Drama

The comparison of two plays studied in the second semester of the BA English Studies degree This essay is going to look at two plays studied in the second semester of the BA English studies degree- Ben Jonson ‘s The Alchemist and John Webster ‘s The Duchess of Malfl. The essay is going to look at the context of both of these plays, considering that it has had influence on the plot of the plays. There will be a brief pr©cis of the contents of plays given to be able to discuss differences and similarities of both plays and try to find reasons for them.

The satire functions in both plays will also be revealed in this essay. The essay is going to look at satire functions trough different themes that are revealed in both plays such as greed, gender, sexuality, social disintegration and others. Looking at these themes will again refer to the context of the plays to show how important it was at the time when authors created their works and what role does it play nowadays when audience become acquainted with these plays. When looking at any work of literature, the context of the time period, when this piece of work had been created is very important.

It tells the reader what was happening at the time and gives him the chance to comprehend how it ffected the work of authors. Both of discussed plays had been created in the seventeenth century which is the early modern period of Europe, therefore these plays have specific differences from the plays that had been created earlier. There are significances of modern literature distinguishable in these plays. Seventeenth century was the zenith of Renaissance and it has been reflected in both plays. There is Italian influence observed in these plays.

It has affected the language of texts, the description of settings, character names and other components of plays. References of Italy, Italian and Latin languages are used in texts. An obvious example is the play The Duchess of Malfl which is situated in Italy, uses Italian names for characters and includes the Italian language in the text. ‘A number of important critical contributions over the last decade treat Webster’s play as a post-Reformation phenomenon written during a more settled period of the established Anglcan Church.

However, English Protestantism still found its identity in relation to the faith it had renounced, namely Catolicism, whose home was Italy where Webster sets The Duchess’ (Lucky] 77). When looking at the context of the time, the economic and political conditions in he country are very important as well. The time when these two plays had been created was Jacobean England revealing a particular condition of the country. Satire on different themes in plays can be seen as a response to this condition. A twofold political crisis was looming. The financial needs of the crown, as inflation eroded the yield of crown lands, had increasingly through the sixteenth century to be met by parliament, and under James I the relationship between crown and parliament was beginning to manitest the serious tensions that were to result in the civil war’ Conson 9). Authors of the time were worried about the situation in the country and therefore they discussed issues related to important events in their works.

Another reason why they wanted to talk about them was to inform people about what is happening in the country. As situation seemed not very comfortable for English people, authors decided to use satire to let the audience see the happening from aside. Sarcasm was also used to let the audience relax from usual stressful life and have a bit of laugh whilst enjoying the play, at the same time understanding that it reveals the situation of Jacobean England. Religious position of the country plays a big role as well. England was an officially Protestant country, the citizens of which were, by law, members of the Church of England. The Elizabethan religious settlement had, nevertheless, compromised on certain key issues of reform in order to accommodate those who might otherwise have been reluctant to accept the new religion, and also to forestall reprisals by the Catholic powers of Europe’ Conson 9). As changes in the religious condition of England were going on, the Religion was a very common theme in Jacobean plays.

Both of discussed plays include the theme of Religion. All of these current events and positions affected plays at the time because these are the things which interest the audience and makes plays popular. Nothing is more important for people than what is going on around them in their lives, therefore the context of the literature work is very important. The content of both plays is quite different but there can be themes found which are discussed in both plays. This again refers to the context of the time, because themes of plays completely depend on it.

The Alchemist is a story about three of the play ‘s central characters, Face, Subtle and Dorothy, who have entered into a contract by which they agree to work together for their mutual benefit- achieving wealthiness for all of them. The scene is set for a comedy of fraudulent characters and their potential victims. As the plot develops the trio struggle to work together because they cannot control each of their desires. The trio ‘s unscrupulous activities stop when Lovewit, the master of the house unexpectedly comes back.

The threesome then turn upon each other and the most accomplished trickster of all wins at the end. This is a great comedy satirising greed in Jacobean society. The comedy gives releasing ending by showing that the biggest fraudster of all wins. This is sarcasm on what happens in the real life. The Duchess of Malfl is a story of the widowed Duchess of Malfl who secretly marries her steward Antonio, despite the opposition of her brothers, Duke Ferdinand and the Cardinal.

Bosola, a malcontent courtier, is hired by the brothers to discover the secret husband ‘s identity, but the Duchess bears three children without anyone knowing who the father is. Later, the Duchess is imprisoned and eventually murdered, together with her maidservant Cariola and two of her children. Bosola, who has turned against the brothers, then kills the Ferdinand. The Duchess and the eldest child of Antonio survive and remain thinking about his maternal inheritance. This play is a study of revenge, unlike the comic plot of The Alchemist this is a tragic story with characters dying at the end.

