Drama

What is drama?

A story that is acted out Ex. Plays, movies, tv shows

Where did drama begin

In religious rituals The ancient Egyptians performed

ritual plays as part of celebrations involving the coronations or deaths of pharaohs

In China, religious rites involving music and dance dramatized people’s occupations and the accompanying sensations of joy, fatigue, and contentment

The Elements of Drama

Play are about characters- the actors in dramas; characters are usually human, but those characters who are not human represent human qualities

The action of the play begins when the main character- the protagonist- takes steps to get what he/she wants

The Elements of Drama

In taking action, the character encounters a conflict- a clash or struggle between two forces.

A conflict can take place between two or more people, between a person and a force of nature, or between warring desires or needs in the protagonist’s mind

The Elements of Drama

Often the protagonist struggles against another character- the antagonist

When the clash is physical, or outwardly directed, there is an external conflict

When the clash takes the form of a struggle within the character’s mind, we have an internal conflict

The Elements of Drama

During the plot’s rising action, as the character takes steps to resolve the conflict, complications develop in which the protagonist may face one roadblock after another

The drama reaches a turning point when the protagonist makes a choice from which there is no turning back

The Elements of Drama

At this point, the audience experiences suspense

The actions in the play eventually move to a climax; this emotionally charged moment is when we know the protagonist is either going to win or lose the struggle

After the climax is the denouement, a winding down of the plot in which looses ends come together and the conflict finally come to a resolution

Types of Drama

1. Tragedy Traditionally has focused on a

dignified, courageous, often high ranking hero or heroine who fails to win what he or she wants

What brings about the fall of this figure is some tragic flaw in character- pride, ambition, or jealousy

Types of Drama

At the end of most tragedies, we do not feel depressed; instead we feel pity and relief, having watched a potentially great human being who has lost everything but has also gained wisdom and self-knowledge

Types of Drama

2. Comedy A drama with a happy ending The word comedy comes from the

Greek work komos, or revelry Many classical comedies end in

boisterous celebrations- banquets, dances, and marriage

Types of Drama

Often the plot of a comedy involves a love story that can be summed up in this way: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl

Variations and Innovations

Dramatists are innovators- they experiment with the basic forms of drama; their plays are neither fully tragic nor fully comic

In a realistic drama the hero/heroine is not heroic; but like ourselves- an ordinary person who is sometimes admirable but often less than noble

Variations and Innovations

Since the early 20th century, drama has often taken the form of social protest, in which the dramatist’s purpose is to expose a social or political problem

Another technique that revolutionized modern drama in the 20th century is the use of the absurd

Variations and Innovations

In dramas of the absurd, characters move in a world that fails to make sense even on the most elemental level

Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Background

Written by Sophocles @ 430 B.C. and was performed in Athens

The Delphic Oracle prophesied to Laius, king of Thebes, that he would be killed by his son and that his son would marry his own mother

Shocked by the prophesy, the king and queen decided to kill their first-born son

Oedipus Background

They gave him to a shepherd to be put on a mountainside to die.

The shepherd took pity on the child and took him to Corinth where he was adopted by King Polybus and his queen

When he was grown, Oedipus learned that he was not Polybus’s son, and he went to the Delphi to learn if it was true

Oedipus Background

The oracle did not answer his question, but prophesied that he would kill his father and marry his mother

To protect his parents, he decided not to return to Corinth

Leaving Delphi, he came upon a man at a crossroads with 4 attendants who tried to force him from his path

Oedipus Background

The man prodded him with his stick and Oedipus slew him and three of the attendants

The fourth man escaped The incident wasn’t investigated

because Thebes was having problems with a Sphinx, a monster with the body of a winged lion and the breasts and face of a woman

Oedipus Background

The Sphinx stood on a rock outside the gates and devoured everyone who failed to solve her riddle, “What creature walks on four feet in the morning, on two at noon and on three in the evening?”

Oedipus solved the riddle and the Sphinx hurled herself to her death on the rocks below

Oedipus Background

Oedipus was welcomes as a savior of the city and he was offered the vacant throne

He became king and married the recently widowed queen

Years later the city of Thebes was stricken by a plague

The Delphic Oracle was asked what could stop the city’s suffering

Oedipus Background

The oracle told that the plague would end when the murderer of King Laius was punished

Oedipus dedicated himself to solve the mystery of the murderer and thereby rid the city of its curse

The play reads like a murder mystery, a “Who-done-it?” which leads to its dramatic conclusion