Introduction to Literature:

What is Drama?
 Definitions
 As a form of literature, drama has been studied for centuries – ‘a poem written for representation’
(Johnson). In other words, it has been judged primarily as a poem, and all that peculiarly belongs to
the stage – acting, production, scenery, effects – have been subsumed under the vague term
‘representation’.
 In Greek the term meant simply to act or perform, and the definition is still valid; all others are
derivative and of limited historical significance.
 The dictionary offers ‘a set of events... leading to catastrophe or consummation’; but that relates to
Victorian theatre and to a Victorian view of Greek tragedy. The dancing and flute playing which
Aristotle discussed are not events, and do not lead to catastrophe; nor does the Fool in Lear, nor the
tramps in Waiting for Godot.
 the general term for performances in which actors impersonate the actions and speech of fictional
or historical characters (or non-human entities) for the entertainment of an audience, either on a
stage or by means of a broadcast; or a particular example of this art, i.e. a play. Drama is usually
expected to represent stories showing situations of conflict between characters, although the
*MONODRAMA is a special case in which only one performer speaks. Drama is a major *GENRE
of literature, but includes non-literary forms (in *MIME), and has several dimensions that lie
beyond the domain of the literary dramatist or playwright (see mise en scene).
 The Origins of Drama/ Theater
 The earliest origins of drama are to be found in Athens where ancient hymns, called dithyrambs,
were sung in honor of the god Dionysus. These hymns were later adapted for choral processions
in which participants would dress up in costumes and masks. Eventually, certain members of the
chorus evolved to take special roles within the procession, but they were not yet actors in the way
we would understand it.
 That development came later in the 6th century BC, when the tyrant Pisistratus, who then ruled
the city, established a series of new public festivals. One of these, the 'City Dionysia', a festival of
entertainment held in honor of the god Dionysus, featured competitions in music, singing, dance
and poetry. And most remarkable of all the winners was said to be a wandering bard called
Thespis.
 According to tradition, in 534 or 535 BC, Thespis astounded audiences by leaping on to the back
of a wooden cart and reciting poetry as if he was the characters whose lines he was reading. In
doing so he became the world's first actor, and it is from him that we get the world thespian.
 Only a small fraction of the work of five dramatists, however, has survived to this day: we have a
small number of complete texts by the tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, and the
comic writers Aristophanes and, from the late fourth century, Menander.
 Elizabethan and Jacobean

 One of the great flowerings of drama in England occurred in the

sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Many of these plays were written in
verse, particularly iambic pentameter. In addition to Shakespeare, such
authors as Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Middleton, and Ben Jonson
were prominent playwrights during this period. As in the medieval
period, historical plays celebrated the lives of past kings, enhancing the
image of the Tudor monarchy. Authors of this period drew some of their
storylines from Greek mythology and Roman mythology or from the
plays of eminent Roman playwrights such as Plautus and Terence.
 Realist and Naturalist Theater
 In the nineteenth century, Realism became the dominant trend in modern drama largely through the works of
the Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen and the Russian writer, Anton Chekhov. Realism first achieved
popularity in the novel, but Ivan Turgenev and other playwright began to experiment with it in their dramas
in the late nineteenth century. Ibsen's work helped to rewrite the rules of drama and were further developed
by Chekhov, remaining an important part of the theater to this day. From Ibsen forward, drama became more
interested in social concerns, challenging assumptions and directly commenting on issues.
 Naturalism is a movement in European drama and theatre that developed in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. It refers to theatre that attempts to create a perfect illusion of reality through a range of dramatic
and theatrical strategies: detailed, three-dimensional settings; everyday speech forms (prose over poetry); a
secular world-view (no ghosts, spirits or gods intervening in the human action); an exclusive focus on subjects
that are contemporary and indigenous (no exotic, otherworldly or fantastic locales, nor historical or mythic
time-periods); an extension of the social range of characters portrayed (away from the aristocrats of classical
drama, towards bourgeois and eventually working-class protagonists); and a style of acting that attempts to
recreate the impression of reality (often by seeking complete identification with the role, understood in terms
of its ‘given circumstances’, which, again, transcribe Darwinian motifs into performance, as advocated by
Stanislavski).
 Naturalistic writers were influenced by the theory of evolution of Charles Darwin. They believed that one’s
heredity and social environment determine one’s character.
 Types or Forms of Drama
 Comedy: Plays or dramas that are meant to create laughter among the readers or the audiences.
 Comedy of Manners: Plays or dramas that are meant to make fun of the manners and ways of a social group to make fun of them for
correction.
 Farce: These plays or dramas present buffoons, horseplay for crude characterization.
 Melodrama: These dramas and plays are known for exaggeration of characters, events, and situations for sensationalism.
 Mastery Play: These dramas were written during the Middle Ages to depict the life of Christ.
 Situation Comedy or Sitcom: These plays or dramas present various characters in their daily activities.
 Soap Operate: These plays or dramas present a domestic thematic strand full of sentimentalism.
 Sketch: These short dramas and plays are meant to create comic situations through short sketches.
 Street Theater: These dramas and plays are meant to entertain the public in the streets through readymade scenes and themes.
 Absurd Play: These plays and dramas are meant to present the irrationality of life through changing dramatic structures and conventions.
 Theatre of Cruelty: These dramas and plays are meant to change present sufferings and pains through characters, themes, and structures.
 Tragedy: This is the oldest form of drama that means to present tragic emotions on the stage.
 Tragicomedy: This type of drama presents tragedy and comedy together to make the people feel relieved after watching tragic events.
 Romantic Comedy: A form of comedy, these dramas, and plays are meant to present light-hearted moments of life.
 Closet Drama
 closet drama, a literary composition written in the form of a play (usually
as a dramatic poem), but intended—or suited—only for reading in a closet
(i.e. a private study) rather than for stage performance. *SENECAN
TRAGEDY is thought to have been written for private recitation, and
there are several important examples of closet drama in English, including
Milton's Samson Agonistes (1671), Byron's Manfred (1817), Shelley's
Prometheus Unbound (1820), and Arnold's Empedocles on Etna (1852).
 Alternative Theatre

