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Drama
Drama : Means simply performance or action. This term comes from a Greek word
which means to act. It is performed by actors on a stage before an audience. It
involves actions, conflicts, and themes.
Classical classification of drama
Comedy: a dramatic work that has a humorous and satirical tone and ends happily.
It has many types
1- pure comedy: a type of comedy characterized by witty dialogue, satire
and criticism of life. E.g. Shakespeare’s “ A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
2-tragic comedy: a literary work that has some tragic elements but ends
happily .e.g Shakespeare’s “ The Merchant of Venice”
comedy of humor : it focuses on a fixed personality trait of a character that is
portrayed in a humorous manner. E.g. Ben Jonson’s “ Every man in his
humor”
Comedy of manners : it is an ironic form of drama that satirizes the manners of
a particular class. E.g. William Congreve’s “ the Way of the World”.
Sentimental comedy: a dramatic genre aims at producing tears rather
than laughter. It reflects a philosophical conception about humans as
being innately good but capable of being misled by bad examples
sometimes.
E.g. Richard steele “ Tender Husband”.
Modern problem play: it deals with social issues through debates
between the characters on the stage who represent conflicting
points of view within a realistic social context.
E.g. Henrik Ibsen “ A doll’s House”
Types of tragedy:
Revenge tragedy: its dominant motive is revenge. E.g. Shakespeare’s
“Hamlet”.
Historical tragedy: it is based on a historical narrative as Shakespeare’s
“Richard II”
Heroic tragedy: a play that is written in a heroic verse and focuses on
national foundation or grand matters. E.g. Dryden’s Conquest of
Granada
Drama is not simply literature; it is a composite art form, a
mixture of literature and visual arts, speech and
movement , story and spectacle.
Didactic drama: it is a type of drama aims at teaching and
instructing the audience. E.g. Marlowe’s “Dr. Faustus”.
Monodrama: a drama that is composed by one actor
playing only one character. E.g. Becket's “Krapp's Last
Tape “
Morality plays: it tends to teach us morals and lessons and it is
represented mainly by the conflict between virtues and vices.
Closet drama: a type of drama that is not intended to be performed
onstage, but to be read. E.g. John Milton’s Samson Agonistes
Elements of drama:
1- plot: the series or sequence of events. It might take a simple
linearity ( introduction-rising action-climax- falling action- End)
Or it may move backward ( flashback) or forward ( foreshadowing).
2- character:
Major characters- minor characters
Flat characters- round characters
Themes: the dominant ideas of the play.
Diction: the language used to show the characters contact or conflict. It
could be in the form of a dialogue or monologue.
Music: the sound effects on spoken language. The type of music could
convey a message for the audiences.
How did drama merge and develop??
• It began as a form of religious expression in classical
Greek drama about the relationship between God and
man. In this classical period, the theatre was in the open
air.
• In the medieval/ middle ages, Drama witnessed a
revival, in morality plays in particular as the play “ Every
man”.
• The Elizabethan age was the golden age of drama as in
the plays of Shakespeare and Marlowe.
The queen herself was interested in literature, especially
drama. Therefore, permanent theatres were established.
• Then, the puritans closed the theatres and that was a declining
period of drama.
• In 1660, the monarchy in Britain was restored. Theatres were reopened and actresses appeared for the first time.
• In the 19th century, the romantic theatre emerged. It allowed
humankind to transcend the limitations of the physical world.
Henrik Ibsen was a leading figure who wrote plays that focused on
ordinary people unlike Shakespeare and Marlowe who wrote about
high-ranked people.
E.g. “ A doll’s house” and “the wild Duck”
During the 20th century, George Bernard Shaw, an Irish dramatist, wrote his
plays in a realistic manner and he appealed to the minds of his audience
rather than their sensations. He was concerned with the social issues and
how to build up a civilization.
This is called what is known as “Drama of ideas” which
deals with contentious social issues through debates between the
characters on stage, who typically represent conflicting points of
view within a realistic social context.
So, both Ibsen and Shaw used realism.
* Still in Ireland, there are many plays written by many Irish dramatists as
Synge, Yeats, and Beckett. Their plays are characterized by an antirealistic trend in drama unlike Ibsen and Shaw.
• As a revolt against Ibsen’s and Shaw’s realism, expressionism
appeared giving a new way of thinking. It emerged in Germany at
the very beginning of the 20th century. Expressionistic writers show
reality distorted by an emotional and abnormal state of mind even by
madness. E.g. Miller’s “Death of a salesman”. Moreover, there is a
big space about the inner life of the character. It is a portrait of the
world of subconscious. Every item on the stage reveals an idea like
the music and the devices of lights.
Types of theatre:
• Absurd theatre: It is flourished in the middle of the 20th century wher
it depicts man’s absurd status in an isolated, purposeless and
meaningless universe and time. And because the human existence
has no meaning or purpose, the communication between people
would be reduced to the minimum.
e.g. Samuel Becket's “Waiting for Godot”
Harold Pinter's “No man’s land”
Theatre of silence: A theatrical movement of the 1920s,
characterized by the use of long pauses in the dialogue to allow the
audience to imagine the unstated meanings or emotions.
e.g. Jean-Jacques Bernard’s “The Springtime of Others”
Harold Pinter’s “ Landscape and Silence”
• Theatre of panic: it was invented in 1962 by the Spanish
dramatist “Arrabal”. He was influenced by Beckett and Antonin
Artaud. He sought to create a kind of drama which combines the
elements of tragedy with religious ceremonials. It is intended to
surprise and frighten as well as to arouse laughter.
e.g. “ the Architect and the Emperor of Assyria” by Arrabal
“ And They Handcuffed the Flowers” by Arrabal
Theatre of cruelty:
It was developed by the playwright and the theorist “ Antonin Artaud”. In
his view the theatre must disturb the spectator profoundly, pierce his
heart and soul in such a way as to free unconscious repressions and
oblige men to view themselves as they really are.