a complete information on dram origins to modern

1. Drama

2. Drama
• Prose or verse telling a story intended for
representation by actors through dialogue
or action

3. Origin of Drama
• The word drama comes from the Greek
meaning “to act, do or perform”, and it is
inthe several subtle and diverse meanings
of “to perform” that drama can be said to
have begun

4. Origin of drama
o Many say drama originated in Greece over 2,500
years ago as an outgrowth of the worship of the
god Dionysus.
• 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

5. Like the plot of a story, the plot of a play involves
characters who face a problem or conflict.
Climax
point of highest tension;
action determines how the
conflict will be resolved
Resolution
conflict is resolved;
play ends
Complications
tension builds
Exposition
characters and conflict are
introduced
Dramatic Structure
5
Drama?

6. 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.

7. DRAMA
Drama has a two-fold nature:
LITERATURE and THEATRE.

8. THEATRE

10. Setting identifies the time and place in which
the events occur. It consists of the historical
period, the moment, day and season in which
the incidents take place. It also includes the
sceneries in the performance which are usually
found in the preliminary descriptions.

11. Characters are the people in the play and thus
considered as the principal material in a drama.

12. Character Aspects
Physical
Social• Physical identifies
peripheral facts such as
age, sexual category,
size, race and color. It
deals with external
attributes which may be
envisaged from the
description of the
playwright or deduced
from what the characters
say or what other
characters verbalize
about his appearance.
• Social embraces all
aspects that can be
gleaned from the
character’s world or
environment as
exemplified by the
economic status,
occupation or trade,
creed, familial affiliation of
the characters.

13. Character Aspects
Psychological Moral
• Psychological discloses the
inner mechanism of the mind
of the character as exemplified
by his habitual responses,
attitudes, longings, purposes,
likes and dislikes. It is
considered as the most
indispensable level of
character categorization
because routines and
emotions, thoughts, attitude
and behavior enable the
readers to know the character
intrinsically.
• Moral discloses the
decisions of the
characters, either socially
acceptable or not,
exposing their intentions,
thus projecting what is
upright or not.

14. Plot lays out the series of events that form the
entirety of the play. It serves as a structural
framework which brings the events to a
cohesive form and sense.

15. Types of Plot
Natural Plot Episodic Plot
• Natural Plot is a
chronological sequence
of events arrangement
where actions
continuously take place
as an end result of the
previous action
• Episodic Plot – each
episode independently
comprises a setting,
climax, and resolution;
therefore, a full story in
itself is formed.

16. FRAMEWORK OF A PLOT
Beginning
Middle
Ending

17. Beginning identifies information about the place, such as
geographical location, social, cultural, political background or period
when the event took place.
Exposition
• Exposition is the point
where the playwright
commences his story. It
reveals the identity of
story’s initial crisis.

18. Middle is composed of a series of difficulties:
Complications Crisis
• Complications bring
changes and alterations
in the movement of the
action which take place
when discovery of novel
information, unexpected
alteration of plan,
choosing between two
courses of action or
preface of new ideas are
revealed.
• Crisis reveals the peak of
anticipation in the series
of incidents.

19. Middle is composed of a series of difficulties:
Obligatory Scene Discovery
• Obligatory Scene
identifies the open
collision between two
opposing characters or
forces.
• Discovery discloses
points which are
previously unknown,
characterized as
something mysterious,
strange, unfamiliar and
thus revealed through
objects, persons, facts,
values, or self-
discovered.

20. Ending is the final major component of the story which
brings the condition back to its stability. This part brings
satisfaction to the audience which extends to the final curtain as
peace is completely restored.

21. Theme is considered as the unifying element
that defines the dramatized idea of the play. It is
the over-all sense or implication of the action. It
defines the problem, emphasizes the ethical
judgment and suggest attitude or course of
action that eliminates the crisis is an acceptable
way.

22. Style refers to the mode of expression or
presentation of the play which points out the
playwright’s position or viewpoint in life.

23. Major Dramatic Attitude
Realism Non-realism
• Realism is an accurate
detailed, and life-like
description in a play
where things are
presented as real as can
be set in actual life, with
dialogues sounding like
day-to-day conversation.
• Non-realism is method of
presentation identified as
something stylized or
theatricalized whereby
artist uses his feral
imagination in projecting
his ideas.