It seems like both of these plays are very different but looking closer, it appears that there are similarities in them. Both of the plays reveal present events of the time and both of them satirise these events, they show how England as a country was seen at the time. The most significant difference etween these two plays is the genre, one ot them is a comedy, the other- tragedy, but not taking that into account, the viewer can see that both authors have tried to address the audience in the same way, satirising the most common events of their lives in their plays.

The reason of different plots of the plays is different standpoints of the authors, but the key ideas are displayed at the same way in both plays. Satire works in both of the plays through different themes. Authors use sarcasm to make plays more interesting and exciting, usually satirising domestic themes. One of the most common themes satirised in Jacobean plays was the greed. The financial situation in the country was unstable therefore everyone tried to get something better for themselves to provide their material status.

People were ready to do everything to get something to hold on to and this was very often satirised in the plays. The Alchemist is a striking example of satirised greed in the play. The main aim of all the main characters of the play is to obtain infinite treasure and they are willing to undertake any obligations to reach their aim. Greed is also noticeable in The Duchess of Malfl, in characters Ferdinand and the Cardinal, because their action is the result of their greed when they confiscate the Duchess ‘s property and get her banished from the state of Ancona.

This play shows the result of the greed when one of the brothers dies at the end, proving that plays not only satirise events but also enlightens viewers and teaches them to not allow the same mistakes as characters in the plays do. Another important theme satirised in The Duchess of Malfl is the status of women and the role of gender in the society. Woman in that period of the time was upposed to be submissive and calm, however, the Duchess went against her brother ‘s wishes and remarried, and this is the reason of the tragedy which would not happen if the Duchess would act like she was supposed to.

The play shows that women at the time had no right to have their own point of view and act without coordinating with men; it also shows what happened if someone went against the assumed rules. Both of the plays satirises the social class system in the Jacobean England. There are members of all social classes shown in the plays revealing the ndications of the social status. Sexuality is also satirised in plays, for example the character of Sir Epicure Mammon in The Alchemist who dreams of drinking the elixir of youth and enjoying fantastic sexual conquests.

All of these satirised themes show what worried authors and the audience at the time. Looking at these plays nowadays helps the learner to understand the Jacobean time period in the history of England and see what affected plays at that time. Now the reader can also call together the history of England and nowadays, see what issues had affected English literature and ow it has formed. Looking at two plays from the Jacobean time period has shown that the context of the time has had the biggest influence on the playwrights and their work.

Even though Jonson and Webster have created absolutely different plays, they seem to reveal the same ideas. Both of the plays satirise themes that had been important at the time and are still important nowadays. Authors used sarcasm to let the audience enjoy the play but also to educate viewers about the situation in the country. Playwrights revealed very important matters in their plays like social tatuses, roles of gender and sexuality, the greediness of people and others and this shows that the audience gets both, emotional and intellectual release when reading or watching these plays.

Nowadays, Korean culture and Its cultural products have been Influencing every nation, invading Asia and the rest of the world. This trend is popularly known as the Korean wave or Halley, which greatly influenced the way people live today. Korean invasion started first in television dramas which got a lot of fans globally despite of the language barrier. And these television dramas made their viewers love Korean characters and their culture as well, which signaled the birth of Korean wave.

Today, Korea is still developing more products that they can introduce to the whole world ND it means more products for the fans who love to watch every single episode of their favorite Korean drama or who go crazy for their Korean Idols. In the Philippines, Just like the Mexican tealeaves that were popular back In the days, Korean television dramas or Cornflakes became a big hit to the taste of Filipino audience, especially the teenagers. Filipino youth in this generation are now changing slowly and are catching up with what Is the new trend today.

Cornflakes and other Korean products have Influenced the Filipino youth and changed their preferences in music, fashion, food, and etc. This study is about the media consumption of Filipino youth in watching Cornflakes and what keeps them watching this kind of television program. The youth have psychological or sociological needs that they want to satisfy by watching programs that are introduced by media. And most of the needs of these young people can be gratified by the Cornflakes that they watch. Their needs serve as their driving force in consuming foreign products.  In these modern times, the youth are creating their new world where they can express their creativity and passion through popular culture. The spread of Korean pop culture or Halley all over the world had influenced the way teenagers live, especially the Filipino youth. This phenomenon changed their taste for music, clothes, hairstyle, food, gadgets, and many more. The youth have their own needs that can be satisfied by Korean cultural products, particularly television dramas, which media has introduced to them.

Korean television dramas, or popularly known in the Philippines as “Cornflakes”, have won the hearts of the Filipino audience, especially the young people. And with that simple appreciation from the viewers, Korean pop culture has been slowly entering In the ivies of many. Some people started as an avid fan of a particular Korean star from the television drama that they watch, and then eventually they imitate everything that ‘OFF media in watching Korean television dramas, the more they are influenced by this kind of media content. Understanding the needs of these young people might lead us to know the reasons of their consumption.

