ELEMENTS OF
DRAMA
Dialogue: tells the story
• Soliloquy- a long speech expressing private thoughts, delivered
by a character who is ALONE onstage
• Monologue- a long speech delivered by one character to
another or to a group of characters
• Aside- a private remark to one character to the audience that
breaks convention because it is understood NOT TO BE
HEARD by other characters onstage
• Chorus- single character or group whose words may connect
scenes or convey the collective thoughts of feelings of the
community (usually limited to classical drama)
ELEMENTS OF
DRAMA
Stage directions: help the cast and
production staff to bring the text to life
• Usually about the setting costumes, lighting, scenery,
and props, or objects used onstage.
• May include how and when the characters should
move and deliver their lines
• Usually printed in italics and sometimes set in
brackets or parentheses .
KINDS OF DRAMA
Tragedies end with the downfall or death of the protagonist
Key elements include:
• Tragic hero: In ancient Greek and Shakespearean tragedy, the tragic
hero is the main character- a person of high rank whose downfall is
caused by his own flawed behavior.
• Tragic flaw: a part of the hero’s character that leads him to make a
fatal mistake
• Comic relief: humorous scenes often included to relieve tension;
Shakespeare used people from the lower class to fulfill this role.
KINDS OF DRAMA
CONT’D
Comedy- show ordinary people in conflict with society. Conflicts
in this category typically arise out of a misunderstanding,
deception, disapproving authority figures, and mistaken identities.
They are ALWAYS resolved happily. Some comedic protagonists
are outlandish, while others are sympathetic and likable
There are two forms of comedy:
Romantic comedy: involves problems among lovers
Comedy of manners: satirizes social customs of society
THE ELIZABETHAN
THEATER
• Before the playhouses were built, plays took place in the open,
often in courtyards or inns. Spectators watched from the
streets or balconies.
• The first theater was built by James Burbage, and it was called
The Theater.
• Initially, the theater attracted the “common man,” not the
aristocracy.
• In 1597, The Theater closed down, but in 1598, Richard
Burbage and his men dismantled it, carried it across the
Thames River, and rebuilt it, naming it the Globe.
• It could seat between 2,500 and 3,000 spectators.
• The Globe was closed by the Puritans in 1642.