Dimensions and Devices
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Dramatic irony
Mistaken identity
Pathos
Sentimentalism
Cynicism
Denouement
Parody
Reversal
Imagery
Didacticism
Domestic tragedy
Blank verse
Dramatic irony
• Often in a play we have a situation in
which the character does not fully
understand the significance of his actions
or statements.
• The character’s actions have a relevance
to him which he does not perceive, and
when this happens we describe the
situation as one of dramatic irony.
Mistaken identity
• One specialized kind of irony is that of
mistaken identity. Some plays in fact have
plots entirely dependent on the device of
mistaken identity.
• In this situation. Some of the characters on
the stage are simply unaware of the
identity of other characters while audience
knows who everybody is.
Pathos
• Pathos in drama, and in other literary
forms, as well, is the quality which moves
the audience to pity, tenderness, or
sorrow.
• Usually we observe pathos in situations
where there is a helpless character, one
who suffers because of undeserved
sadness.
Sentimentalism and cynicism
• When a playwright tries to produce or
reflect an overabundance of emotion, he is
usually creating a situation of
“sentimentalism”.
• Cynicism is basically an attitude of
superiority; an individual sets himself
above his society and considers himself of
far greater value.
Denouement and parody
• The final revelation of a play is usually
referred to as the denouement; this is both
a necessity and a device in almost all
plays.
• Quite often a playwright will write a play
which is an obvious burlesque of another
play, usually of a serious nature; this
burlesque is known as a parody.
Reversal and imagery
• Reversal is the term we use to describe the
dramatic turning point in the fortune of the play’s
hero; reversal is the exact point in the plot when
suddenly the hero is directed toward a different
fate, toward a fate which up until this exact point
in the play he had no idea was in the store for
him; also known as peripety
• Imagery: As we have noted in our discussion of
certain plays, imagery is apt to be central to our
understanding of the meaning of a play. (for
example: simile, metaphor)
Didacticism
• When a playwright is consciously
“lecturing” to us on certain moral
principles—and generally the superiority of
moral good– he is usually didactic. They
have some lessons to teach us through
the speech and action of the characters
Domestic tragedy and blank verse
• The appearance of certain tragedies which
are based on the lives of common,
ordinary people and are generally called
Domestic tragedies.
• Blank verse: The lines in most of the
speeches are unrhymed and contain ten
syllables alternating unstressed and
stressed ones.