This study can give us an opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate the views of young Cornflake fanatics. With this, the side of Cornflake enthusiasts and the side of non-Shoppers can achieve mutual understanding and respect.  Korean Wave or Halley South Korea has been emerging as a source of power for the production of transnational pop culture which spread first to neighboring Asian countries, later to the Middle East and North Africa, and more recently to Europe and the Americas (Park & Change, p. 2).

This phenomenon is introduced as “Korean wave” which refers to the significantly increased popularity of South Korean culture around the world; it is also referred to as Halley, in the Korean language. The term was coined in China in mid-1999 by Beijing Journalists surprised by the fast growing popularity of Korean entertainment and culture in China (Lee, 2011, p. 86). The first wave of Halley in China was the invasion of television dramas. Initially, it seemed that the boom in Korean entertainment in China was accidental rather than deliberate (Steinberg, 2010, p. 53). Later, the rave for Korean drama expanded to include not only music, dance, and film, but also literature, fashion, and even Korean cuisine and became the driving force in Koreans tourism. The Korean government picked up on this phenomenon fairly quickly and went on a nationalistic campaign to promote Halley in different ways (Park & Change, p. ). The Korean wave portrays an unprecedented frame of Korean popular culture by the Korean media alongside the line with commercial nationalism.

As a result, the Korean wave is manifested as a regional cultural trend signifying a triumph of Korean culture (Lee, 2011, p. 85). Korean cultural products have become a catalyst for curiosity about Korean culture and Korea itself. Korean dramas in particular have served as an important bridge for the different countries to encounter Korean culture. The Korean wave has had a marked impact in various ways regarding transaction with other countries. Local sentiment towards Korea has not been respectable in the past, but the Korean wave has fundamentally changed the national image of Korea in a positive way.

The Korean wave ultimately improved Koreans image in foreign countries, which in turn created a ripple effect that has extended much farther than Just the Korean economy or peninsula (Lee, 2011, p. 86). Korean television dramas (K-dramas) have enjoyed immense popularity all over the world. It is part of the phenomenon known as Halley or Korean Wave, in which all things Korean from television dramas to popular music to fashion are consumed by audiences all over the world. K-dramas ushered the Wave, beginning in China in the late sass through hit TV shows such as “What is Love? Which aired in China Central Television (CATV) in 1997 .

Which view Asian “family-friendly’ values as the main reason for the success of the shows. As many Korean television dramas have won the hearts of fans in China, Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia, and overseas Asian communities worldwide, prominent cultural scholars like Chichi Buckish and Chug Been Heat began to analyze the penetration of Korean television dramas into Asian markets and defined he process as newly “emerging intra-Asian popular cultural flows under globalization forces” Nouns, 2009, p. 9). Many fans of Korean television dramas talk about the physical attractiveness of the Korean actors and actresses and their modern and glamorous fashion, make-up and hairstyles. They also point to the lavish productions, including their skillful editing, beautiful cinematography, good acting, captivating storyline, and accessibility. Thanks to recent IT and digital-media developments, versions of these dramas are available for little or no cost with various subtitle options, including

English, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian, Turkish, Spanish, and several Chinese dialects (Jung, 2009, p. 72). Viewers from various countries and backgrounds are drawn to Korean dramas of various reasons. For Americans, these dramas are “relaxing and cheerful” while for Europeans, the appeal rests on “uncomplicated and romantic” plots. Middle East an Muslim audiences, meanwhile, are drawn to the “subtle repression of emotions and intense romantic passion without overt sexuality’ (Chorea, p. L).

For Asians, the appeal of Korean television dramas rests on its so-called emotional power” which comes from the “interwoven themes of family, romance, friendship, martial arts, war, and business” as well as the way the characters face issues on love in a “tender, meaningful and emotional than sensual” manner. The Asian sensibilities of proportioning family and of expressing emotions in a subtle manner also appeal to Asian viewers across generations (Chorea, p. 1). Korean Wave in the Philippines Even before the Korean wave, Filipinos were long fans of imported dramas.

Soap operas and drama series have become a staple for daytime and primetimes viewing I the Philippines. In the sass, Mexican tealeaves became the mania, with huge hits like “Roseland” and “Marimba” attracting ratings above 50 percent. Asian dramas, including Korean, have become hits in the sass (Hiccup, 2009). In the Philippines, Korean dramas are fondly called “Cornflakes”, a term coined by Philippine television channel GAMMA 7 as a marketing buzzword for the growing popularity of K-dramas, following the past successes of the Mexican “tealeaves”, Taiwanese “chi-novella” and Japanese J-drama trends.

