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About A Play
Tragedy
A type of drama in which the characters experience reversals of fortune, usually for the worse. In
tragedy, catastrophe and suffering await many of the characters, especially the hero.
Tragic flaw
Tragic hero
A privileged, exalted character of high repute, who, by virtue of a tragic flaw and fate, suffers a
fall from glory into suffering. The character who appears as the focus in a tragic play.
Tragicomedy
Comedy
The word comedy came to mean any play or narrative poem in which the main characters
manage to avert an impending disaster and have a happy ending. The comedy did not necessarily
Comic relief
A humorous scene, incident, character, or bit of dialogue occurring after some serious or tragic
moment. Comic relief is deliberately designed to relieve emotional intensity and simultaneously
Dialogue
The conversation of characters in a literary work. In fiction, dialogue is typically enclosed within
Monologue
Soliloquy
A monologue spoken by an actor at a point in the play when the character believes himself to be
alone. The technique frequently reveals a character's innermost thoughts, including his feelings,
state of mind, motives or intentions. The soliloquy often provides necessary but otherwise
Aside
In drama, a few words or a short passage spoken by one character to the audience while the other
actors on stage pretend their characters cannot hear the speaker's words. It is a theatrical
Gestures
The physical movement of a character during a play. Gesture is used to reveal character, and may
include facial expressions as well as movements of other parts of an actor's body. Sometimes a
playwright will be very explicit about both bodily and facial gestures, providing detailed
instructions in the play's stage directions. Shaw's Arms and the Man includes such stage
directions.
Stage direction
Sometimes abbreviated "s.d.," the term in drama refers to part of the printed text in a play that is
not actually spoken by actors on stage, but which instead indicates actions or activity for the
References:
Wheeler, K. (2003, August 1). Literary Terms and Definitions. Retrieved April 15, 2015, from
https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms.html
DiYanni, R. (2002, January 1). Glossary of Drama Terms. Retrieved April 15, 2015, from
http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072405228/student_view0/drama_glossary.html