III.

DRAMA
DRAMA
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.
In simple words, a 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. The person who writes drama for stage directions is known as a
"dramatist" or "playwright."
TYPES OF DRAMA
Let us consider a few popular types of drama:
Comedy - Comedies are lighter in tone than ordinary works, and provide a happy conclusion.
The intention of dramatists in comedies is to make their audience laugh. Hence, they use quaint
circumstances, unusual characters, and witty remarks.
Tragedy - Tragic dramas use darker themes, such as disaster, pain, and death. Protagonists
often have a tragic flaw a characteristic that leads them to their downfall.
Farce- Generally, a farce is a nonsensical genre of drama, which often overacts or engages
slapstick humor.
Melodrama - Melodrama is an exaggerated drama, which is sensational and appeals directly to
the senses of the audience. Just like the farce, the characters are of a single dimension and
simple, or may be stereotyped.
Musical Drama - In musical dramas, dramatists not only tell their stories through acting and
dialogue, but through dance as well as music. Often the story may be comedic, though it may
also involve serious subjects.
DRAMATIC STRUCTURE
The structure is how the plot or story of a play is laid out, including a beginning, a middle and an
end. Plays may also include subplots, which are smaller stories that allow the audience to
follow the journey of different characters and events within the plot. Plays also feature an
element of conflict, which does not necessarily mean a fight or argument but instead an
obstacle that needs to be overcome.
A typical dramatic structure is linear, with events occurring chronologically. This might include:
exposition - introduces background events and characters
rising action - a series of events that create suspense in the narrative
climax - the part of the story where the suspense reaches its highest part
falling action - the main conflict starts to resolve
resolution - the conclusion of the story where questions are answered and loose ends are tied
up
A graph showing how dramatic tension changes during a theatre performance, from the
exposition through rising action, dramatic climax and falling action, ending in a resolution.
Structures can also be non-linear, with the action of the play moving forwards and back in time.
This is done through the use of flashbacks and flashforwards, to help make the play more
exciting or to highlight points through contrast and juxtaposition.
Alternatively, plays may follow a cyclical structure, with the play ending at the same time as it
began. This can be exciting for the audience as they try to work out how the character ended up
in the position they see at the start of the play.
Traditionally, plays use acts and scenes to help define particular moments in time, and a new
scene will show the audience that the action is taking place in a different location.
EXAMPLES OF DRAMA IN LITERATURE
Example #1: 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.
Example #2: Oedipus Rex (By Sophocles)
Tragedy:
Sophocles' mythical and immortal drama Oedipus Rex is thought to be his best classical
tragedy. Aristotle has adjudged this play as one of the greatest examples of tragic drama in his
book, Poetics, by giving the following reasons:
The play arouses emotions of pity and fear, and achieves the tragic Catharsis.
It shows the downfall of an extraordinary man of high rank, Oedipus.
The central character suffers due to his tragic error called Hamartia; as he murders his real
father, Laius, and then marries his real mother, Jocasta.
Hubris is the cause of Oedipus' downfall.
Example #3: The Importance of Being Earnest (By Oscar Wilde)
Farce:
Oscar Wilde's play, The Importance of Being Earnest, is a very popular example of Victorian
farce. In this play, a man uses two identities: one as a serious person, Jack (his actual name),
which he uses for Cesily, his ward, and as a rogue named Ernest for his beloved woman,
Gwendolyn.
Unluckily, Gwendolyn loves him partially because she loves the name Ernest. It is when Jack
and Earnest must come on-stage together for Cesily, then Algernon comes in to play Earnest
role, and his ward immediately falls in love with the other "Ernest." Thus, two young women
think that they love the same man an occurrence that amuses the audience.
Example #4: 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.
Eighteen Challenges in Contemporary Literature
1. Literature is language-based and national; contemporary society is globalizing and polyglot.
2. Vernacular means of everyday communication "" cellphones, social networks, streaming
video "" are moving into areas where printed text cannot follow.
3. Intellectual property systems failing.
4. Means of book promotion, distribution and retail destabilized.
5. Ink-on-paper manufacturing is an outmoded, toxic industry with steeply rising costs.
6. Core demographic for printed media is aging faster than the general population. Failure of
print and newspapers is disenfranchising young apprentice writers.
7. Media conglomerates have poor business model; economically rationalized "culture industry"
is actively hostile to vital aspects of humane culture.
8. Long tail Balkanizes audiences, disrupts means of canon-building and fragments literary
reputation.
9. Digital public-domain transforms traditional literary heritage into a huge, cost-free, portable,
searchable database, radically transforming the reader's relationship to belle-lettres.
10. Contemporary literature not confronting issues of general urgency; dominant best-sellers
are in former niche genres such as fantasies, romances and teen books.
11. Barriers to publication entry have crashed, enabling huge torrent of sub literary and/or
nonliterary textual expression.
12. Algorithms and social media replacing work of editors and publishing houses; network
socially-generated texts replacing individually-authored texts.
13. "Convergence culture" obliterating former distinctions between media; books becoming one
minor aspect of huge tweet/blog/comics/games/soundtrack/ television / cinema / ancillary-
merchandise pro-fan franchises.
14. Unstable computer and cellphone interfaces becoming world's primary means of cultural
access. Compositor systems remake media in their own hybrid creole image.
15. Scholars steeped within the disciplines becoming cross-linked jack-of-all-trades virtual
intelligentsia.
16. Academic education system suffering severe bubble-inflation.
17. Polarizing civil cold war is harmful to intellectual honesty.
18. The Gothic fate of poor slain Poetry is the specter at this dwindling feast.