DRAMA B RD SEMESTER 3 , A S D S R A L C , P Y 3 GROU WHAT IS DRAMA? 1st DEFINITION DRAMA IS THE SPECIFIC MODE OF FICTION REPRESENTED IN PERFORMANCE: A PLAY, OPERA, MIME, BALLET, ETC., PERFORMED IN A THEATRE, OR ON RADIO OR TELEVISION. CONSIDERED AS A GENRE OF POETRY IN GENERAL, THE DRAMATIC MODE HAS BEEN CONTRASTED WITH THE EPIC AND THE LYRICAL MODES EVER SINCE ARISTOTLE'S POETICS (C. 335 BC)—THE EARLIEST WORK OF DRAMATIC THEORY. 2nd DEFINITION DRAMA IS TAKEN FROM THE WORD "DRAN" WHICH MEANS TO MOVE AND ACT. IT'S KIND OF STORY COMPOSED IN DIALOGUE NOT TO BE READ BUT TO BE WATCHED BECAUSE IT IS ACTED ON A STAGE. 3rd DEFINITION DRAMA IS A MODE OF FICTIONAL REPRESENTATION THROUGH DIALOGUE AND PERFORMANCE. IT IS ONE OF THE LITERARY GENRES, WHICH IS AN IMITATION OF SOME ACTION. DRAMA IS ALSO A TYPE OF A PLAY WRITTEN FOR THEATER, TELEVISION, RADIO, AND FILM. DRAMA IS A COMPOSITION IN VERSE OR PROSE PRESENTING A STORY IN PANTOMIME OR DIALOGUE. IT CONTAINS CONFLICT OF CHARACTERS, PARTICULARLY THE ONES WHO PERFORM IN FRONT OF AUDIENCE ON THE STAGE. WHAT DO YOU CALLED A PERSON WHO WRITES DRAMA FOR STAGE DIRECTION? “DRAMATIST” OR “PLAYWRIGHT” HOW MANY TYPES OF DRAMA THAT YOU ALREADY KNEW? THERE ARE FOUR TYPES OF DRAMA, THEY ARE COMEDY, TRAGEDY, TRAGICOMEDY AND MELODRAMA. THESE GENRES ORIGINATED IN DIFFERENT TIMES, BUT EACH OF THEM HAS ITS OWN CHARACTERISTICS. HOWEVER, ALL OF THEM HAVE THEIR PLACE IN MODERN CULTURE AND SHOULD BE APPRECIATED. COMEDY COMEDY IS A TYPE OF DRAMA THAT AIMS TO MAKE THE AUDIENCE LAUGH. ITS TONE IS LIGHT AND IT MOSTLY HAS A HAPPY ENDING. SUCH TRADITION CAME FROM THE ANCIENT GREEK THEATRE, WHERE COMEDY FIRST EMERGED AS A FORM OF DRAMA. COMEDY COULD BE FURTHER DIVIDED INTO SUBCATEGORIES, FOR EXAMPLE, DRAMATIC IRONY, FARCE, SARCASM, BLACK COMEDY, ETC. EACH TYPE OF COMEDY HAS ITS OWN AUDIENCE. INTERESTINGLY, SUCH PREFERENCES MAY ALSO DEPEND ON THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND OF PEOPLE. TRAGEDY MURDERS, DEATHS, INSANITY, AND PAIN ARE AMONG THE MOST COMMON IDEAS IN TRAGEDIES. MAIN CHARACTERS USUALLY HAVE SOME KIND OF WEAKNESS OR DEFECT THAT CAUSES THEIR DOWNFALL. TRAGEDY FIRST APPEARED IN THE THEATRE OF ANCIENT GREECE. LIKE COMEDY, IT LIVED THROUGH ROMAN EMPIRE, MEDIEVAL TIMES, RENAISSANCE AND OTHER ERAS. ARISTOTLE BELIEVED THAT THE MAIN CHARACTERISTIC OF TRAGEDY WAS THE CHANGE OF FORTUNES OF THE MAIN CHARACTER BECAUSE OF HIS FLAWS. THE PHILOSOPHER ALSO BELIEVED THAT SUCH DRAMA HAS TO IMPLANT A FEELING OF FEAR AND PITY IN THE AUDIENCE. AS DRAMA EVOLVED, MORE MODERN SCRIPT WRITERS THOUGHT THAT DEPICTING THE DOWNFALL OF A COMMON PERSON WILL CAUSE THE VIEWER TO FEEL GREATER EMOTIONS AS IT WILL RELATE MORE TO A CHARACTER OF THEIR OWN SOCIAL STATUS. TRAGICOMEDY TRAGICOMEDY IS A SPECIAL KIND OF DRAMA THAT COMBINES THE FEATURES OF TRAGEDY AND COMEDY. IT MEANS THAT SUCH PLAY MAY BE SAD BUT WILL HAVE A HAPPY ENDING, OR IT MAY BE SERIOUS WITH SOME ELEMENTS OF HUMOR EMERGING THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE PLAY. UNLIKE