25. TRAGEDY
Tragedy is a type of drama that shows the downfall and
destruction of a noble or outstanding person,
traditionally one who possesses a character weakness
called a tragic flaw. The tragic hero, through choice or
circumstance, is caught up in a sequence of events that
inevitably results in disaster.

26. COMEDY
Comedy is a type of drama intended to interest and
amuse the audience rather than make them deeply
concerned about events that happen. The characters
overcome some difficulties, but they always overcome
their ill fortune and find happiness in the end.

27. TRAGICOMEDY
Tragicomedy is a play that does not adhere strictly to
the structure of tragedy. This is usually serious play that
also has some of the qualities of comedy. It arouses
thought even with laughter.

28. FARCE
Farce is a play that brings laughter for the sake of
laughter, usually making use grossly embellished
events and characters. It has very swift movements, has
ridiculous situations, and does not stimulate thought.

29. MELODRAMA
Melodrama shows events that follow each other rapidly, but seems
to be governed always by chance. The characters are victims in the
hands of merciless fate.

30. Greek Drama

31. The Greek Theater
• 5th Century B. C.
• Golden Age of Greek Drama
• Dramatic festivals were
popular
• People witnessed tragic and
comic plays

32. Types of Greek Drama
Tragedy: character is confronted with a
difficult moral choice and usually ends
in his or her death.
Comedy: a humorous entertaining
performance with a happy ending.

33. Overview of Greek Theatre
• The land
The myths
The stage

34. The Land
• Greece has thousands of inhabited
islands and dramatic mountain ranges
• Greece has a rich culture and history
• Democracy was founded in Greece
• Patriarchal (male dominated) society
• Philosophy, as a practice, began in
Greece (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle)

35. The Land
Located in Europe in the Aegean Sea

37. The Land

38. Overview of Greek Theatre
The land
The myths
The stage

39. The Stage

40. The StageThree Main
Portions of Greek
Theatre:
Skene – Portion of
stage where actors
performed
(included 1-3 doors
in and out)
Orchestra –
“Dancing Place”
where chorus sang
to the audience
Theatron – Seating
for audience

41. The Stage

42. The Stage
• Greek plays were performed during
religious ceremonies held in honor of
Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and
revelry (altars generally on stage)
• Banks would shut down for days, people
would travel from all around to see the
drama competitions—even prisoners were
temporarily released to see the plays
• Tragedy means “goat song” (relates to
Dionysian rituals)

43. The Stage

44. Where and how were the dramas
performed?
…In an amphitheatre
…With a chorus who
described most of the
action.
…With masks
…With all the fighting
and movement going
on off stage.
….With tragedy first,
then comedy later.

45. Masks of Greek Theater

46. The masks were worn for many
reason including:
1. Visibility
2. Acoustic Assistance
3. Few Actors, Many Roles
4. Characterization

47. Some general categories of masks
1. OLD MEN
Smooth-Faced, White, Grizzled, Black-Haired, Flaxen and More Flaxen
2. YOUNG MEN
Common, Curled, More Curled, Graceful, Horrid, Pale and Less Pale
3. SLAVES
Leathern, Peaked-Beard, Flat Nose
4. WOMEN
Freed Old Woman, Old Domestic, Middle Aged, Leathern, Pale-
Disheveled, Pale Middle Aged, Whorish-Disheveled, Virgin, Girl
5. SPECIALIST MASKS
Some made for specific characters, others for: Mourning, Blindness,
Deceit, Drunkenness...etc. (The comic masks, those especially of old
comedy, were as like as possible to true persons they represented, or
made to appear more ridiculous)

49. Masks of Greek Theater

51. Masks of
Greek Theater

52. Modern-day replicas
Hero-King
Comedy (Servant or
Herald )
Tragedy (Weeping
Chorus)

53. Theater at Epidaurus

54. Theater at Epidaurus

55. Major Greek Dramatists
Aeschylus 524 B.C. Seven Against
Thebes
Sophocles 496 B.C. Antigone
Oedipus
Euripides 480 B.C. Medea
Dramatist Born Wrote

56. Sophocles’ Antigone
• Set in Thebes (a city in ancient
Greece)
• Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus
and Jocasta
• Antigone’s brothers, Eteokles and
Polyneces, took opposite sides in a
war
• Eteokles and Polyneces killed each
other in battle
• Antigone’s uncle, Kreon, became king
of Thebes

