Chapter 7

Greek Classical Theater (Sophocles)Elizabethan Theater (Shakespeare)  Stone stadium, plays shown once during a festival  Masks, all men actors, sing and dance to hymns of the gods  No violence, based on myth  Larger than life, exaggerated  Audience stands or sits near the stage, available year-round  Men play all parts  Violence on stage  Histories, but also comedies and tragedies (not tied to universal themes)  More naturalistic settings/movements

 Include a “recognition scene”-moment where protagonist fully understands what has brought about the disaster  Use elevated language

 Ideal protagonist is mainly virtuous with a fatal flaw  Tragedy requires audience identification with the character  The aim is to stimulate an emotional response not for the sake of the emotion, but for the aftermath of the emotion: the calm that follows (catharsis)

 Neoclassicism-return to classical styles of balance and order  Upper class patrons, wanted less violent and sensational works  Women appear on stage  Move away from passion, to harmony and order

 Prosperous middle class wanted to see their own lives and times portrayed as they were (contemporary themes and characters)  Audience sits in dark, watches scene where actors do not “know” they are being watched (4 th wall)  Still formal language, time passage explained in the program

 All characters mentioned in act 1 must be important later on  All scenery must be used (chairs sat in, lamps turned on, doors opened)  Nothing is wasted as everything advances the plot  Exposition is important-revelation of necessary background information

 Expressionism- sets were not realistic, but symbolic  “Our Town” narrator creates a small New Hampshire village in the audience’s mind with minimal props

 Classic and Elizabethan tragedy focused on the fall of the aristocracy  Led to ordinary people as the protagonists  Buchner-(expressionism) non-realistic settings and abandoned naturalistic dialogue. Pessimistic, society is what creates tragedy, not a flaw  Miller- Death of a Salesman- cannot admit his failures, commits suicide hoping son will invest the insurance money. Wanted a character that Americans could identify with-hardworking but understands human weakness

MelodramaTragedy  Hero is innocent and beset by problems from outside forces  No huge demands on the mind  Suspenseful, but know it will work out in the end  Protagonist is mainly virtuous but not totally innocent  Raises moral and philosophical questions  Sad ending, but cathartic

 From the Greeks, at the end of a play an actor would play a god and straighten everything out  Now used to describe any plot contrivance that violates the probabilities of human behavior  Expedient but implausible resolution ex: bolt of lightening kills the evil doer right before the gun goes off

 Specific kind of comedy that ridicules corruption, inequality, war as a solution, injustice and hypocrisy.  Gets audience to laugh AND want to change  First World Problems First World Problems

 Shakespeare  Uses psychology  Use of subtext to Explain their thoughts  Allows characters to “live”

Genre of comedy that draws laughter from outragoues physical actions and improbably chaotic situations. Superficial characters Famous Farce Authors: Moliere, Wycherley, Oscar Wilde

 Makes fun of a particular work or genre  Modeled after works that the author finds to be unjustifiably successful  Family Guy  South Park  Weird Al  Scary Movie

 During Victorian Period would attempt the raise the consciousness of the audience  Ibsen- A Doll’s House, examines hypocracy  Shaw-Pygmalion, attacked rigidity of the class system

 Attempt to show life as it really was  Premise: this is life, this is human nature, it’s all there is

 Family-tragedy, emotional intensity from bitter confrontation between family members  Racial Tension- describes prejudice and its destructive effects  Raisin in the Sun  Gay Rights, Political Corruption, decline of family, deterioration of environment

Theater of AlienationTheater of Cruelty  Designed to prevent audience from identifying too strongly with characters  Worry they would miss the point otherwise  Want audience to absorb the message  Achieved through pulverizing the viewer’s emotions through shocking scenes  One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest