Drama and Poetry

Pramod Subedi
M.A.& M.Ed. (English), L.L.B.
Teaching Assistant
Mid-Western University
(Bageshwari Multiple Campus, Kohalpur)
M.Phil. (English Education) Scholar
Nepal Open University
NELTA Life member and Executive member (NELTA Banke)
Former Access Instructor (English Access Micro-scholarship
Program)
Alumni facilitator (AE E-Teacher Course)
 Introduction to Drama
• What is Drama?
• Drama and Rituals
• Drama: the illusion of reality
• Seeing a play on the stage: theatres
and their effect
• Genres of Drama
• Elements of Drama 2
 Literary Genres
Forms of literature are distinguished on the basis of:
words or language used by authors while creating the
world:
• The way in which the words in literary works relate to
the world of experience.
• The way in which those words are communicated to a
reader.
Words related to the world of experience can be
observed in two ways:
• Words are used to create imaginary people and events.
• Words are used to give immediate experience. 3
 Introduction to Drama
There are mainly four types of literature: Essay, poem, story and
play. Newly film is also included into this category. It could be
presented as follow:
Words used to create imaginary person and events.

Story play
(narration) (interaction)
Words addressed directly Words overheard by the readers
to the readers
Essay poem
(Persuasion) (Meditation)

Words used to express ideas and feelings

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 What is Drama?
Drama is a composition in prose form
that presents a story entirely told in
dialogue and action and written with
the intention of its eventual
performance before an audience.
Drama has a two-fold nature:
LITERATURE and THEATRE.
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 What is Drama?
Drama comes from the Greek word for
"action." In theater, drama is presented by
actors to an audience. Many times, dramas
use dance and music to convey their message.
For example, opera uses song throughout the
entire performance, and musicals include
dialogue and songs. Most drama or theater
today comes from classical Greece and
included tragedies and comedies.
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 What is Drama?
 Art of representation for pleasure
 Representation of the events that happened or
that are likely to happen
Primary ingredients: characters, action, thought,
spectacle, and audiences
 Duality in drama:
 Believing it as reality & knowing that it is only make believe
 Amusement & seriousness
 Entertains & instructs
 Falsity & Truth
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 What is Drama?
 Aristotle’s Poetics provided the earliest and most
influential theories of drama/ theory of mimesis
Drama as an art of imitation of action(s) or life
 Though having mythic structure, formidable
speeches and profound action, Greek dramas are
somehow lifelike and at least mirror human
nature
 The relationship between drama and life is subtle
and complex in some plays, mainly metaplay.
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 What is Drama?
 Dramatic experience is not absolutely real
The dramatic actions are just pretensions of the
real actions
 However, the proper acting or presentation can
make the audience feel that it is real
Dramas offer us the potentiality of life for good as
well as bad
We can share the experiences and feelings of the
characters
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 Drama and Ritual
Drama actually originated from ancient
Egypt and Greek rituals.
Drama has mostly evolved from the rituals,
ceremonies that were performed time and
again and were supposed to have effect in
the relationship between the people and
their gods.
Most plays evolved from the religious ritual
and were dedicated to the god Dionysus. 1
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 Drama and Ritual
E.g. Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Antigone
emphasized the interaction between the
wills of the gods and the wills of the human
beings (often pitting the truths of humans
against the truths of the gods
The rebirth of drama in the medieval period
also took place in monasteries and churches
and were evolved from the religious
ceremonies. 1
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 Reflection???
 What is drama?
 What are its primary ingredients?
 What are the purposes of drama?
 What are the issues of duality in
drama?
 How is drama an art of mimesis?
 How did Drama originate?
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