COMEDY AND TRAGEDY, TRAGICOMEDY EMERGED A BIT LATER, IN THE TIMES OF ROMAN EMPIRE. ROMAN DRAMATIST PLAUTUS WAS THE FIRST TO WRITE A TRAGICOMEDY AND TO USE THE TERM. IN HIS PLAY AMPHITRYON, HE USED THE LIGHTHEARTEDNESS OF COMEDY BUT CHOSE GODS AND KINGS AS THE MAIN CHARACTERS. THIS WAS QUITE REVOLUTIONARY OF HIM. BEFORE PLAUTUS, THERE WERE STRICT RULES ABOUT WRITING DRAMA, IT WAS EITHER COMEDY OR TRAGEDY. THESE GENRES WERE NEVER MIXED TOGETHER. PLAUTUS WAS THE FIRST TO NOTE THAT IN OUR DAILY LIVES WE HAVE FEATURES OF BOTH TRAGEDY AND COMEDY. THEREFORE, DRAMA ALSO CAN COMBINE THEM BOTH. MELODRAMA MELODRAMA IS THE LAST ONE OF THE FOUR TYPES OF DRAMA. IT IS A KIND OF DRAMA IN WHICH EVERYTHING IS HYPERBOLIZED. USUALLY, THEMES DEPICTED IN MELODRAMAS ARE SIMPLE AND WITHOUT ANY UNPREDICTABLE PLOT TWISTS. THERE ARE QUITE A LOT OF STEREOTYPES IN SUCH DRAMAS. HOWEVER, THE MAIN POINT OF A MELODRAMA IS NOT TO TELL A STORY BUT TO AWAKEN FEELINGS IN THE AUDIENCE. THEY ARE MOSTLY LOVE STORIES WITH BEAUTIFUL HEROINES, CHARMING HEROES AND SCARY VILLAINS. EXAMPLE OF DRAMA IN LITERATURE “MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING” BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING IS THE MOST FREQUENTLY PERFORMED SHAKESPEARIAN COMEDY IN MODERN TIMES. THE PLAY IS ROMANTICALLY FUNNY, IN THAT LOVE BETWEEN HERO AND CLAUDIO IS LAUGHABLE, AS THEY NEVER EVEN GET A SINGLE CHANCE TO COMMUNICATE ON-STAGE UNTIL THEY GET MARRIED.THEIR RELATIONSHIP LACKS DEVELOPMENT AND DEPTH. THEY END UP MERELY AS CARICATURES, EXEMPLIFYING WHAT PEOPLE FACE IN LIFE WHEN THEIR RELATIONSHIPS ARE INTERNALLY WEAK. LOVE BETWEEN BENEDICK AND BEATRICE IS AMUSING, AS INITIALLY THEIR COMMUNICATIONS ARE VERY SPARKY, AND THEY HATE EACH OTHER. HOWEVER, THEY ALL OF SUDDEN MAKE UP, AND START LOVING EACH OTHER. “THE HEIRESS” BY HENRY JAMES MELODRAMA:THE HEIRESS IS BASED ON HENRY JAMES’ NOVEL THE WASHINGTON SQUARE. DIRECTED FOR STAGE PERFORMANCE BY WILLIAM WYLER, THIS PLAY SHOWS AN UNGRACEFUL AND HOMELY DAUGHTER OF A DOMINEERING AND RICH DOCTOR. SHE FALLS IN LOVE WITH A YOUNG MAN, MORRIS TOWNSEND, AND WISHES TO ELOPE WITH HIM, BUT HE LEAVES HER IN THE LURCH. THE AUTHOR CREATES MELODRAMA TOWARDS THE END, WHEN CATHERINE TEACHES A LESSON TO MORRIS, AND LEAVES HIM INSTEAD. FUNCTION OF DRAMA DRAMA IS ONE OF THE BEST LITERARY FORMS THROUGH WHICH DRAMATISTS CAN DIRECTLY SPEAK TO THEIR READERS, OR THE AUDIENCE, AND THEY CAN RECEIVE INSTANT FEEDBACK OF AUDIENCES. A FEW DRAMATISTS USE THEIR CHARACTERS AS A VEHICLE TO CONVEY THEIR THOUGHTS AND VALUES, SUCH AS POETS DO WITH PERSONAS, AND NOVELISTS DO WITH NARRATORS. SINCE DRAMA USES SPOKEN WORDS AND DIALOGUES, THUS LANGUAGE OF CHARACTERS PLAYS A VITAL ROLE, AS IT MAY GIVE CLUES TO THEIR FEELINGS, PERSONALITIES, BACKGROUNDS, AND CHANGE IN FEELINGS. IN DRAMAS THE CHARACTERS LIVE OUT A STORY WITHOUT ANY COMMENTS OF THE AUTHOR, PROVIDING THE AUDIENCE A DIRECT PRESENTATION OF CHARACTERS’ LIFE EXPERIENCES. IS THERE ANY QUESTION? THANK YOU FOR THE TIME AND THE ATTENTION
