Fields of Vision
What is drama?
 Dialogue
 Soliloquy
 Monologue
 Aside
 Tone
 Irony
Stage directions
What is Drama?
 Work intended for performance by actors on a stage.
 Differs from poetry or fiction because written text is only one component of
the work. Elements needed to bring a dramatic text to life:
actors
director
audience
 A play takes place on a stage. A set is built at the place action taking place.
 The set gives us information about the historical period of the play set
in.
 Lighting helps to convey the meaning of the play.
 Primarily, it functions to illuminate the actors and the stage.
It shows the time of the day.
It also creates the atmosphere.
 Sound effects plays an important role too . Music is often used to
create the atmosphere
underline significant moments.
 Playwright is the person who writes plays to be performed on the
stage.
Fredrick Ogden Nash
(1902-1971)
An American poet well-known for his light verse
Dialogue
 It serves two functions in a play:
contributes to the story telling;
reveals characters
 A playwright has two or three hours to tell his story.
 A conventional technique used to give the audience information
about the setting, the time, the characters and the actions.
 Essential story-telling device.
 Also important creating character. Audience should be able to draw
conclusions about the character’s personality and background by
listening the way he speaks or what he says.
Comprehension
1. In a Home Economics room. They are making
pastry.
2. Dorothy.
3. To see if they are clean.
4. Dorothy.
5. No (No chance, line 105)
Analysis
1. Lines 3-5, 8-10, 13, 16, 26-29
2. Steve is
well-organized: (lines 33-34);
bossy: (lines 56-57);
arrogant, sarcastic: (lines 40-41);
humorous: (line 68, line 70);
self-confident: (lines 59-62)
Gregory is
shy: (lines 38-39);
romantic: (lines 65-67)
humorous: (line 48)
submissive: (line 32)
immature: (line 63)
insecure: (line 104)
Soliloquy
 is a theatrical convention in which a character speaks aloud to
himself.
 He may not necessarily be alone on the stage. Other characters do
not hear the words.
 It is used by the dramatist to convey the character’s intentions,
motives, feelings and thoughts to the audience.
Monologue
 is similar to soliloquy,
 serves the same purpose but is usually shorter and takes place in the
presence of other characters.
 Other characters hear what is being said.
Aside
 is a related stage device, in which character expresses his thoughts
in a few words or a short passage.
 Other characters can not hear.
Tone
 The tone of voice can change the meaning of what we say.
 It is important because it conveys the speaker’s attitude to what he is
saying or who he is speaking to.
 Determining the tone, the speaker’s personality, his attitude towards
the subject and the person he is speaking to are to be kept in mind.
Irony
 Defined as saying something while you really mean something else.
 Comes from the Greek word ‘eiron’ and widely used in literature.
 The three types:
verbal irony
a contrast between what a character literally says and what means;
situational irony
when an event or situation turns out to be the reverse of what is
expected;
dramatic irony
when the audience knows something that one or more of the characters
on the stage do no know.

 It is often used to add humor and suspense to a scene.
Stage directions
 Allows the playwright to intervene in the text of the play or give
instructions.
 They are easy to be identify in the text because they are usually
written in italics.
 Stage directions have several functions. They:
 provide information about the setting and scenery;
describe the actions and movements of the actors;
indicate the tone in which lines should be delivered;
establish the relationship between the characters;
provide information about the characters’ personality and feelings.
Analysis

provide information about the setting and scenery:

country road. A tree. Evening(line 1)
describe the actions and movements of the actors
on stage:


ESTRAGON, sitting on a low mound, is trying
to take off his boot. He pulls at it with both
hands (line 4)
indicate the tone in which lines should be
delivered:
irritably(line 15), Coldly(line 16)
give information about the characters’
personality or feelings:
Hurt(line 16)