1. Modernism -Brief background about the history of drama (Medieval- Renaissance (14-16 C)-Restoration (18 c) Victorian (19 C) – Modern 20 th C) -Victorian Background (Age of the novel) What lead to Modernism? -modernization: a- Great discoveries in the physical sciences which changed people's view of the universe and their place in it( religious doubt)

2. B- The industrialization of production/science into technology lead to: -creating new human environments and destroyed the old ones -power and class struggle -geographic upheavals -rapid/fast urban growth -systems of mass communication connecting diverse people and societies -mass social movements of people challenging their political economic Rulers to have control over their lives- Capitalist world market -World Wars -The Great Depression (the crash of stock market in1929)

3. -What is melo-drama? -A simplistic kind of drama that parallelized modern drama but was not part of it. Background of melodrama: -Irish famine 1840”s -Irish immigration

4. -Characteristics of melo-drama: -Has a prologue --a large cast --coincidences --emotional not logical --plot controls characters/never develop --cause and effect relationship that grab emotion --no real life situations --optimistic/escape --structural effects on stage --story line is obvious

5. -example: “The Count of Mounte Cristo” -Kind of audience -Purpose of this kind of drama ----------------------------------------------------- What is modernism? -It refers to the radical shift in aesthetic and cultural sensibilities evident in the art and literature of the post WWI. The ordered, stable, meaningful world view of the 19 th C could not accord with the modern chaotic world. -It marks a distinctive break with Victorian bourgeois morality, rejecting 19 th c optimism. They presented a pessimistic dark view of a confused world.

6. Realism -It is an experiment that in the last half of the 19 th C to make the theater more useful to society when the theater was still bound in melodrama, comic operas and so on. -It begun in France in 1860’s. -There was a desire for political, social, and economic reform and there was an increased belief that science could solve human problems. -There was a strong rejection of romantic idealism.

7. -3 major developments helped the emergence of Realism: -1: August Comte: father of so sociology- theory of positivism: understanding cause and effect of nature through precise observation. -2: Charles Darwin: “The Origin of Species”, his theory has three folds : -a. People are controlled by heredity and environment -b. Behaviors are beyond control -C. Humanity is a natural object -3. Freud: Physiological interpretation of human conscious and unconscious behaviors -4. Karl Marx: created political philosophy arguing equal distribution of wealth -Ibsen’s background

8. Some Characteristics of Realism The absence of the older moral figure The change in the structure of the well-made play: Exposition, situation, unraveling (discussion) The use of everyday language, setting, middle class people. Open ending Real life situation

9. Feminism It is a movement that is concerned with many social, cultural, and political issues that are concerned with discrimination against women’s rights. 3 waves: 19 th c to early 20 th c (US/UK) requested equal property rights. -Women over 30 who owned houses were granted the right to vote.

10. 2 nd wave: (1960’s late 1980’s) -Focused on fighting social, cultural, and political inequalities and wanted to end discrimination. -3 rd Wave (1990’-) Criticized the 2 nd for emphasizing the upper middle class white women! Changes: -Women’s suffrage(right to divorce) -Make individual decision(abortion) -Right to own property -Accesses to university education