Elements of Drama

Subgenre - Tragedy n A play with an unhappy ending. –People are vulnerable and invincible, as capable of defeat as they are of greatness. –Some tragedies are concerned with seeking meaning and justice in an ordered world, others with humanity’s helpless protest against an irrational universe. –The hero, alone and willful asserts his or her intellect and energy against the world.

Tragic Realization n We learn from tragedy that either n 1. Despite human suffering and calamity, a world order and eternal laws exist and that people can learn from suffering. Or, n 2. We learn of the futility of human acts and suffering in an indifferent and capricious universe. Sometimes we celebrate the hero’s efforts against this futility.

Subgenre -- Comedy n Walpole -- “The world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel. n Comedies examine the social world, social values and people as social beings.

Patterns of Comedy n Comic action shows the social disorder created by an eccentric character who deviates from reasonable values. n Writer of comedy calls for sanity, reason, and moderation in human behavior. n At the end of comedy, the life flow is reestablished in a wedding or banquet celebrating the harmonious reconciliation of opposing forces.

Subgenre -- Tragicomedy n Tragedy=movement from good fortune to bad. n Comedy=movement from bad fortune to good. n Up until the end of the 19th cent. Tragicomedies were serious and potentially tragic plays with happy endings, or at least with averted catastrophes.

Modern Tragicomedy n Not so much about how a play ends, but about how people relate to each other. –People laugh at their anxieties –People laugh at life’s contradictions –But, nothing changes. –Sort of like real life....

Staging and Stage Metaphors n What’s on the stage and why is it there? n What’s outside the stage and how do we know it? n How does the play refer to itself as a work of art? How does it reflect upon itself?

Plot in Drama n climactic -- cause to effect arrangement leading to climax and resolution. Begins late in the story –limited number of characters –restricted locale –restricted time frame –choices for the characters become more and more limited until explosion forces action

Plot in Drama n Episodic Plots -- action is a journey of some kind –begins early in the story –involves many characters and events –moves from place to place –covers lots of time –many options open until the end –characters aren’t forced into action

Character in Drama n The author can’t tell you anything about the characters. Everything you know comes from the character’s words and actions. n Some conventions the playwrights use to construct character are the following: confidant, foil, aside, soliloquy.

Language n As in poetry it changes with the times, the genre. n Unlike poetry, it all has to come out of someone’s mouth. It has to “fit” the character. It defines their character.

Theme n “A central idea of a literary work stated as a generalization about human experience.” n But, as your text books points out, it’s kind of silly to talk about this as a separate element. All the parts work together to produce theme.