Drama

Definition:

The structure of dramatic texts is unlike other forms of literature. Acts and scenes divide the text. Traditionally written, drama involves the enactment of plays in a theatre, performed on a stage by actors before a public audience. Hence, it is a composite art, in which the author, actor and all other elements combine to produce the total effect. The earliest known plays were written around the fifth century B.C. produced for festivals to honor Dionysus, the god of wine (vineyards) and the fields (fertility). Drama was initially divided into two: tragedy and comedy.

The Genres of Drama:

Modern Western drama drew its conventions and essence from classical Greek dramas. The theatrical culture of the city-state of Athens produced three genres of drama: tragedy, comedy and satyr play. Other genres were developed and added from the Greeks onwards. The current listing of the genres of drama include:

• Tragedy
• Comedy
• Tragi-comedy
• Melodrama
• One-act Play

Tragedy: the term originated from the Greek word ‘tragoedia’ meaning ‘goat song’. It almost certainly denoted a form of ritual sacrifice accompanied by a choral song in honor of Dionysus, the god of fields and vineyards. Out of this ritual developed Greek dramatic tragedy. The Greeks were the first of the tragedians.

Aristotle saw plot as the most crucial element of tragedy, more important than character. He spoke of the tragic hero as: a man not pre-eminently virtuous and just, whose misfortune, however, is brought upon him not by vice and depravity but by some error of judgement, of the number of those in the enjoyment of great reputation and prosperity; e.g., Oedipus, Thyestes, and the men of note of similar families. (Bywater’s translation)

By participating vicariously in the grief, pain and fear of the tragic hero or heroine, the spectator, in Aristotle’s words, experiences pity and fear and is purged. To sum up, the result of tragedy is catharsis, the purgation (purification and cleansing) of emotions. The principal writers of Greek tragedy were Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.

Major tragedies include; Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, Macbeth, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare.

Comedy: derived from the Greek word ‘komos’, meaning ‘reveling band, merrymaking’, and the verb ‘aeido’ means ‘to sing’. In common literary usage a work, particularly a dramatic work, which is designed to amuse and divert through its depiction of (traditionally) everyday characters and situations and its delivery of a happy resolution. As a genre, however, comedy encompasses every form and may be found in both prose and poetry.

Comedy in drama takes the average human (not nobility) as its subject matter. In ridiculing human foibles and vices, comedy drama, hopes to correct the manners and conduct. Major figures include: Aristophanes, Menander, Roman Plautus, Terence from the Classical period and Shakespeare, Ben Johnson, William Congreve, Wycherly.

Tragi-comedy: the term derives from a reference by Plautus to the unconventional mixture of kings, gods and servants (individuals from different social classes) in his own play Amphitruo as tragico-comoedia. Aristotle had made it clear in his book Poetics that audiences preferred the kind of endings where poetic justice was seen to be done. Tragicomedy maintains a serious stature that leads to a crisis and concludes happily. Notable significant plays: Amphitryon by Plautus, The Tempest, Cymbeline by Shakespeare, A King and No King by Fletcher.

Melodrama: (song drama) a combination of Greek ‘melo’, meaning ‘music’ and ‘dran’ meaning ‘to do, to act’ (drama). The mixture of music and drama was either opera or melodrama. Following the French influence, melodrama became described as a sentimental drama marked by extravagant theatricality, but could not attain the stature of tragedy.

Significant works to mention: Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd, Duchess of Malfi by Webster.

One-act Play: self-evidently a dramatic work consisting of only one act. A one act play is the dramatic equivalent of a short story and tends to concentrate on a single episode or situation (one aspect) and as a general rule has only two or three characters.

Popular plays: Riders to the Sea by J. M. Singe, The Proposal by Anton Chekhov, A Memory of Two Mondays by Arthur Miller, The Monkey’s Paw by W. W. Jacobs.

The Elements of Drama:

The elements of drama, by which dramatic works can be analyzed and evaluated, can be categorized into three major parts:

          1. Literary elements

          2. Technical elements

          3. Performance elements

1. Literary elements:

• Plot: the series of events that take place in a play. There are 6 stages in a plot structure:

1. Initial incident: the event that “gets the story going”.
2. Preliminary event: whatever takes place before the action of the play that is directly related to the story around which the play revolves.
3. Rising action: a series of events following the initial incident and leading up to the dramatic climax.
4. Climax: the turning point or high point of a story, when events can go either way (better or worse).
5. Falling action: the series of events following the climax.
6. Denouement or Conclusion: another term for the ending. It is the French word for ‘unraveling’.

• Character: a person portrayed in a drama, novel, or other artistic piece.
• Exposition: is the “who, when, where and what” part of the play.
• Story organization: beginning, middle, end.
• Conflict: the internal or external struggle between opposing forces, ideas, or interests that creates dramatic tension.
• Suspense: a feeling of uncertainty as to the outcome, used to build interest and excitement on the part of the audience.
• Theme: the basic idea of a play; the idea, point of view, or perception that binds together a work of art.
• Symbolism: the use of symbols in a play. Many of the following can be understood as symbols:

               - Tone: it is the playwright’s attitude toward the subject or reader.