57. Sophocles

59. Greek Comedy and Aristophanes

61. Euripides’ Medea
• Medea is a princess from Colchis
• Medea marries Jason, who is in Colchis on
a quest for the Golden Fleece
• Medea betrays her father and murders her
brother for her love of Jason
• Medea has magical powers
• Jason takes Medea back to his homeland,
Corinth, where they have children
• Jason takes another wife, the king of
Corinth’s daughter

62. Jason’s Voyage on the Argo
Jason and
Medea meet
Corinth: Where Jason
and Medea settle down

63. Overview of Greek Theatre
• The land
The myths
The stage

64. Myths played a key role
in Greek drama

65. The Myths – Why they were written
1. Explained the unexplainable
2. Justified religious practices
3. Gave credibility to leaders
4. Gave hope
5. Polytheistic (more than one god)
6. Centered around the twelve
Olympians (primary Greek gods)

66. Explained the Unexplainable
• When Echo tried to get
Narcissus to love her, she
was denied.
• Saddened, she shriveled to
nothing, her existence
melting into a rock.
• Only her voice remained.
• Hence, the echo!

67. To justify religious practices
• Dionysian cults in ancient Greece
were founded to worship
Dionysus, god of grapes,
vegetation, and wine.

68. Roots in Worship of Dionysus
God of wine and revelry

69. Theater of Dionysus
• Dionysia was an annual
festival in honor of the god
Dionysus
• Theater of Dionysus was
an open-air Theater with
room for fifteen thousand
spectators

70. Theater of Dionysus
• carved out of a stone
hillside
• looked like a semicircle
with steeply rising tiers of
seats

71. Theater of Dionysus

72. Theater of Dionysus
• At the bottom was the
rounded orchestra or
performance area where
the chorus sang and
danced

73. Dionysus Theater in Athens

74. Theater of Dionysus
• Behind the orchestra was
an open, almost bare,
stage where actors spoke
their lines from behind
huge masks

75. Dionysus Theater in Athens

76. Dionysus Theater in Athens

77. Theater of Dionysus
• Male actors performed all the
roles
• Actors switched masks to
play a number of roles – both
female and male

78. Dionysus and Satyrs

79. To give credibility to leaders
Used myths to create
family trees for
their leaders,
enforcing the
made-up idea that
the emperors were
related to the gods
and were, then,
demigods.

80. To give hope
• The ancient citizens of
Greece would sacrifice
and pray to an ORACLE.
• An oracle was a priest or
priestess who would
send a message to the
gods from mortals who
brought their requests.
Where DID hope come from?
After unleashing suffering, famine, disease,
and many other evils, the last thing Pandora let
out was HOPE.

81. Oracle of Delphi

82. Oracle of Delphi

83. Delphi

84. Delphi

85. Mount Olympus…
…Where the
Olympians
lived.
Who are the Olympians?

86. The
Olympian
s Are the
12 Main
Gods

87. The Olympians

88. Zeus
• King of gods
• Heaven
• Storms
• Thunder
• lightning

89. Poseidon
Zeus’s brother
King of the sea
Earthquakes
Horses

90. Hades
Brother to Zeus and
Poseidon
King of the Underworld
(Tartarus)
Husband of Persphone

91. Ares
God of war

92. Hephaestus
God of fire
Craftspeople
Metalworkers
Artisans

93. Apollo
God of the sun
Music
Poetry
Fine arts
Medicine

94. Hermes
• Messenger to the
gods
• Trade
• Commerce
• Travelers
• Thieves & scoundrels

95. Dionysus
God of Wine
Partying
(Revelry)

96. Hera
Queen of gods
Women
Marriage
Childbirth

97. Demeter
Goddess of
Harvest
Agriculture
Fertility
Fruitfulness
Mom to
Persephone

98. Hestia
Goddess of
Hearth
Home
Community

99. Athena
Goddess of
wisdom
Practical arts
War

100. Aphrodite
Goddess of love and
beauty

101. Artemis
Goddess of
hunting and the
moon.

102. ROMAN THEATRE

106. Brief Roman History
509 B.C
• Etruscan (from Etruria) ruler was
expelled, and Rome became a
republic (just as Athens became a
democracy).
• Roman theatre and festivals highly
influenced by Etruscan practices

107. by 345 B.C
• There were over 175 festivals a year
240 B.C
• The beginnings of Roman theatre
recorded
• The first record of drama at the
ludi Romani (Roman Festival or
Roman Games).
Brief Roman History

