any female characters other than some Arab women extras (who weren't actually Arab women). That would mean it has no romance in it (except for the inaccurate claims of a homosexual relationship between two characters). This is not true: the 'romance' is between Lawrence and the desert country, people, and culture. He even explicitly states his love for it. Romance is not always about two people experiencing the effects of a biological imperative. Although it certainly can be and usually is.
Comedy. Well humour is sometimes defined as a breakdown in a logical sequence, and who are we to deny the hare its home? People are funny, and also often humorous. It's as normal as romance, and you're allowed to do it in public. Even under the dire circumstances of sickness or injury or war or death or romance people will make jokes. It breaks tension and eases the otherwise unbearable strain of the moment, even when that 'strain' is a pleasant one.
The devil, as they say, is in the details. A man making a quip as he stands before the firing squad is defiant. If the quip is made by the leader of that squad he's a sadistic bastard. If it's made by the victim's lover the whole story becomes a farce. (The quip in question isn't important to the analogy, so I'm not going to write one. They probably would be three different jests anyway.)
I have notes for two more entries, but I think I will consolidate them into one. It's not that easy to write, and no one is terribly interested in reading it anyway.
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