Since Bright Girl, the first Korean drama shown in the Philippines through GAMMA 7 in 2003, K-dramas have bee deadly gaining popularity among Filipinos. But Korean drama’s popularity picked u its pace when Endless Love: Autumn in My Heart was shown in the same year in the same channel (Chorea, p. 1). Rival network ABS-CB was quick to latch on to the trend and aired its own set of Korean television dramas. In fact, in 2005, the Philippines was counted among major importing countries of Korean dramas in Asia, with Japan leading at 60. Percent, China at 9. 9 percent, Philippines at 3. 7 percent, and Taiwan at 1. 4 percent. The dramas. Often, these dramas are dubbed in the Filipino language. Characters are also given names that are familiar sounding to Filipinos, such as Vivian for the lead female character and Carlo for the male lead character in Lovers in Paris. Soundtracks and background music are given a Filipino touch through the inclusion of local music artists, an example being Kitchen Naiad’s Wag an Wag Mongo Scabbing, also in Lovers in Paris (Chorea, p. ). Filipinos love Cornflakes because they can relate to the stories. The Korean dramas are quite escapist and moving. Aside from the touching pipelines, the production is really a visual experience of places that most of the Filipinos are not accustomed to seeing. Filipino people are very easy to please and so the theme of the Korean drama has touched their hearts easily. They can relate with the story and at the same time looking and familiarizing on the tangible cultural manifestation of that country.

This is a form of metasyntactic translation/dubbing. This method, a technical aspect of understanding a foreign drama is the tool or bridge of Korean drama that the Filipino understands. It makes them interested on a drama that offers something new and at the same time something informative which are all pleasing to their consciousness (Rexes, p. 4). Indeed, in the past several years, Filipino viewer tastes for dramas have evolved. They are no longer content with Filipino-made drama series, but welcome Essentials, including Korean drama series.

As long as they appeal to the taste of TV audiences, Cornflakes will continue to warm the hearts of Filipinos (Hiccup, 2009). Ill. Korean Wave influencing youth culture According to the paper entitled “The Impact of K-pop to the Filipino Youth” by students from Polytechnic University of the Philippines, the K-pop fever or Halley can be easily spotted in the country in terms of Filipinos’ clothing nowadays, music, behavior, attendances and even in television industry. Here are some examples that they stated with regards on how the Koreans are affecting the country, most especially the Filipino youth.

Restaurants & Food Several Korean and Korean-inspired restaurants have popped up like mushrooms all over Metro Manila, from those serving traditional banana (assorted sidedness) and bulldog (grilled marinated meat) to those specializing in “double-fried” chicken. Because a lot of Korean has moved here in our country they tend to bring their own set of food like those mentioned from above. One of the most liked aspect of Halley is their Korean Dramas, when a teenager see or learn that his or her idol’s favorite dish is Chime he/she will search for this food Just to learn why his/her idol love this particular dish.

Another reason is that for them to connect with their idols in simple ways in this instance they want to connect in terms of the food they eat. B. Music Korean shows a great way to introduce Filipinos to the country’s mainstream music, which is collectively called K-pop. After listening to intros, ending songs and official sound tracks of their favorite series, these Cornflake Junkies begin to search about different k-pop artists and bands, with most popular of them in Junior, which has held two Jam-packed concerts in Manila.

Of course, Filipinos also have a soft spot for the four-member NINE , which includes former ABS-CB talent Sandra Park. And after making the whole world do his hilarious horse dance, it is safe to say that Psych of “Kananga Style” fame is included in every Filipinos K-Pop play list. Nowadays a lot of teenage groups of boys and girls are popping up like mushrooms after the rain. The manner of their performance and even the way they Reese is obviously influenced by the Korean pop stars. A lot of teenagers play list is mostly composed of different Korean songs from their favorite series or their favorite K-Pop bands.

Thus it is safe to say that the youth of today is greatly influenced by the K-Pop fever. C. Beauty and Fashion Nowadays, Korean hairstyle is very popular in the Philippines. Along with the fascination for Korean Stars is to achieve their unique hairstyles and flawless complexions, thus the sudden popularity of Korean salons and other beauty and fashion items. Every Filipinos cut their hair Just to feel them comfortable and infinite, and the Korean hairstyle is now at the top of young Filipino hairstyle choices. Sometimes they risk school by violating the school policy on proper haircut but this does not matter.

Again, what matters is they look like Koreans. The youth in the Philippines tend to immortality their idols, to think that their idol is perfect thus their will to imitate them based on their clothing, hairstyles, and whatnot. Most of the youth today is using their idealization for these Korean Pop stars as a way to live, or as their coping mechanism if they have family problems or arsenal issues. By living for their idols they have a purpose and excuse to be someone else. The Filipino fans not only developed an interest in the Cornflakes or KOP music but also the likeness towards the Korean Fashion.

