Drama and Imitation

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Questions and Answers

What happens to the life-god in the story?

It is reborn as the winter-god.

It gets killed by the winter-god and stays dead.

It kills the winter-god and dances over its corpse.

It rises again after being killed and kills the winter-god in revenge. (correct)

What is the main purpose of the Greek tragic dramas?

To instruct people about moral relationships between gods and men. (correct)

To entertain people with stories of mythological gods.

To glorify the power of Greek gods.

To showcase the acting skills of Greek actors.

What is a common characteristic of a tragic hero in Greek tragedy?

He has the power of choice and free will.

He has a flaw in his character that leads to his downfall. (correct)

He is destined for greatness from birth.

He is always a king or a noble.

What is the difference between a Greek tragic hero and a Shakespearean hero?

A Shakespearean hero has the power of choice, while a Greek hero does not. Signup and view all the answers

What is a common theme in Shakespearean tragedy?

The flaws in a character's personality that lead to downfall. Signup and view all the answers

Which play is often cited as a representative example of a tragic hero?

King Oedipus Signup and view all the answers

Who wrote the famous play 'Doctor Faustus'?

Christopher Marlowe Signup and view all the answers

In which era did drama flourish in England?

The Elizabethan era Signup and view all the answers

What is the basis of drama according to the text?

The human faculty of imitation Signup and view all the answers

What is a fundamental aspect of human learning?

Imitation Signup and view all the answers

What is sympathetic magic based on?

The belief that whatever happens to an image must also happen to the person Signup and view all the answers

What was the purpose of the early drama?

To express man's highest instinct−the religious instinct Signup and view all the answers

What did primitive societies believe in terms of?

Personified forces Signup and view all the answers

What was the role of the community member in a magical ceremony?

To pretend to be the life-god Signup and view all the answers

What is the result of sympathetic magic on the wax image?

The person it represents is harmed Signup and view all the answers

Why did primitive societies practice sympathetic magic?

To ensure the return of the god of fertility Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Drama and the Imitative Faculty

Drama is based on the fundamental human faculty of imitation, which is essential for human children to learn and perform various functions.
The imitative faculty makes humans natural actors, and children often play roles like doctors, kings, and queens.
The first drama was not play, but a serious activity performed by grown men, expressing the religious instinct.

Sympathetic Magic and Fertility Myths

Sympathetic magic is a type of magic that believes whatever happens to an image must also happen to the person.
Primitive societies believed that the god of life died in winter and could be brought back to life through sympathetic magic.
In magical ceremonies, members of the community would pretend to be the life-god and death-god, and the life-god would miraculously rise again after being killed.
This type of magic is based on the belief that what happens in representation must happen in fact, ensuring the earth's fertility and growth.

Greek Drama

Greek drama had reached a more sophisticated stage, dealing with the moral relation between gods and men, with an instructive moral purpose.
Greek tragic dramatists wrote religious dramas, usually taking stories from well-known myths.
A tragedy deals with the fall of a man from power, brought about by a flaw in his character or a specific sin.
King Oedipus is an example of a tragic hero, whose fall was brought about by sins he committed unknowingly.

Elizabethan Drama (Marlowe and Shakespeare)

The Elizabethan age was the age of drama.
Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, written in 1588, is the most famous drama from the Elizabethan era not written by William Shakespeare.
Greek tragedy differs from Shakespearean tragedy in that the Greek heroes have no free will, while Shakespearean heroes have the power of choice and free will.

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Description

Learn about the fundamentals of drama and its connection to the human faculty of imitation, from childhood play to the evolution of drama as an art form.