Drama Terms
act
traditional segmentation of a play that indicates a change in time, action, or location, and helps organize a play’s dramatic structure. Plays may be composed of acts that, in turn, are composed ofscenes. The Romans were the first to divide plays into acts, although the Greeks before them broke up dramas with choral interludes. Various theatrical movements emphasized the importance of including a specified number of acts. Shakespeare’s plays were divided into five acts when they were published and thereafter the five-act structure became the model for playwrights through the end of the nineteenth century. Modern dramatists began to break the tradition at the turn of the twentieth century; contemporary plays are often divided into two acts.
allegory
extended metaphor in which characters, objects, and actions represent abstract concepts or principles in a narrative that conveys a moral lesson. Allegorical plays were especially popular in medieval England. In everyman, for example, the title character is intended to represent humanity itself as he negotiates the temporal state of existence.
amphitheater
A classical Greek theater usually built into a hillside with a semicircular playing space called anorchestrasurrounded by a semicircle of tiered seats. Amphitheatercan also refer to a modern theatrical space with a similar design.
anachronism
term used to describe anything incongruous with its historical context—for instance, the presence of a telephone in medieval England. Dramatists often use anachronisms in an intentional blending of worlds, sometimes to achieve a comic effect. An unintentional anachronistic gesture or expression, however, such as the use of modern slang in historical drama, can prove distracting to spectators.
Antagonist
the person or force that opposes theprotagonistor main character in a drama or narrative. The term derives from the Greek, meaning “opponent” or “rival.”
antihero
a protagonist or central character who lacks the qualities typically associated with heroism—for example, bravery, morality, or good looks—but still manages to earn sympathy from the spectator.
apron
the area of a stage that stretches out past the primary playing space orprosceniumarch. The apron can be used to cover the orchestra pit in a traditional proscenium theater.
arena
a theater with seating that surrounds the playing area on all sides—sometimes referred to as “theater in the round”—to create a more intimate experience for the audience. Stage configurations for arena theaters can include circular, oval, or rectangular playing areas.
Aside
a theatrical convention (commonly used in drama prior to the nineteenth century but less often afterwards) in which acharacter,unnoticed by the other characters on stage, speaks frankly and directly to the audience to express a thought.
blank verse
the verse form most like everyday speech; in English, unrhymediambic pentameter. In the sixteenth century blank verse became the standard form for dramatic and epic poetry. Most of shakespeare’s plays are in blank verse.
blocking
the specific movement or positioning of actors onstage intended to enhance the theatrical experience for the spectator, whether that be the realistic portrayal of a domestic conflict or an abstract idea. Blocking can also set the tone of a play or convey ideas not intrinsic to the dialogue or script. Typically, thedirectordetermines the blocking in a play.
catharsis (katharis)
the emotional release or sense of relief a spectator may feel at the end of a tragedy. In thePoetics, Aristotle posits that the proper aim of tragedy is to arouse feelings of pity and fear and effectively rid the body of these feelings.Katharsisis the term he uses to describe this purging of emotions.
character
a player or personality integral to the telling of a story. In drama, actors must demonstrate character throughmimesisor imitation rather than narration.
Chorus
in Greek drama, a group of singers and dancers who often provide exposition and commentary on the action in the play.
Climax
in the language of traditional dramatic theory, the point in a drama’s plot that is preceded by therising actionand followed by thefalling action. It is sometimes also the moment of greatest crisis for theprotagonistand/or other characters. (Seeplot.)
comedy
from the Greek wordkomosmeaning “band of revelers,” comedy is a form of drama that is distinguished by humorous content and endings that are, on balance, “happy” ones. The first comic performances were entertainments associated with Greek fertility rights that later took the form ofsatyr plays. Traditional comedic structure and form can be attributed to the work of aristophanes,who incorporated bawdy jokes and songs into far-fetched scenarios with fantastical or farcical situations. The conventions of comedy vary from place to place and from one era to another, depending on the sense of humor or sensibility of the age in which it is written. Some comedies rely heavily on sharp, witty dialogue (sheridan’sschool for scandal, for example), others on bodily humor and physical clowning (atellan farceorcommedia dell’arte), and still others on a blending of these conventions (shakespeare’s comedies). No matter what theatrical conventions they employ, most comedies attempt to highlight absurdities of their society’s norms and values.
conflict
the central problem in theplot, the obstacle hindering a character from getting what he or she wants. Often, the diverging interests of theprotagonistandantagonistcreate conflict.
context
the circumstantial or dramatic situation given to characters in a play by the playwright that can (and often does) affect the development and outcome of the drama and the decisions made by the characters.
Dialogue
language spoken by characters on stage. Dialogue differs from narration because it is delivered in the first person and seeks to imitate human interaction or convey the artistic purpose of the playwright. Dialogue does not necessarily need to be grounded inrealismbut must be consistent with the world of the play.
downstage
the area on stage closest to the audience. (Seeupstage.)
dramatic irony
a plot device in which a character holds a position or has an expectation that is reversed or fulfilled in a way that the character did not expect but that we, as audience members or readers, have anticipated because our knowledge of events or individuals is more complete than the character’s.