This Korean fashion trend exploded among the students who love to be hip and chic and “In” with the new. Even sometimes they may look weird, as long as they tried to imitate the Korean hair, clothing style and shoes, to them the idea that they copied the Koreans perfectly is what matters. Indeed, the Korean fashion is now trending in the Philippines and it is big influence to the Filipinos who are very obsessed to the fashion because with the fashion, they learn how to mix and match dresses with different styles and colors.

One factor that may lead to this influence is not the television but the Korean presence in the country since a big number of them are studying in the Philippines. In their presence, they have influenced their Filipino classmates and friends to dress and look like them. Because of this, some Filipinos have lost their originality for trying to imitate everything from the Korean culture (Rexes, p. 5). Apparently, Filipinos have been disgusted by their own brand of fashion. The flashy and overly stylish Korean fashion has now affected not only the look but the way of life of the Filipinos.

The Philippines has been home to several Korean made gadgets even before the age of Halley in the Philippines. One of the biggest brands here and globally as well is Samsung, which sells anything from appliances to mobile phones. LEG is also a perfect example, which is endorsed by Lee Min Ho. Here in the Philippines teenagers can easily acquire these said gadgets because of their allowance. In the world of robbery the youth will buy this brand or line. Solely because it is endorsed by their idol, not considering if the said product is really functional wise or if they really need it in some case.

Australian playwrights use a variety of styles, techniques and conventions to present images on the stage that provoke and challenge their audiences. Discuss with reference to your study and experience of the plays you have studied. The Australian playwrights studied this year have used a variety of styles, techniques and conventions, presenting Images which provoke and challenge audiences. The Removals by David Williamson and No Sugar by Jack Davis, despite the different contexts, are concerned with power and status and the conflict which is created by intonating cultural and social values.

While Davis’ No Sugar is set in Western Australia in the ass’s and focuses on the discrimination and racism experienced by Aboriginals, The Removals deals with Police corruption in the us. Despite these different contexts, both plays manipulate a range of style, techniques and conventions to create images which effectively challenge and provoke their audiences. Both plays combine a range of styles, techniques and conventions to create Images which provoke and challenge the audience but the most significant dramatic quinine Is the deliberate and careful use of contrast In the spoken language.

The dialogue in No Sugar provokes the audience right from the first scene with the starting mixture of “lingo’s’, “Garrulously Nosegays corroboree to a wetla’s brass band! ” Here the audience is presented with an incongruous image of Aboriginals trying to do the impossible – adjust and assimilate harmoniously to the traditional music of the controlling culture. From the humorous slang of Jimmy, “Oh Jesus, me bloody leg” to the formal, platitude – style speech of Manville, “in this small ornery of the Empire”  the audience is challenged by the evident differentiation of status, education and privilege. White language is formal and sanitized. Black language Is comic, creative, angry and despairing, the humor challenging the audience to Identify sympathetically with the gutsy and resilient characters. Contrasting social and cultural values are heard throughout the play, the playwright deliberately highlighting the black conditions with white.

Similarly, the open stage settings and parallel scenes juxtaposed throughout, serve to emphasis the contrasting situations. For example, (focus on three important scenes as evidence – looking at how the different elements create images for the audience) In a completely different context, David Williamson The Removals highlights the characters’ weaknesses and vulnerabilities which reveal themselves as the tension escalates and the increasing corruption materialists, through the contrasting and unmistakable individual voices.

Simmons Interrogates rather than communicating, using an apparently polite but deliberately terse and crude style, “l hope you’re not a young smart Ares Ross. Ross in contrast parrots cliches, “got to be trained for all eventualities,” and the Removal’s repetitive, “Vie got 5000 dollars worth of machinery ticking over in the driveway’, provoking the audience to reconsider the about the reliability and integrity of the Police force, the willingness of a tradesman to become involved in a crisis are challenged.

Events are presented rapidly and intensified through the form of the two single acts, the police station and the flat; the playwright building on a essentially realistic style with elements of Greek Theatre, the lenience taking place offstage, thus allowing the audience to rely on their imaginations to create their own images of power and corruption out of control, challenging them to reconsider their ideas and assumption.

Both plays essentially rely on Realism to engage, provoke and challenge the audience while creating convincing and effective images. Although No Sugar has conventionally been staged using a Promenade form, experiments and discussions in class. (identify a staging ideas – perhaps transformational acting/ projection/ voice over – think about how well this would work as a radio play). The Removals traditionally is performed on a stage which “breaks the fourth wall” in naturalistic style, relying on realistic and recognizable Australian stereotypes.