108. 55 B.C
• First stone theatre built in Rome by
order of Julius Caesar.
Brief Roman History

109. Roman Theatre
• Borrowed Greek ideas and improved
(?) upon them
• Topics less philosophical
• Entertainment tended to be
grandiose, sentimental, diversionary

110. • Included more than drama :
• acrobatics
• gladiators
• jugglers
• athletics
• chariots races
• naumachia (sea battles)
• boxing
• venationes (animal fights)
Roman Theatre

112. 3 Major Influences
• Greek Drama
• Etruscan influences, which
emphasized circus-like elements
• Fabula Atellana – which introduced
FARCE (Atella was near Naples).
Roman Theatre

113. Roman Theatre
Farce
• Short improvised farces, with stock
characters, similar costumes and
masks
• based on domestic life or mythology
• burlesque, parody
• Most popular during the 1st century
B.C., then frequency declined

114. Roman Theatre
Farce
• Probably was the foundation for
commedia dell ‘Arte
• Productions included “stock”
characters:
• Bucco: braggart, boisterous
• Pappas: foolish old man
• Dossenus: swindler, drunk, hunchback

115. Roman Theatre
Pantomime
• solo dance, with music (lutes,
pipes, cymbals) and a chorus.
• Used masks
• The story-telling was usually
mythology or historical stories,
usually serious but sometimes
comic.

116. Roman Theatre
Mime
• overtook after 2nd century A.D.
• The Church did not like Mime
• Most common attributes of mime:
• Spoken
• Usually short
• Sometimes elaborate casts and
spectacle

117. Roman Theatre
• Serious or comic (satiric)
• No masks
• Had women
• Violence and sex depicted literally
(Heliogabalus, ruled 218-222 A.D.,
ordered realistic sex)
• Scoffed at Christianity

118. Roman Festivals
ludi = official religious festivals
these were preceded by
pompa = religious procession

119. Roman Tragedy
Characteristics of Roman
Tragedy
• 5 acts/episodes divided by
choral odes
• included elaborate speeches
• interested in morality
• unlike Greeks, they depicted
violence on stage

120. Roman Tragedy
Characteristics of Roman
Tragedy
• characters dominated by a single
passion which drives them to doom
(ex: obsessiveness or revenge)
• developed technical devices such
as: soliloquies, asides, confidants
• interest in supernatural and human
connections

121. Roman Tragedy
Seneca (5 or 4 B.C. – 65 A.D.)
• only playwright of tragedy whose
plays survived
• Nine extant tragedies, five
adapted from Euripides (Gr.)
• Though considered to be
inferior, Seneca had a strong
effect on later dramatists.

122. Roman Tragedy
Seneca (5 or 4 B.C. – 65 A.D.)
• WroteThe Trojan Women, Media,
Oedipus, Agamemnon, etc.,
which were all based on Greek
originals
• His plays were probably closet
dramas—never presented, or
even expected to be.

123. Roman Comedy
Characteristics of Roman
Comedy
• Chorus was abandoned
• No act or scene divisions
• Concerned everyday, domestic
affairs
• Action placed in the street

124. Roman Comedy
Material from only 2 playwrights
survived
• Platus (c. 254-184 B.C.)
• Terence (195 or 185-159 B.C.)

125. Roman Comedy
Platus (c. 254-184 B.C.)
• Very popular.
• Plays include: Pot of Gold, The
Menaechmi, Braggart Warrior
• All based on Greek New
Comedies, probably, none of
which has survived

126. Roman Comedy
Platus (c. 254-184 B.C.)
• Added Roman allusions, Latin
dialog, witty jokes
• varied poetic meters
• Developed Slapstick & Songs

127. Roman Theatre Design

128. Roman Theatre Design
• First
permanent
Roman theatre
built 54 A.D.
(100 years
after the last
surviving
comedy)

129. Roman Theatre Design
General Characteristics
• Built on level ground with
stadium-style seating (audience
raised)

130. Roman Theatre Design
General Characteristics
• Stage raised to five feet
• Stages were
large –
20-40 ft deep
100-300 ft long

131. Roman Theatre Design
General Characteristics
• Theatre could seat 10-15,000
people
• dressing rooms
in side wings
• stage was
covered with
a room

