English 131

Introduction to Drama
I. Origins of Drama
A. Many say drama originated in Greece
over 2,500 years ago as an outgrowth of the
worship of the god Dionysus.
B. During Dionysian festivals, a group of 50
citizens of Athens, known as a chorus,
would perform hymns of praise to the god.
These were known as dithyrambic poetry.

Trivia: Thespis introduced dialogue, spoken

lines representing conversation
II. Two main types of Greek
drama
A. tragedy
B. comedy
III. Aristotles classification of drama

1. epic poetry
2. dithyrambic poetry
3. comedy
4. tragedy
Aristotles Six Elements of Tragedy
I. Plot
A. Components of plot

1. exposition = provides the audience with essential

information who, what, when, where that it
needs to know before it can continue
2. complication = the interjection of some
circumstance or event that shakes up the stable
situation that has existed before the plays opening
3. rising action = the period in which the audiences
tension and expectations become tightly intertwined
and involved with the characters and the events they
experience
A. Components of plot

4. conflict = usually a problem that the characters

cannot avoid
5. climax = the moment of greatest tension
6. falling action = beginning of the lessening of
tension
7. dnouement (resolution) = the untying of the
knot, in which the tension built up during the play
is released
II. Characterization

A. Protagonist = the primary speaker

B. Antagonist = the one who speaks against
him
C. Character motivation = why does a
character behave in this manner? What does
he/she hope to gain from these actions?
D. Two conventions a playwright might employ
in revealing motivation are soliloquy (a speech
made by a single character on stage alone) and
aside (a brief remark made directly to the
audience).
III. Theme = the central idea or
ideas that a play discusses
A. Didactic = plays written to instruct the audience
in ethical, religious, or political areas
B. Morality play = a sermon on sin and redemption
rendered in dramatic terms
C. Problem play = uses the theater as a forum for
the serious debate of social issues like industrial
pollution or womens rights
D. Drama of ideas = goes further than simply
presenting social problems; it advances a program of
reform
E. Social drama = radical social and political
programs are openly propagandized
IV. Diction = what we would call
a playwrights style or the
language and vocabulary he/she
uses
V. Melody = the rhythm of the
language in a play (meter, verse,
and so on)
VI. Spectacle = sometimes
called mise en scne, or setting
of the scene. This is the purely
visual dimension of a play: the
costumes, the props, the set.
Brief History and Description
of Dramatic Conventions
Greek Tragedy
Trilogy
Chorus = a group of singers that comments on the
play, often from the point of view of public
opinion of the actions taking place

Prologue = an introductory scene that tells the

audience important information about the plays
setting, characters, and events immediately
preceding the opening of the drama.

Episode (episodos)= a passage of dialogue

between two or more actors or between actors and
chorus
Greek Tragedy
Choral ode = the chorus is alone on stage,
singing

xodos = the final scene of the play

Epilogue = after the main characters leave,

this is where the chorus comes back on
stage to sum up the plays meaning
Medieval Drama
Folk drama = plays performed by wandering
troupes of actors
Liturgical drama = plays put on by the Roman
Catholic church
Mystery Plays = derived from holy scripture
Passion plays = focused on the crucifixion of
Christ
Miracle plays = dramatized the lives of the saints
Morality plays = dramatized sermons with
allegorical characters
Elizabethan Drama

Raised stage = relied very little on set, but

heavily on authors ability to tell the tale
Female parts were played by young boys
Originality, as we use the term, meant little
at the time
Designed to appeal to a wide audience, not
the elite.
The Comic Genres
Commedia dellarte = a cast of masked
stock characters (the miserly old man, the
young wife, the ardent seducer)
Realistic Drama, the Modern
Stage, and Beyond

Realism = plays that drop some of the

dramatic conventions in an attempt to
portray real life more accurately
Expressionism = dreamlike atmospheres
Theater of the absurd = depicts a world
without meaning where everything seems
ridiculous