History of Drama

Spanish Period

1. Teabag  “to excavate”. St. Helena’s search for cross

2. Lagaylay – Pilarenos of Sorsogon get together during Maytime

3. Cenacle – passion, and death of Christ

• a. Canada – chanted like pasion
• b. Hablada – a rhythmic measure of words in a deliberate manner

4. Panunuluyan – Mary & Joseph searching for refuge before Christ’s birth – presented before 12mn on Christmas eve

5. Salubong – during the easter (Mary meets risen Christ)

6. Carillo (shadow play) – a form of entertainment performed during a moonless night or a dark night after a harvest

7. Zarzuela – 1st Philippine drama. Musical comedy or melodrama. Has 3 acts of man’s passion & emotion (love, hate, revenge, cruelty, avarice or social/political problems)

8. Senate – short musical comedy (18th century) – exaggerated comedies performed by characters from lower-class family (Indio) – theme: taken from everyday life scenarios

American Period

1. Severino Reyes – father of Tagalog drama – Walang Sugat
2. Aurelio Tolentino – a Kapampangan dramatist
3. Luang Tagalog = masterpiece
4. Kahapon, Ngayon, at Bukas = resulted in his incarceration
5. Hermogenes Ilagan – from Central Luzon – he founded the group Campana Ilagan Severino Reyes and Hermogenes Ilagan started the movement against the moro-moro (play against Muslims)
6. Japanese Period
7. Characterized by stage shows because movie houses were closed

Organization of Filipino players (Dramatic Filipinos)

1.  Jose Ma. Hernandez – Panday Pira
2.  Francisco Soc Rodrigo – Sa Pula so Puti
3.  Clodualdo del Mundo – Bulaga
4.  Julian Cruz Balmaceda
5. Sino ba Kayo?
6. Dahil sa Anak
7. Gigante ng Patay

Period of New Society (Modern) reviving old plays/dramas 1977 – Tales of Manuvu (a new style of rock of the ballad opera) – Performed by Celeste Legaspi, Lea Navarro, Hadji Alejandro, Boy Canara, Anthony Castello & Rey Dizon – choreographed by Attic Reyes Singing Embayoka (CCP) – from Mindanao State University.

Development of play

1. PETA (Philippine Educational Theater Association) – Cecille Guidote & Lino Brocka
2. Repertory Philippines – Rebecca Godines & Zenaida Amador
3. UP Repertory – Behn Cervantes
4. Teatro Filipino – Rolando Tinio

For my undertaking I wanted to concentrate on an country that involved some kind of pupil play/interaction. I teach Pre-K so most of what my pupils do is through geographic expedition utilizing haptic procedures. My pupils truly bask books and I can state when I ‘m reading that they are wholly engaged in what ‘s to come. Through observation of my pupils I besides know that they enjoy moving out assorted things while they are at centres. Since some of my childs seem to hold problem with comprehension and retrieving cardinal information from the book I thought that conveying the book to life might be helpful for those fighting.

Background/Class Information:

I teach at SGA Elementary School in Sardis, GA which is located in Burke County. This school has grades Pre-K through 5th. There is 1 principal, 1 frailty principal, 1 instructional coordinator, 1 counsellor, 1 medical helper, 1 office director and 2 office forces. The school is comprised of 33 schoolrooms, including the resources: art, physical instruction, and music. Grades Pre-K through 3rd all have a paraprofessional in each room and 4th and 5th portion a drifting paraprofessional between the grades/classes.

This school is in a really rural portion of the county. Income degrees are really low and most parents suffer from high unemployment. If parents do work it is for a low paying/minimum pay occupation. Because of this factor all pupils are served a free breakfast and tiffin everyday at school. Pre-k besides receives a bite at the terminal of the twenty-four hours that is provided by our lunchroom.

At this school there are 401 entire pupils. There are a sum of 186 females with the cultural dislocation including: 3 Hipic, 4 multi-racial, 71 White, and 108 Black. For the males, there are a sum of 215 including: 4 Hipic, 4 Multi-racial, 77 White, and 130 Black. Since we do hold several households in our school that are Latino the school recognizes that there is a linguistic communication barrier. We have a transcriber who can be used in order to assist do communicating easier for them every bit good as ourselves. Most households have household members who can assist and they will come to events in order to help them. In my schoolroom I have 1 Latino pupil. She began the twelvemonth talking broken English and has now progressed, but still gets hung up on a few thoughts. Her male parent speaks really small English with a strong speech pattern and her female parent speaks no English at all. When he needs to talk to me or I need to talk to him about his kid they prefer to utilize their girl to assist with interlingual rendition. The parents said that made them more comfy to utilize her so I have ne’er had to use the services of our transcriber, but the linguistic communication barrier truly has n’t been excessively large of an issue. In my schoolroom I have 20 pupils. It consists of 11 misss and 9 male childs. For the misss I have 3 White, 7 Black, and 1 Hipic. I have 6 White male childs and 3 Black male childs.

