Introduction to Drama
Definition
Unlike short stories
or novels, plays are
written for the
express purpose of
performance.
Definition
Actors play roles
and present the
storyline through
dialogue, action,
and gestures.
Definitions
For the most part, plays have no narrators.
The audience must glean critical
information from the action on stage.
Dealing with Details
Unlike novels or short stories, plays have
special features.
– Plays are divided into acts and scenes.
– Scripts feature lists of characters and stage
directions which require the reader to pause
and visualize the set up.
– Readers and actors must pay close attention to
the dialogue in order to understand the
characters and action.
Two Basic “Flavors”
 Comedy
Comedies are
dramatic works which
use humor to explore
various themes and
characters. Comedies
usually end on a
happy note.
 Tragedy
Tragedies treat serious
subjects and often
focus on the tragic
hero’s character.
Tragedies usually end
with death.
Key Terms
Modern Realism
– Modern Realistic drama deals frankly with
contemporary life and social issues—
particularly minority issues. Instead of
focusing on the lives of kings or great heroes,
these dramas present a look at ordinary people
and everyday problems.
Key Dramatic Terms
 Dialogue – conversation between two or more
characters
 Monologue – an extended speech by one
character
 Soliloquy – an extended speech by one character,
alone on stage. Soliloquies are used to express
the private thoughts of one character.
 Aside – a character’s direct address to the
audience, which is not heard by the other
characters
Monologues,
soliloquies, and asides
are dramatic
techniques that
provide direct insight
into motives, attitudes,
and overall tone.
These techniques
function like a
fictional narrator.
Key Dramatic Terms
Stage Directions – instructions printed in
italics and/or in parentheses and used to
describe sets, lighting, sound effects, and
the appearance, personalities, and
movements of characters performing a
particular play (not meant to be spoken)
Conflict – struggle between
opposing forces in a play or story
Internal conflict exists within the mind of
a character who is torn between different
courses of action.
• Man vs. Himself
External conflicts exist when a character
struggles against some outside force.
•
•
•
•
Man vs. Man
Man vs. Society
Man vs. Nature
Man vs. God or Fate
Key Dramatic Terms
Characterization – creation of characters
for a play or story
– Direct – telling the audience/reader exactly
what you want them to know about the
characters, only used in stage directions or by
a narrator
– Indirect – character is demonstrated through
his/her actions and words and the actions and
words of the other characters
Key Dramatic Characters
 Protagonist – central character or “hero” of the
drama
 Antagonist – person or thing working against the
protagonist
 Foil – character whose behavior and values
contrast with another character’s (usually the
protagonist’s) in order to highlight the distinctive
traits of that character
Key Dramatic Characters
 Round – multi-faceted personalities, display
inconsistencies and internal conflicts found in
most real people
 Flat – embody one or two qualities, ideas, or
traits that can be readily accessible to audiences,
usually stereotypes
 Dynamic – those who undergo some type of
internal change (in beliefs, point of view, etc.)
before the resolution of the plot
 Static – one that doesn’t change throughout the
work, knowledge of character does not grow
Key Dramatic Character
Tragic Hero – has the potential for
greatness but is doomed to fail; trapped in
a situation that cannot be won resulting
from a tragic flaw within character, this
causes fall from greatness
– Classical or Shakespearean tragic heroes are
men or women of nobility and greatness
caught up in worldly events of vast
significance (wars, kingships, etc.)
Key Dramatic Character
 Modern Tragic Hero – as classified by Arthur
Miller, playwright of The Crucible and Death of
a Salesman
 “I believe that the common man is as apt a
subject for tragedy in its higher sense as kings
were.”
 “Tragedy, then, is the consequence of a man’s
total compulsion to evaluate himself justly.”
 “The [tragic] flaw… is really nothing… but his
inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the
face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his
dignity.”
Key Dramatic Character
Modern Tragic Hero examples
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
John Proctor from The Crucible
Sirius Black from Harry Potter
Boromir from The Lord of the Rings
Anakin Skywalker from the Star Wars’ prequels
Willie Loman from Death of a Salesman
Elphaba from Wicked
Sweeney Todd
Plot – storyline & sequence
of events
 Exposition – introduces the characters, setting
and basic situation
 Rising action – presents the central conflict,
complications, suspense and crisis
 Climax – the point of greatest tension, turning
point
 Falling action – subsiding intensity, resolution of
minor conflicts
 Denouement/Resolution – the resolution which
ties up loose ends and concludes the action
Plot Structure
Reading Drama
Pay particular attention to the overall plot.
– What are the major conflicts or issues?
– When does the climax occur?
– What force or forces seem to be at work in the
play, moving the action along?
 Pay close attention to
characters.
– Who are the central
Photo credit: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams.
Cornell Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.
characters?
– What do you know about
their personalities? How
do you know this
information?
– What are the characters’
strengths and weaknesses?