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Exam (elaborations) English literature | literary intellectual background of drama up to Jacobean Age
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Drama - ILiterary Intellectual background of drams up period to the jacobean
INTRODUCTION & MEANING OF DRAMA:
The origin of the drama is deeply rooted in the religious nature of mankind. The same
applies not only to English dramas, but also to dramas from other countries. Ancient Greek
and Roman dramas mainly dealt with the religious ceremonies of the people. It was a
religious element that led to the development of the drama. Most of the Bible is written in
Latin, so the general public could not understand its meaning. For this reason, the priests
found some new teaching methods and tried to explain the teachings of the Bible to the
general public. To this end, they have developed a new way in which the gospel story is
explained through living pictures. The cast recreated the story in a stupid show
Drama- A drama is a composition designed for a theater performance in which an actor acts
as a character, performs a specified plot, and speaks out written dialogue.
A drama is the portrayal of fictional or non-fictional events through the performance of
written dialogue. Celther phrase or poetry).
Drama can be performed on stage, on film, on the radio, Dramas are typically called plays
and their Creators are known as or "dramatists" ""Playwrights"
Drama can be performed since the days of Aristotle 335 BLE.)
→ generally white drama text of warplay often refers to the production of word theatre to the
actual text on the stage.
Drama had its origin in the country of precedence around 500 B.G.
The modern word a drama" comes from the "Greek word" Dran meaning to do
The theatrical culture of the city-state of Athens produced three genres of drama: tragedy,
comedy, and the satyr play.
The origins of drama go back to competitions held as part of festivities celebrating the god
Dionysus
Great Dionysia, also called City Dionysia, ancient dramatic festival in which tragedy,
comedy, and satyric drama originated; it was held in Athens in March in honour of Dionysus,
the god of wine.
History of English Drama
A drama is a literary work performed by a professional actor on the stage (or theater) in front
of an audience. It’s about conflicts, actions, and specific topics. Impressive makeup, facial
expressions and artist body language are the hallmarks of live performances. Although art
forms exist in different countries, the drama deserves special mention in Britain because of
its relationships with several legendary playwrights, including William Shakespeare. Read
the following lines for interesting information about the history, background and origins of
British theater.
Significant of Greek Dramatists
,■ Only a small fraction of the work of five dramatists has survived to this day:
■ the tragedians: Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides,
■ and the comic writers Aristophanes and, from the late 4th century, Menander
CHORUS
Among the ancient Greeks the chorus was a group of people, wearing masks, who sang or
chanted verses while performing dancelike movements at religious festivals.
■ A similar chorus played a part in Greek tragedies, where (in the plays of Aeschylus and
Sophocles) they served mainly as commentators on the dramatic actions and events who
expresse traditional moral, religious, and social attitudes; beginning with Euripides,
however, the chorus assumed primarily a lyrical function.
● DEFINITIONS
• Aristotle defines by relating drama to the mimetic impulse in human beings like children
playing father and mother in a childhood play.
• This means that imitation is a component of life.
• Human beings have the desire to copy others, situations or events.
• But E.M. Forster insists that drama is not just an imitation of action, but a tool for the
exposure of social conditions, not just an entertainment but an instrument of political and
social change.
• Thus drama is a way of creating or recreating a situation, an expression of reality through
impersonation or re-enactment.
The elements of Greek drama are listed below:
• Chorus would perform choreographed dance around the altar of Dionysus and sang in
dithyrambs full of the rush of emotions called catharsis.
During the singing and the dancing, the chorus would provide a critique of the then society.
Later, the leader of the group was separated from the chorus making it into a play that was
different from cho- rus. The basic idea was to celebrate the festival to exhibit democratic
ideology and to teach the people.
Greek theatre was referred to as a spectacle or a sight to behold, that led to the sensory effect.
Apart from trag- edy and comedy, satire plays were also a popular form of Greek drama.
They were short plays based on Greek mythology, in which chorus was formed by devotees of
Dionysus who would exhibit a mélange of sensual play- fulness and violent singing and
dancing.
ELEMENTS OF DRAMA
Aristotle's Six Elements of Drama
, Essential elements of drama are present in any play that you see. Aristotle was the first to
write about these essential elements, more than two thousand years ago. While ideas have
changed slightly over the years, we still discuss Aristotle's list when talking about what
makes the best drama.
Aristotle considered these six things to be essential to good drama.
1. Themes in Drama
It represents the basic idea of the text. It can be as direct as the title of the drama to very
obscure and needs careful thought and analysis. The action and its plot makes the audiences
immerse in the drama and try to extract the theme behind it.
2. Plot in Drama
The sequence of events or actions in a play is called its plot. It represents what happens in
the drama. The clarity and coherence of the plot are essential to give the drama a logical and
undisturbed flow.
The various characters follow a pattern of interactions and movements through various
stages of the plot. These stages are initial disturbance or conflict, rising action, climax, falling
action and finally the resolution of the conflict.
3. Characterization in Drama
The way in which the characters are portrayed and developed is known as characterization.
The characters act out the story in front of the audience. They are the agents of movement
and progression in a drama.
A character has its distinctive appearance, beliefs, thoughts, flaws, personality, age, and
dialogues. Actors in the play have the responsibility of bringing the characters to life.
The various characters in any drama are the protagonist (represents the theme), the
antagonist (the villain of the drama), anti-hero (the object of sympathy), etc.
4. Setting, Spectacle, and Descriptions
The setting represents when and where the drama unfolds. It can have multiple places or
confined to a single space. The historical and social context, time period and the location of
the story is set are all included in the design of the setting of any drama.
Example: Merchant of Venice is set in 16th century Venice. Spectacle involves the complete
range of aspects of dramatic production from the setting, make-up, costumes to special
effects.
5. Language in Drama
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