Elizabethan drama
a work or body of works written in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (r. 1558–1603). Elizabethan plays often embody a sense of optimism and prosperity as England asserted itself as a European power. Shakespeare wrote many of his plays during this period, which is why the Elizabethan age—and the age of her successor, James I (r. 1603–25), often referred to as the “Jacobean period”—is considered one of the greatest ages of dramatic innovation.
epic
a long and involved narrative poem that depicts the adventures of a central figure of grand or heroic distinction. Typically, epics are split into episodes and chronicle a journey or plight of a hero. In ancient Greece, epic poems were often recited byrhapsodes(professional storytellers). Homer’sIliadandOdysseyare examples of epic poems.
Epilogue
a concluding address by an actor or group of actors that is directed toward the audience; also an additional scene, following the resolution of a play, intended to comment on the preceding events and offer a final perspective by the author or actors.
exposition
information, often delivered near the beginning of a play, that reveals something essential for the audience’s understanding of the world of the play or the story’s given circumstances, as well as the basic relationships between characters or events that have taken place offstage. Exposition can provide pertinent information for all of the characters in the drama but can also be limited to a few. Sometimes the audience or reader will be given information unknown to the characters on stage (seedramatic irony).
falling action
the portion of a play’s structure, usually at or near the end, in which the complications of therising actionare untangled.
Foreshadowing
any literary device that alludes to future occurrences in a story’s plot. The use ofsymbolicimagery is commonly used to foreshadow events, as is the convention of narrative prophecy often employed by classical Greek dramatists.
hero/heroine
the leading male/female character in a play, often larger than life, sometimes almost godlike. (Seeantihero,protagonist, andvillain.)
history play
a play that deals with characters, events, and subjects taken from history. shakespeare wrote a number of plays about English history, includingRichard II;Richard III; andHenry IV, Parts 1 and 2.
Hubris
the tragic flaw of pride or arrogance that can lead a hero to disregard accepted moral codes or warnings from the gods, prompting his or her own downfall.
iambic pentameter
in English verse meter, ten-syllable lines with alternating unstressed and stressed syllables, the most common poetic meter in English and a particular favorite of Elizabethan playwrights such as shakespeare : "To sleep: | perchance | to dream: | ay, there's | the rub" ( hamlet ).
linear plot
a traditional plot sequence in which the incidents in the drama progress chronologically; that is, all of the events build upon one another and there are no jumps from the present to the past. The Greeks and neoclassicists adopted this structure as the template for creating effective tragedy. racine'sphaedrahas a linear plot.
Monologue
a long speech or narrative spoken by one character. A monologue can be addressed to another character on stage, spoken to oneself, or shared with the audience as a means of elucidating internal thoughts or desires that cannot be expressed in formal dialogue. Asoliloquyis a form of monologue, and anaside, if lengthy, can be characterized as a monologue.
mood
the atmosphere or emotional state of a play'ssettingorcontext.
musical
a play with musical numbers interspersed throughout. At the start of the twentieth century, musicals were largely revue shows featuring beautiful girls, lavish costumes,sets, andspectacle.Show Boat(1927), by Jerome Kern (1885-1945) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960), is often credited as one of the first cohesive works of musical theater. The contemporary American musical which tells a cohesive story through the integration of dialogue, dance, and song began to take shape in the 1940s and is most famously embodied in the work of Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) and Oscar Hammerstein, who together createdOklahoma!(1943) andThe Sound of Music(1959), among many other musicals.
opera
a play set to music where the dialogue is sung rather than spoken. The origins of opera date back to sixteenth-century Renaissance Italy, where a renewed interest in Greek music and its relationship to drama prompted the creation of dramatic work that was recited or chanted to musical accompaniment.
parody
an imitative form of comedy that spoofs or mimics the structure or content of another artistic work.
plot
the arrangement of related incidents in a play. Plots may be simple or complex, and any single play may have more than one plot (and plays from experimental,avant-garde, orpostmoderntraditions may calculatedly eschew plot altogether). Among the key terms associated with plot, and useful in describing and analyzing any play's plot, areantagonist,conflict,climax,dénouement,falling action,motivation,point of attack,protagonist,resolution, andrising action. Plots typically begin with a triggering moment orpoint of attackthat propels a character'smotivationsor needs into action. Theheroorprotagonist(not necessarily an individual) is prompted to make decisions that move the story forward. Theconflictor antagonisticelements in a plot create obstacles and the negotiation of these obstacles becomes therising incidentsintended to create dramatic tension and keep the reader or spectator interested in the story's progression. Theclimaxis the most suspenseful point in the plot and is reached when theconflictcomes to a head, initiating theresolutionordénouement.
Prologue
in some plays, the opening scene in which information is revealed about events that occurred prior to the play's start. Historically, the prologue has also been used to praise the playwright or entreat the good will of the audience.