In my schoolroom it is myself and a paraprofessional. She has been in a Pre-K schoolroom for 5 old ages. We reasonably much have an equal distribution as to what we do, how we do it, and how things get accomplished. I teach the bulk of the clip, but there are times in which she will learn calendar. She ever assists when we are in a big group puting and making an activity during that clip. We portion a joint function in carry oning little group. I have created groups based on degree. We decide what needs the pupils have and seek to come up with activities to assist them pattern so they can get down acquiring better at them. This is the country in which I can see the pupils profiting from the most because they are able to acquire our one-on-one attending and we, in bend, are able to truly concentrate on them and assist them where they struggle. Or if we see that they can make a undertaking with easiness we give them something to dispute them. Needs are tweaked harmonizing to the groups.

Action Research Question:

The focal point of my undertaking was based on the inquiry: if after reading narratives aloud to my pupils I give them different avenues to research the narratives during centre clip will this assist them develop a better apprehension for what is read? As I mentioned earlier, I knew this was the country I needed to concentrate on since some of my pupils had problem with comprehension. I do n’t cognize really many childs who do n’t bask playing either so integrating it with something active seemed best. Even while carry oning my research I did n’t hold any countries of my inquiry that needed to be changed.

Supporting Datas:

Description:

Students ‘ chief exposure to books in a pre-k schoolroom is to nursery rimes and authoritative narratives. Nursery rhymes present the footing for a narrative: a character, an event and an stoping ( GSU, 2008 ) . Students besides gain understanding through the beat and repeat. With authoritative narratives, pupils are able to larn the difference between fact and phantasy every bit good as understanding the construction of a book ( GSU, 2008 ) . This manner, there is a clear beginning, center and terminal for the pupils. A instructor should learn one rime a hebdomad, highlight one a month, integrate a rime into a unit and promote kids to move out the narrative or rime by supplying chances at big group and/or centre clip ( GSU, 2008 ) . To advance narrative comprehension and enjoyment, pulling and treatment are widely practiced and accepted in simple schools, but a 3rd less frequently adept manner to follow up reading to kids is dramatic drama ( Galda, 1982 ) . Children connect books to play by actively seeking for book-related playthings and props in order to back up comprehension through set uping a more concrete appreciation on thoughts. Book-related make-believe drama represents a richer method of supervising pupils ‘ apprehension of narratives, traveling beyond the typical inquiries and simple retellings ( Welsch, 2008 ) . A focal point on drama around familiar narratives and literature capitalizes on the plot lines that define pretend strategies ( Welsch, 2008 ) . Literacy related activities allow kids to polish their turning constructs of the maps of written linguistic communication and supply valuable, extremely meaningful pattern with emergent reading and authorship ( Christie, 1991 ) . Within an early childhood schoolroom, book-related make-believe drama could be considered an equal chance experience, in which every pupil can set on the chapeau, pick up the fork, travel in the house, and enter the universe of the narrative ( Welsch, 2008 ) . Recognizing that a kid acquires linguistic communication through active engagement and that literature provides rich linguistic communication theoretical accounts, storytelling and retellings is an first-class technique for furthering growing in linguistic communication and increasing comprehension ( Biegler, 1998 ) .

Implementation Ideas:

“ Preschool and kindergarten schoolrooms, even those specifically designed as intercessions for kids at hazard of reading troubles, must be designed to back up cognitive, linguistic communication, and societal development, including exciting verbal interaction and enriching kids ‘s vocabularies. Play affords kids chances to develop physical, societal, and cognitive abilities that will function them subsequently in non-play state of affairss ” ( Christensen and Kelly, 2003 ) . There are a figure of things that can be done in a schoolroom to increase a pupil ‘s comprehension. The chief manner is through dramatic drama. Using props and other stuffs makes the narratives come to life. Teachers can first supply a assortment of rereading experiences: spouse reading, Readers Theatre, echo reading, choral reading, shared reading, single reading ( Hicks, 2009-2010 ) . All of these things help with eloquence and increase comprehension. Play activities are the centre of immature pupils ‘ zones of proximal development, where new cognition is gained through societal interactions with more competent participants and, while feigning, pupils translate their perceptual experiences of the existent universe into the actions that create and define the universe of drama ( Welsch, 2008 ) . On their ain and by their ain choosing, pupils may utilize this type of drama to research the most cardinal intent of literacy, the building of significance ( Welsch, 2008 ) . High-level drama is widely recognized as an instructional scheme that builds linguistic communication, vocabulary, and underlying cognitive accomplishments necessary for kids to go successful readers and authors ( Christensen and Kelly, 2003 ) . Children pattern verbal and narrative accomplishments that are of import to the development of reading comprehension and instructors can help the linguistic communication and literacy development through high-ranking drama in the undermentioned ways: 1. ) triping or developing kids ‘s background cognition for the drama scene, 2. ) scaffolding the building of scenarios and retellings, 3. ) going involved in drama scenes to steer the kids ‘s attending and larning through mold and interaction, 4. ) supplying the appropriate sum of unequivocal and narrative props, and 5. ) supplying clip and infinite for high-ranking drama ( Christensen and Kelly, 2003 ) . Research has demonstrated that use of the schoolroom drama environment through physical agreement of drama centres, inclusion of literacy-related stuffs ( pencils, paper, typewriter, etc. ) , and dramatic drama props can impact the quality and assortment of a kid ‘s unwritten linguistic communication usage, battle in literacy behaviours, and narrative comprehension ( Monson and Nielsen, 1996 ) . Some narratives lend themselves to the usage of marionettes, felt-boards and still others can be developed as prop narratives which make storytelling semen alive, exciting the imaginativeness and affecting the hearer ( Biegler, 1998 ) .

