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Drama: Introduction To Literature Fall 2021

This document provides an introduction to different genres of drama, including comedy, farce, tragedy, tragicomedy, and melodrama. It defines each genre and provides an example work for each. Comedies use humor and witty remarks to make audiences laugh, while farces rely more on physical humor and improbable events. Tragedies explore darker themes like disaster and death, often through a flawed protagonist. Tragicomedies combine elements of tragedy and comedy, ending happily though serious at points. Melodramas are exaggerated dramas that aim to evoke strong emotions in audiences through sensational stories typically involving victims of fate. The document concludes by wishing students to study hard.

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Asrar Abdullah
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40 views8 pages

Drama: Introduction To Literature Fall 2021

This document provides an introduction to different genres of drama, including comedy, farce, tragedy, tragicomedy, and melodrama. It defines each genre and provides an example work for each. Comedies use humor and witty remarks to make audiences laugh, while farces rely more on physical humor and improbable events. Tragedies explore darker themes like disaster and death, often through a flawed protagonist. Tragicomedies combine elements of tragedy and comedy, ending happily though serious at points. Melodramas are exaggerated dramas that aim to evoke strong emotions in audiences through sensational stories typically involving victims of fate. The document concludes by wishing students to study hard.

Uploaded by

Asrar Abdullah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DRAMA

Introduction to Literature
Fall 2021

Dr. Ghada El Emary


What is Drama?
• Drama is the portrayal of fictional or non-fictional events through
the performance of written dialogue.
• Stories are being brought to life by actors and events on a stage.
• It is a composition of verse and prose
• The person who writes drama is known as a “dramatist” or
“playwright.”
• It is divided into acts and scenes.
1. Comedy

• Comedies are usually humorous plays. The intention of dramatists


in comedies is to make their audience laugh. Hence, they use
unfamiliar circumstances, unusual characters, and witty remarks.
• Some common elements: Light-hearted tone, clever wordplay,
serious topics addressed in a humorous way, comical
misunderstandings, silly characters, and happy ending (often ends
with a wedding, especially in romantic comedies).
• Example: William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing (1599).
2. Farce
• A farce is a type of broad comedy. It depends less on a narrative
storyline and more on physical humour, sight gags, silly jokes.
• Elements in a Farce includes: exaggerated humour, nonsensical
storyline, improbable events, one or two settings, and humour is
often inappropriate.
• Example: Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot (1952).
3. 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.
• The audience reaches catharsis by witnessing some disastrous
and moving change in the fortunes of the protagonist.
• Example: William Shakespeare’s Othello (1603).
4. Tragicomedy

• Tragicomedy is a special kind of drama that combines the


features of tragedy and comedy. This means that such play may
be sad but will have a happy ending, or it may be serious with
some elements of humour emerging throughout the whole play.

• Example: Anton Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard (1904).


5. Melodrama
• Melodrama is an exaggerated drama, which is sensational and appeals
directly to the senses of the audience.

• The main point of a melodrama is not to tell a story but to awaken feelings in
the audience. Melodramas are sometimes love stories with beautiful
heroines, charming heroes, and scary villains. Characters are victims in the
hand of fate.

• Example: Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (1879).


Study Hard
Best Wishes

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