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Drama

Definition of Drama
Drama is a mode of fictional representation through dialogue and
performance. It is one of the literary genres, which is an imitation of
some action. Drama is also a type of a play written for theater,
television, radio, and film.
In simple words, a drama is a composition in verse or prose presenting
a story in pantomime or dialogue. It contains conflict of characters,
particularly the ones who perform in front of audience on the stage.
The person who writes drama for stage directions is known as a
“dramatist” or “playwright.”
Types of Drama
Let us consider a few popular types of drama:
Comedy:
Comedies are lighter in tone than ordinary works, and provide a
happy conclusion. The intention of dramatists in comedies is to make
their audience laugh. Hence, they use quaint circumstances, unusual
characters, and witty remarks.
Tragedy:
Tragic dramas use darker themes, such as disaster, pain, and death.
Protagonists often have a tragic flaw a characteristic that leads them to
their downfall.
Farce:
Generally, a farce is a nonsensical genre of drama, which often overacts
or engages slapstick humor.
Melodrama:
Melodrama is an exaggerated drama, which is sensational and appeals
directly to the senses of the audience. Just like the farce, the characters
are of a single dimension and simple, or may be stereotyped.

Musical drama:
In musical dramas, dramatists not only tell their stories through acting
and dialogue, but through dance as well as music. Often the story may
be comedic, though it may also involve serious subjects.

Example:
The best example of drama in literature is the Oedipus rex by
Sophocles.

Theme
Definition:
A theme is a universal idea, lesson, or message explored throughout a
work of literature. One key characteristic of literary themes is their
universality, which is to say that themes are ideas that not only apply to
the specific characters and events of a book or play, but also express
broader truths about human experience that readers can apply to their
own lives. For instance, John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (about a
family of tenant farmers who are displaced from their land in
Oklahoma) is a book whose themes might be said to include the
inhumanity of capitalism, as well as the vitality and necessity of family
and friendship.

Theme types
There are two types of themes
I. Major
II. Minor

Major
A major theme is an idea that a writer repeats in his literary work,
making it the most significant idea in the work.
Minor
A minor theme, on the other hand, refers to an idea that appears in a
work briefly, giving way to another minor theme.
 Plot
Plot is the sequence of interconnected events within the story of a play,
novel, film, epic, or other narrative literary work. More than simply an
account of what happened Plot reveals the cause-and-effect
relationships between the events that occur.
There are two types of plot
 Simple plot
 Complex plot
Simple plot
A simple plot will have one story line that usually moves in a
straightforward manner toward resolution. In a simple plot, there are
usually not too many obstacles to overcome. ... A complex plot will
have several story lines that intermingle and go back and forth in time,
not moving in a straight line toward resolution.
Complex plot
The complex plot is defined as one where the change of fortune is
accompanied by a reversal of fortune, recognition, or both. What this
means is that the complex plot shares what the simple plot contains,
but adds additional elements to make it more complex.
Characterization

Definition of Characterization
Characterization is the act of creating and describing characters in
literature. Characterization includes both descriptions of a character’s
physical attributes as well as the character’s personality. The way that
characters act, think, and speak also adds to their characterization
Types of Characterization
There are five major types of character

1. Flat character
2. Round character
3. Dynamic character
4. Static character
5. Stereotypical or stock character

Flat character
This character does not essentially change throughout the story.

Round character
A round character has something of the complexity, we find in real
human beings.

Dynamic character
A dynamic character is the character, which changes significantly during
the course of the story.

Static character
A static character does not undergo significant change. Whether round
or flat, their personalities remain essentially stable throughout the
course of the story.

Stereotypical or stock characters

These characters are often the basis of flat characters, though elements
of stock characters can be found in round characters also. They do not
change throughout the story.

Tragedy
Defination
A play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending,
especially one concerning the downfall of the main character

Elements of tragedy

Plot
Emphasizing that tragedy is first and foremost the representation of
actions, and not of characters, Aristotle makes the remark that many
contemporary tragedies do not succeed in their characterizations, but
are still tragedies. The tragic effect comes from the plot, and especially
from the peripeteia–the reversal of the situation in which the
characters find themselves– as well as from scenes of recognition.

Character
Character is second in importance after plot; tragedies depict
characters as they relate to the action which is the main object of
representation. Characters represent their moral qualities throught the
speeches assigned to them by the dramatist.

Thought 
Thought comprises both the rational processes through which
characters come to decisions, as represented in the drama, as well as
the values put forward in the form of maxims and proverbs.

Diction
Diction has already been defined as the metrical composition of the
play, the way language is used to convey the representation.

Song
Music is described as an embellishment of language. The lines assigned
to the chorus in a tragedy are usually conveyed in song accompanied by
rhythmical movement.
Spectacle
Aristotle lists spectacle last in order of importance, pointing out that
the power of tragedy is not fully dependent upon its performance (we
can read a tragedy and still appreciate its message), and that the art of
the spectacle really belongs to the set designer and not to the poet.\
Comedy
Comedy is a literary genre and a type of dramatic work that is amusing
and satirical in its tone, mostly having a cheerful ending. The motif of
this dramatic work is triumph over unpleasant circumstance by creating
comic effects, resulting in a happy or successful conclusion.
Types of Comedy
There are five types of comedy in literature:

Romantic Comedy

Romantic comedy involves a theme of love leading to a happy

conclusion. We find romantic comedy in Shakespearean plays and some
Elizabethan contemporaries. These plays are concerned with idealized
love affairs. It is a fact that true love never runs smoothly; however,
love overcomes difficulties and ends in a happy union.

Comedy of Humors

Ben Johnson is the first dramatist who conceived and popularized this
dramatic genre during the late sixteenth century. The term humor
derives from the Latin word humor, which means “liquid.” It comes
from a theory that the human body has four liquids, or humors, which
include phelgm, blood, yellow bile, and black bile. It explains that, when
human beings have a balance of these humors in their bodies, they
remain healthy.

Comedy of Manners

This form of dramatic genre deals with intrigues and relations of ladies
and gentlemen living in a sophisticated society. This form relies upon
high comedy, derived from sparkle and wit of dialogues, violations of
social traditions, and good manners, by nonsense characters like
jealous husbands, wives, and foppish dandies. We find its use in
Restoration dramatists, particularly in the works of Wycherley and
Congreve.

Sentimental Comedy
Sentimental drama contains both comedy and sentimental tragedy. It
appears in literary circles due to reaction of the middle class against
obscenity and indecency of Restoration Comedy of Manners. This form,
which incorporates scenes with extreme emotions evoking excessive
pity, gained popularity among the middle class audiences in the
eighteenth century.

Tragicomedy
This dramatic genre contains both tragic and comedic elements. It
blends both elements to lighten the overall mood of the play.
Often, tragicomedy is a serious play that ends happily.