               - Mood: the feeling a play is intended to create in a reader.

               - Figures of Speech: metaphor, simile, personification…

Other literary elements:

• Language: in drama, the particular manner of verbal expression, the diction or style of writing, or the speech or phrasing that suggests a class or profession or type of character.
• Style: the shaping of dramatic material, settings, or costumes in a deliberately nonrealistic manner.
• Dialogue: conversation between characters in a literary work. Dialogue brings characters to life by revealing their personalities and by showing what they are thinking and feeling as they react to other characters.

1. Soliloquy: a long speech delivered by a character who is alone onstage. A soliloquy typically reveals the private thoughts and emotions of the character.
2. Monologue: A long speech made by one actor (a monologue may be delivered alone or in the presence of others.)
3. Foil: a character who provides a strong contrast to another character. A foil (function) may emphasize another character’s distinctive traits or make a character look better by comparison.

2. Technical elements:

• Scenery (set): the theatrical equipment, such as curtains, flats, backdrops, or platforms, used in a dramatic production to communicate environment.
• Costumes: clothing and accessories worn by actors to portray character and period.
• Props: short for properties; any article, except costume or scenery, used as part of a dramatic production; any moveable object that appears on stage during a performance, from a telephone to a train.

Other technical elements:

• Lights
• Sound
• Makeup

3. Performance elements:

Acting use of face, body, and voice to portray character.

• Character motivation: the reason or reasons for a character’s behavior; an incentive or inducement for further action for a character.
• Character analysis: in responding to dramatic art, the process of examining how the elements of drama— literary, technical, and performance—are used
• Empathy: the capacity to relate to the feelings of another.

Nonverbal expression:

• Gestures
• Facial expression
• Movement

Aristotle’s Six Elements of Drama:

The narrative structure of popular dramatic art forms has not changed essentially since the days of Aristotle. Dramas are art forms like odes, sonnets, or fugues: they have specific formal requirements. Their artistic merit – and their popular success – is a result of meeting these formal requirements.

Aristotle’s Six Elements are Fable (Plot), Theme (Thought), Characters, Diction (Dialogue), Music/ Rhythm (Melody), and Spectacle. Aristotle considered these six things to be essential to a good drama:

1. Plot: this is what happens in the play. Plot refers to the action; the basic storyline of the play.Horrible event befalls man; man, initially chooses revenge, but finally chooses redemption and forgiveness.Note that it is not always easy to describe how plot relates to theme and what we call story. It has been argued, correctly, following Aristotle, that there are only a few basic plots. A basic plot introduces themes. In this case, the basic plot of ‘horrible event befalls a man’ introduces the theme of the possibility of forgiveness. It does not introduce forgiveness as a narrative actuality, until that point in the plot where the character makes a moral choice. It remains as true today as in Aristotle’s time that a good story must have specific “plot points,” or moments when the character makes a moral choice. Aristotle’s idea is that plot, rather than character, is central.
2. Theme (Thought): theme is the main idea or lesson to be learned from the play. In some cases, the theme of a play is obvious; other times it is quite subtle.Sometimes the hero states a more profound philosophy, such as the reasons we might have for self-sacrifice. Another technique used by writers is the use of “throwaway lines,” in which characters can provide thought, or a conceptual background, in a play that may otherwise seem devoid of it. For instance, Samuel Beckett’s works can be viewed as devoid of any thought or theme by virtue of their repetitive or slow actions, and seemingly flat characters. However, the throwaway lines present food for the thought of spectators as long as they pick up on the subtle philosophical hints.
3. Characters: characters are the people (sometimes animals or ideas) portrayed by the actors in the play. It is the characters who move the action, or plot, of the play forward. Following Aristotle, a character building happens only through actions for instance, a character embarks on a quest to regain self-respect and self-worth in his/her society. Only through willing him/herself to take actions can a character develop.
4. Dialogue (Diction): this refers to the words written by the playwright and spoken by the characters in the play. The dialogue helps move the action of the play along. Shakespeare’s plays for example meet Aristotle’s standards for high art, the language used, however, is probably too inaccessible to current audiences to meet Aristotle’s “clarity” criterion.
5. Music/Rhythm (Melody): while music is often featured in drama, in this case Aristotle was referring to the rhythm of the actors' voices as they speak. The music integrated during a play can be unnoticed, or central to the impact of the play. The best plays seek integration of the music with visual impact and major plot points.
6. Spectacle: this refers to the visual elements of a play: sets, costumes, special effects, etc. Spectacle is everything that the audience sees as they watch the play. Some plays may even promote spectacle as if it were the most important element and the primary reason to see them. Dialogue (i.e., expressions of thought) often recedes into the background, as stage time is dedicated to special effects.

 Note: upon close inspection, we realize that Aristotle’s six elements of drama are the predecessors and the prototypes of the three more elaborate elements discussed above (literary, technical, and performance elements).