Dramatic Literary Elements

DramaIs meant to be seen or performed,

not read.Drama becomes a play when it is

acted outContains elements similar to

prose/novels◦Setting, plot, characters, and theme

Also, it has its own elements:◦Lighting, sets, props, and costumes

Drama began as an outdoor event

Tragedy and ComedyTragedyThe hero is overtaken by

his tragic flaw◦ A tragic flaw: the hero’s

weakness, commonly, the seven deadly sins.

◦ A tragic hero: a hero who is brought down by their tragic flaw

There is comedy within tragedies

From the Greek word for “goat song”

“Everyone dies in the end.”

ComedyWhere the hero

overcomes his flaws and triumphs in the end.

Has a ‘happy ending’Hint:

◦ Think of Adam Sandler movies

From the Latin comoedia which was formed by combining komos, meaning “to revel,” and aeidein, meaning “to sing.”

Catharsis An emotional release which

creates a moral or spiritual renewel or relief from tension and anxiety

The intent is for the audience to leave feeling relief after viewing the play, especially that it did not happen to them

Literally means “cleansing”

Dialogueis a conversation that is used to reveal

characters and advance the plot.◦What the characters say.

Fun fact:◦Derived from the Greek word dialogosa, which

means conversation. Dialogosa evolved from the Greek work dialegesthai meaning discourse.

Examples: In plays it looks like:

Abigail: That were only soupHale: What sort of soup were in this kettle, Abigail?

In prose:“You’re an old woman,” said Brave Orchid.

Monologue Is a speech by one person in a drama, a form of

entertainment by a single speaker, or an extended part of the text uttered by an actor.

Other characters will be on the stageAt the beginning of the Tonight Show the comedians

do their monologues.Taken from the Greek word mologos, which means

speaking alone.Example:MACBETH. Is this a dagger which I see before me,

The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee!

I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.

Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible

To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but

A dagger of the mind, a false creation,

Proceeding from the heat oppressed brain?

SoliloquyA speech delivered by a character while alone, or

by someone who is talking to themselves and disregarded by the other characters on stage

Used to frequently share a characters internal feelings, thoughts, state of mind, motives or intentions to the audience\

From the Latin word: soliloquiumderived by combining solus, meaning “alone,”

and loqui, meaning “to speak.”Example: HAMLET. To be, or not to be: that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to sufferThe slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,And by opposing end them?...

Stage DirectionsA playwright’s written instructions

about how the actors are to move and behave within the play

Describes the direction a player should move, facial expressions, gestures, etc.

Often in italics within a scriptExample:HALE, watching Mary Warren closely: Child, you

are certain this be your natural memory? May it be, perhaps that someone conjures you even now to say this?

Dramatic Ironyis a device whereby a character’s

words or actions have one meaning for the character and quite a different meaning for the audience.

The audience is usually “in the know” on events that characters are unaware of

* This should be a review from the literary elements PowerPoint