Understanding Drama: Tragedy and Comedy

Study Notes

Drama

A piece of poetry or literature telling a story through pantomime or dialogue featuring character conflict, performed live on stage.
A branch of drama that treats in a serious and dignified style that sorrowful or terrible events encountered or caused by a heroic individual is called a tragedy.
A dramatic work incorporating both tragic and comic elements is called a tragicomedy.
A type of drama intended to interest and amuse the audience rather than to make them deeply concerned about the events that happen is called a comedy.

Tragedy

A serious drama in which the protagonist, traditionally of noble position, suffers a series of unhappy events that lead to a catastrophe such as death or spiritual breakdown.

Comedy

A genre of drama intended to entertain the audience.
Characters experience difficulties but always overcome their ill-fortune and find happiness in the end.
Types of comedy include romantic comedy, comedy of humors, comedy of manners, tragicomedy, and sentimental comedy.

Plot

Refers to the action of drama.
The function of the plot is to give action a form that helps the audience understand the elements of the drama in relation to one another.
The plot depends largely on the conflict of the characters.

Character

The entire shape of the action derives from the character’s strengths and weaknesses.
Characters create their own opportunities and problems.
Characters are revealed through their own words, their interaction with other characters, their expression of feelings, and their presence on stage.

Setting

Refers to the time and place in which the action occurs.
This includes scenery and physical elements that appear on stage to vivify the author’s stage directions.
Some plays make use of very elaborate settings, while others make use of simplified settings, even an empty stage.

Dialogue

The speeches that the characters use to advance the action.
Since there is no description or commentary on the action, as there is in fiction, the dialogue must tell the whole story.
A highly efficient dialogue reveals the characters, unfolds the action, and introduces the themes of the play.
A soliloquy is a speech in which an actor, usually alone on stage, utters their thoughts aloud, revealing personal feelings.
An aside is a short speech made by a character to the audience which, by convention, the other characters on stage cannot hear.

Movement

In Greek tragedies, the chorus danced in a ritualistic fashion from one side of the stage to the other.
Their movement was keyed to the structure of their speeches.
Stage directions give information as to where the characters are when they move, and perhaps even the significance of their movement.
Stage directions enhance the actor’s interpretations of the character’s.

Music

It is an occasional dramatic element in a play.
It may either be sung by the characters or provided as background during the performance.

Theme

It is the message, the central action, or what the play is about.
Many plays contains several rather than just a single theme.

Description

Explore the fundamental concepts of drama, focusing on its two principal forms: tragedy and comedy. This quiz delves into their characteristics, plot structures, and the emotional journey they offer to the audience. Test your knowledge on various dramatic genres and their significance in storytelling.