Protagonist
the hero or central character in a play. Derived from the ancient Greek termprotagonistes, meaning "leading actor." In traditional drama, the protagonist often engages in conflicts with anantagonist.
Rhyming Couplet
Two lines that are consecutive lines that rhyme
resolution
the final event that resolves the fundamental conflict that had sustained the play's main action. A resolution can also be adénouement.
rising action
the portion of a play's structure, usually near the beginning, in which events complicate the situation that existed at the beginning of a play, intensifying theconflictor introducing new conflict.
satire
a form ofcomedythat relies on wit and irony to offer social commentary through imitation and ridicule of its subject.
Scene
traditional segmentation of a play's structure to indicate a change in time or location, to jump from onesubplotto another, or to introduce new characters or rearrange the actors on the stage. Traditionally plays are composed ofacts, which are then broken down into scenes. In the French tradition as practiced by molière and racine , a new scene begins whenever a character enters or exits the stage.
scenery
the physical representation of the play'ssetting(location and time period) in a production that also serves to emphasize the aesthetic concept or atmosphere of the play. Scenery can be painted drops or flats, projections, a built environment, or even a natural environment.
set
the design, decoration, andsceneryof the stage during a play, usually meant to represent the location(s) in the drama.
Setting
the time and location in which a play takes place. A play can have multiple settings and incorporate more than one time period as well.
Soliloquy
a monologue uttered by a character alone onstage that provides insight into his or her thoughts. The theatrical convention is common in plays from the Renaissance through the eighteenth century and is generally associated with Shakespeare's works. The device was discarded by modern dramatists, such as august strindberg , concerned with creatingrealisticdepictions on stage.
sound effect
a sound recorded or created for a theatrical piece to enhance the aural dimension of the world of the play.
subplot
a secondary plot that usually shares a relationship with the main plot, either thematically or incidentally. The subplot often deals with the secondary characters in the play.
symbol
something that represents or suggests something else through association, resemblance, or convention. For example, in many cultures the color black symbolizes death and mourning, while in certain literary traditions the moon symbolizes purity and chastity.
symbolism
generally, the use of symbols; more specifically, an artistic movement, typically associated with late-nineteenth-century French poets such as Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891), Charles Baudelaire (1821-1876), and StéphaneMallarmé (1862-1949), that began as a revolt against the predominant realistic style of European literature. In drama, this break fromrealismapplied to both the dramaturgical aspects of symbolist plays and the way in which they were staged. In form and content, symbolist playwrights strayed from the conventions of popular domestic dramas and sought to represent a sense of truth that stretched beyond the recognizable or scientific world. The use of symbols or metaphors--inherently tied to visceral response and to stories that defy time or cultural milieu--was intended to express deeper states of human consciousness. This was demonstrated through staging techniques that emphasizedmoodand atmosphere over narrative. Playwright Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949) is a prominent representative of this movement.
theme
the abstract message or concept that a playwright wishes to convey by uniting the dramaturgical construction of the play with specificmotifs, actions, and images.
tragedy
a form of drama that arose in ancient Greek culture, though its specific origins are still debated. The termtragoidia, from which the wordtragedyevolved, refers to the ritualistic practice of dancing for the prize of a goat, or slaying a goat in honor of the gods. Tragedy may have grown out of a ritualistic practice to honor the god Dionysus. Some scholars believe that tragedy evolved from thedithyramb, an improvised choral ode with a traditional refrain. Though the mode and structure of tragedy has varied over the centuries to reflect the cultural beliefs and conventions of each age, the central dramatic conflict remains constant: the human being struggles to overcome some antagonistic force and is ultimately defeated. In classical Greek tragedy, theprotagonistis a man of stature who must negotiate choice and his relationship with the gods for the good of his people, as in sophocles'oedipus the king. Inmodernistdrama, tragedies often reflect the struggle of the middle class to overcome societal restraints or domestic conflict, as reflected in the work of henrikibsen and later arthur miller .
upstage
the area of the stage farthest from the audience.
wings
traditionally associated with theprosceniumtheater, the narrow areas off both sides of the stage, where actors wait before making an entrance into the playing space. A curtain or piece of scenery often conceals the wings.Wingscan also refer to scenery placed on the sides of a stage.
iambicpentameter
in English verse meter, ten-syllable lines with alternating unstressed and stressed syllables, the most common poetic meter in English and a particular favorite of Elizabethan playwrights such as shakespeare : "To sleep: | perchance | to dream: | ay, there's | the rub" ( hamlet ).
It is as simple as a heartbeat
A heartbeat has a hard sound and a soft sound to make two beats
Hard sound = stressed syllable = male = /
Soft sound = unstressed syllable = female = u
Meter- a way of measurement
iamb- Is a unit of measurement in poetry that consists of one stressed syllable and one unstressed syllable / U
uni=one
bi=two
tri=three
quad= four
penta=five (pentagon)
A line of Shakespeare there are FIVE sets of iambs /U /U /U /U /U
/ U / U / U / U / U
"To sleep: | per-chance | to dream: | ay, there's | the rub" ( hamlet ).