132. Roman Theatre Design
General Characteristics
• trap doors were common
• cooling system – air blowing over
streams of water
• awning over the audience to
protect them from the sun

133. Roman Theatre Design
Scaena
• “stage
house”
• joined with
audience to
form one
architectural
unit

134. Roman Theatre Design
Scaena frons
• front/façade of the stage house
• was painted and
had columns,
niches,
porticoes,
statues

135. Roman Theatre Design
Orchestra
• becomes half-circle
• was probably used for gladiators
and for the display and killing of
wild animals
• if entertainment permitted,
people were sat here

136. Roman Theatre Design
Vomitoria
• corridors
under the
seats that
lead onto
the
orchestra

137. Roman Theatre Design
Pulpitum
• the stage
Cavea
• the
auditorium

138. Roman Theatre Design
Other structures included:
Circus Maximus
Ampitheatres

139. Roman Theatre Design
Circus Maximus
• Primarily for Chariot racing
• Permitted 12 chariots to race at
once

140. Roman Theatre Design
Ampitheatres
• For gladiator contests, wild animal
fights, and occasionally naumachia
• Had space with elevators below to
bvring up animals, etc.

141. Roman Acting
• Referred to as histriones,
cantores (means declaimers), and
mimes – later primarily histriones
• Mostly male – women were in
mimes

142. Roman Acting
• Mimes were considered inferior;
some believed they were slaves.
• In the 1st century B.C., a "star"
performer seems to have been
emphasized

143. Roman Acting
Style of Acting
• Mostly Greek traditions – masks,
doubling of roles
• Tragedy – slow, stately,
• Comedy—more rapid and
conversational

144. Roman Actors
Style of Acting
• Movements likely enlarged
• Actors probably specialized in
one type of drama, but did others
• Encores if favorite speeches
given (no attempt at "realism")

145. Roman Actors
Style of Acting
• Mimes – no masks
• Used Greek or Roman costumes
• Lots of music

146. Egyptian and Hebrew Drama
History of Drama

147. Drama Origins
• Drama “to do or act”
• Originating through primitive dance revolving
around religion
• Eventually a speaking actor emerged, hence
drama was born
• Can still be seen in hula dances, sun dances,
corn dances, etc.

148. Egyptian Drama
• Egyptian drama dates
to 3000 B.C.
• Main concern was life
after death
• Pyramids were built as
tombs for the afterlife
• Drama revolved
around life after death

149. 5 Types of Egyptian Plays
1. Pyramid Plays
• written on tomb walls, included characters, plot &
stage directions
• Showed resurrection of body
• Done to ensure safe passage to the afterlife
2. Coronation Festival
• Play performed at the crowning of a new pharaoh
• Performed by priests

150. 5 Types of Egyptian Plays
3. Heb Sed
• Celebrated pharaoh's 30th year on the throne
• Reenacted events from his reign
4. Medicinal Play
• Evolved around magical healing

151. 5 Types of Egyptian Play
5. Abydos “Passion” Play
• Earliest scripted drama
presentation recorded
• Characters:
Set (or Seth): god of
evil
Osiris: Set’s brother
Isis: Osiris’s wife

152. Plot: Abydos “Passion” PlaySet is jealous of Osiris, tricks
him into a coffin, nails it
shut and throws it in the
Nile.
Isis finds the coffin and
brings Osiris to life so they
can conceive a child. Osiris
becomes King of the Dead.
Their child grows up and
defeats Set to avenge his
father’s death.
video

153. Hebrew Drama
• No reference of
definite theater in
Bible
• 2 books have dramatic
structure
– Job
– Song of Songs
• J.B. – Archibald
MacLeish

154. The Book of Job
• While Job is not
considered drama, it is
sometimes performed
in dramatic structure
• Dramatic readings
• Dramatic structure
– Prologue (prose)
– Main Body (poetry)
– Epilogue (prose)

155. The English drama from the
Middle Ages to the
Restoration
 

156. The English drama from the
Middle Ages to the Restoration
The Medieval drama
The Elizabethan
drama
The Restoration
drama
General features
Themes
Structure
Language
Audience
Authors and works

157. Medieval drama
General features
Medieval drama flourished in the 15th century; it
developed out of liturgical ceremonies: the origin of
medieval plays can be found in the Church and in its
rituals
After music was introduced into churches (6th
century) and words were later fitted to the melodies, a
dramatic dialogue began to take place in the form of
an alternation of chants between the priest and the
choir
Later processional and scenic effects were added
which increased dramatic action: liturgical drama
evolved into Miracle and Mystery plays and these
ones into Morality plays