 A term loosely applied to any kind of dramatic presentation which is basically

non-conformist and non-traditional and thus outside the standard repertory
productions one would expect to find in the West End of London, on
Broadway, in boulevard theatres or in regional theatres in cities and large
towns. It tends to be avant-garde (q.v.), experimental and off-beat. See
agitprop drama; celebratory theatre; fringe theatre; off-broadway; third
theatre; total theatre.
 anti-play

 A dramatic work which not only ignores the traditional

conventions but actively distorts them. There is no observable
plot and little development of character. Dialogue is often
inconsequential or totally disconnected. Playwrights of the
Theatre of the Absurd (q.v.) have used anti-play techniques.
Sometimes they have been very successful. See happening.
 ACT
 A major division in a play. Each act may have one or more scenes. Greek plays were performed as
continuous wholes, with interpolated comment from the Chorus (q.v.). Horace appears to have been the first
to insist on a five-act structure. At some stage during the Renaissance the use of five acts became standard
practice among French dramatists. Plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries have natural breaks
which can be taken as act divisions. In shaping their plays Elizabethan dramatists were influenced by
Roman models (e.g. Seneca). The act divisions were marked as such by later editors. Ben Jonson was largely
responsible for introducing the five-act structure in England. From the second half of the 17th c. the vast
majority of plays were in five acts.
 The introduction of the proscenium and the curtain (unknown in the Elizabethan theatre) during the
Restoration period (q.v.) had some influence on structure. In the Restoration period the curtain rose at the
end of the prologue (which was spoken on the forestage) and stayed out of sight until the end of the play. By
c. 1750 the curtain was dropped regularly to mark the end of an act. Ibsen (1828–1906) cut the number of
acts to four. Dramatists like Chekhov (1860–1904) and Pirandello (1867–1936) also used four. Since early in
the 20th c. most playwrights have preferred the three-act form, though the two-act play is not uncommon.
 In modern productions, especially in the cases of five- and four-act plays, there is only one curtain-drop and
interval. Thus the first three or two acts are run together without a break. Many modern plays are written
and presented in a sequence of scenes. Pirandello, Shaw, Brecht and Beckett, among others, have been
responsible for an increased flexibility. T. W. Baldwin gives an illuminating account of Elizabethan methods
in Shakespeare’s Five-Act Structure (1947).
 ACTION

 Action Two basic meanings may be distinguished: (a) the main

story (in cinematic jargon ‘story-line’) of a play, novel, short story,
narrative poem, etc.; (b) the main series of events that together
constitute the plot (q.v.). Action is fundamental to drama, and
implies motion forward. Much action is achieved without physical
movement on stage, or even without anything being said. An
essential part of action is the unfolding of character and plot.