158. Medieval drama
Themes
Mystery plays usually dealt with Gospel events: their
main subject was the redemption of man
Miracle Plays were concerned with episodes from the
lives of saints
Moralities too were religious plays, but they focused
on the conflict between good and evil; their aim was
to improve people’s moral behaviour

159. Medieval drama
Structure
 The Miracles grew in popularity,
so the plays left the Church to
be performed first in the Church
yard, then in other open spaces
of the town
 Each play was repeated
several times in different parts
of the town with the help of a
pageant, a carriage in the form
of small house with two vertical
rooms: in the lower room the
actors prepared themselves, in
the upper one they played their
parts

160. Medieval drama
Language
In the Miracles, Latin that was slowly replaced by
vernacular, and secular elements became more and
more frequent
The Morality plays were didactic in content and
allegorical in form. They presented personifications of
vices and virtues and generalized characters. The
lines were rhymed as in the Miracles, but the
atmosphere was more melancholy

161. Medieval drama
Audience
The cycles of Mistery plays appealed to all
social classes, from royalty to peasants: they
all came in to watch the plays. Cycles instilled
a love of drama in the people
Moralities were intended for more learned
people, with some cultural background

162. Medieval drama
Authors and works
The Myracle plays were
grouped in 4 cycles,
known by the names of
the towns where they
were performed: Chester,
York, Coventry,
Wakefield
The best Morality play is
Everyman (about 1500)

163. Elizabethan drama
General features
Drama became the national literary
manifestation of the time: the theatres were
open to everybody
Moralities and interludes were still a living
memory, since they had instilled a great
interest in drama in the people
A new interest in classical drama had been
introduced by Humanism

164. Elizabethan drama
Themes
The theatre was a mirror of society, whose structure was
modelled on the divine order of the universe, inside
which man had to respect a precise hierarchy (God,
angels, men, animals and inanimate objects): drama
derived from the breaking of this order
The new hero, full of passions and doubts, replaced the
old allegorical character
The relationship between the laws of man and nature
was emphasized: prodigious phenomena were
presented as consequence or presage of criminal
actions

165. Elizabethan drama
Structure
 The theatres (The Globe, The Swan,
The Rose), built on the model of the
old inns, were designed as large
wooden structures circular or
octogonal in shape, with three tiers of
galleries surrounding a yard or pit,
open to the sky. The stage was
divided in three parts: outer, inner and
upper stage
 The scenery was very little: simple
objects simbolized a place or the role
of an actor (e.g., a table stood for a
room, a crown for a king, etc.)

166. Elizabethan drama
Language
The language, alive and direct, was affected
by the concept of hierarchy
Being in verse, the Elizabethan theatre
borrowed from poetry the use of metaphors
and the blank verse

167. Elizabethan drama
Audience
The Elizabethan audience was a cross-
section of society. All social classes went to
the theatre: nobles, commoners, citizens,
lawyers… people with different tastes and
cultural background
The audience were involved in the
performance, since they were in direct
comunication with the actors

168. Elizabethan drama
Authors and works
C. Marlowe (1564-1593)
- Tamburlane the Great
- Doctor Faustus
- The Jew of Malta
B. Jonson (1572-1637)
- Volpone
- Bartholomew Fair
W. Shakespeare (1564-
1616)
- Hamlet
- Romeo and Juliet
- King Lear...

169. Restoration drama
Authors and works
John Dryden (1631-1700)
- The conquest of Granada
- All for love
William Congreve (1670-
1729)
- The Way of the World
- Love for Love

170. William shakesphere
• William Shakespeare was an
English poet, playwright, and actor, widely
regarded as the greatest writer in the English
language and the world's pre-eminent
dramatist.
• He is often called England's national poet and
the "Bard of Avon His extant works, including
some collaborations, consist of about 38
plays 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems,
and a few other verses, the authorship of some
of which is uncertain.

171. • His plays have been translated into every
major living language and are performed
more often than those of any other
playwright.

172. Modern Drama
172

173. From
Classic to
Modern
Drama
 to explore the way in which tragedy evolved into the 20th
century (AO4)
Classical drama – usually refers to literature written in ancient
Greece or Rome
Epic drama – refers to literature which has a grand or ambitions
theme (Shakespeare and Marlow are part of the Early Modern
Tragedy category and wrote epic dramas)
Domestic drama – refers to drama set in a household (it does not
have a grand or ambitions theme)
how modern Drama is different from Classical
Drama

174. THE ‘NEW’ TRAGIC HERO
• Greece: Aristotle’s protagonist (330 BC) = a man of high rank, power or
fortune. They can be noble (of noble birth) or show wisdom (by virtue of
their birth).
• Rome: Seneca (45? AD) = continued the Greek tradition of tragedy
(particularly the unities and the noble protagonist), but with far more
spectacle and gore. Theatre became more for entertainment than for
civic/religious ‘lessons’.
• England: Christopher Marlow (1588-9) writes The Tragical History of Dr.
Faustus – he sells his soul to the devil for infinite power (tragic flaw =
ambition).
– Not of noble birth, but has wisdom and academic abilities (hence, the
DR.)
– Despite several divine interventions, Faustus makes a pact with Lucifer
(he is blind to his own salvation by ambition) and eventually is dragged
to his place in hell (big time punishment!)
– Dr. Faustus fits into a new type of tragic hero who is both a hero and a
villain = anti-hero who embraces disorder by their actions, which are
usually motivated by greed, jealousy, lust and ambition (enter the seven
deadly sins…!). Such characters follow ‘nature’ too readily and tend to
ignore ‘civilised’ behaviour.
…one move away from order can lead to tragedy!
how modern Drama is different from Classical
Drama

175. Order Disorder
Orthodox behaviour Unorthodox behaviour
Goodness Evil
Aware of self Self-conceited
Peaceful actions Violent actions
Ignoring temptation Following temptation
Tradition Subvert tradition
Live within one’s means Greed and ambition
Natural passion controlled Natural passion unrestricted
Not coveting others Jealousy
Seven deadly sins avoided Seven deadly sins embraced
Accepting God’s order Rebelling against God’s order
Christian Pagan
Grace and mercy Despair and judgement
Repetance Damnation
USING THE TYPE OF BEHAVIOUR DESCRIBED ON YOUR PIECE OF PAPER –
WHICH SIDE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ON, ORDER OR DISORDER?

176. • Part of the reason for writing tragedies,
therefore, is to offer the audience a sense
of what value systems are important to us
as human beings, and which systems we
should try to prevent from taking hold.
• Tragedy can educate and help society to
change… if the audiences want to…
• Unfortunately, tragedy in mid-19th century
became ‘watered down’ and only used to
serve as spectacle; audiences wanted to
be entertained and have the social order
of their world reinforced and maintained.
how modern Drama is different from Classical
Drama

177. MODERN EUROPEAN TRAGEDY: THE LATE 19TH
CENTURY• Konstantin Stanislavski created a ‘system’
which changed the face of acting forever.
Rather than just ‘demonstrating’ on stage,
actors were to explore the character inside
and out so that their acting, as well as the
drama, was more realistic on stage.
–Naturalism = theatre which aims to depict
human action and emotion in a ‘realistic’
way
–Fourth wall = an imaginary wall which
divides the stage from the audience in a
box set (a realistic three-dimentional set
with the 4th wall cut out)
how modern Drama is different from Classical
Drama

178. • Henrik Ibsen, August Strindburg (Scandinavia) and Anton Checkov
(Russia) began to write more realistic tragedies in which real lives
are depicted and would typically deal with taboo subjects –
• sexual disease,
• infidelity,
• female liberation,
• social injustice,
• the breakdown of the family.
• Although there would still be a resolution (like in a Greek tragedy),
there would be no grand speech, major battle or brave sacrifice;
• these plays ended simply with either a small act of defiance, a quiet
definite act, or (breaking completely from Aristotle’s rules)
sometimes the characters just had to simply go on.
1/5/2015 178
how modern Drama is different from Classical
Drama

179. 1/5/2015 179
Plays were met with hostility; bringing the
difficulties and pain of tragedy into the
normal, social sphere was radical in the
extreme
Audiences were not used to watching
dilemmas they might face performed
without the certainty of a positive outcome,
so there was a resistance to these works
for many years.
BUT tragedy was revived and made both
explicitly political and uncomfortably real
because there were ‘ordinary’ people in
tragic situations on stage = domestic
drama
how modern Drama is different from Classical
Drama