Research Findingss:

Assorted surveies have been done as to whether or non these signifiers of active engagement work. Analysiss of cases where drama was related to the significances of the books the kids had read indicated that each case of book-related dramatic drama could be described in footings of six belongingss including ( a ) the range of drama, ( B ) the type of connexion constructed between books and drama books, ( degree Celsius ) kids ‘s intents for drama, ( vitamin D ) the position or point of position explored, ( vitamin E ) the mark systems used and their relation to book reading events, and ( degree Fahrenheit ) the sorts of societal interaction involved ( Rowe, 1998 ) . Rowe ( 1998 ) besides noted that analyses demonstrated that the kids created direct linkages between their book and drama experiences. Children ‘s book-to-play connexions involved: linking books to the universe of objects by turn uping and keeping book-related playthings and props, personal response to books through dramatic passages of feelings and actions, take parting in book-reading events through the character of a make-believe character, aesthetic reenactments of book events, screening out the writer ‘s significances through drama, character surveies and utilizing book subjects and characters as springboards for personal enquiries about the universe ( Roskos and Christie, 2000 ) . Authors Pellegrini and Galda noted the importance of the equal interaction and the good facets of make-believe as lending to pupils ‘ increased ability to understand the narrative ( Welsch, 2008 ) . The Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children clearly saw high-ranking drama as an instructional scheme that Fosters literacy development and future reading success in which kids reflect on state of affairss through dramatisation ( Christensen and Kelly, 2003 ) . In a survey done by Deborah Rowe she suggested that there are a figure of features of the drama observed in her survey that may hold provided both motive and chance for the immature kids ‘s literacy acquisition: connexion, ownership, flexibleness, openness, multiple mark systems, transmediation and community ( Rowe, 1998 ) . The consequences from Bieglers ‘ survey was that kids exhibited greater comprehension and narrative memory by utilizing dramatic narrative reenactment than those who reconstructed narratives in instructor led direction and art activities and narrative related comprehension was most efficaciously facilitated by prosecuting in fantasy drama and retellings ( Biegler, 1998 ) .

Jodi Welsch wrote an article in 2008 entitled, Playing within and beyond the narrative: encouraging book-related make-believe drama. In this article there are many good points covering with pupils playing and groking information. Welsch ( 2008 ) stated that kids connect books to play by actively seeking for book-related playthings and props in order to back up comprehension through set uping a more concrete appreciation on thoughts. Book-related make-believe drama represents a richer method of supervising pupils ‘ apprehension of narratives, traveling beyond the typical inquiries and simple retellings because a focal point on drama around familiar narratives and literature capitalizes on the plot lines that define pretend strategies ( Welsch, 2008 ) . Two writers, Pellegrini and Galda are quoted in Welsch ( 2008 ) observing the importance of the equal interaction and the good facets of make-believe drama as lending to pupils ‘ increased ability to understand the narrative. Play activities are the centre of immature pupils ‘ zones of proximal development, where new cognition is gained through societal interactions with more competent participants and, while feigning, pupils translate their perceptual experiences of the existent universe into the actions that create and define the universe of drama ( Welsch, 2008 ) . On their ain and by their ain choosing, pupils may utilize this type of drama to research the most cardinal intent of literacy, the building of significance ( Welsch, 2008 ) .

Plan and Timeline:

Execution of this scheme took topographic point over a 10 twenty-four hours p in my schoolroom from February 1st through the 12th. I taught a unit on nursery rimes one hebdomad and faery tales/tall narratives during the other hebdomad. I eased my category into the alterations during our unit clip as we discussed the narratives. The manner it was introduced to my pupils and carried out is as follows:

-Monday ( 2/1 ) : The unit for the hebdomad is Nursery Rhymes. I introduced what a baby’s room rime was, elements that it contained, and talked about riming words.

-Tuesday ( 2/2 ) : I read “ Humpty Dumpty ” to my category. We talked about all the words that sounded likewise in the verse form. They so did an activity where they drew what Humpty Dumpty might ‘ve been if he had n’t fallen off of the wall. I added this felt board narrative to our marionette centre in the loft.

-Wednesday ( 2/3 ) : Today we talked about “ Mary had a Small Lamb. ” I foremost played the vocal and most of the childs recognized it and sang along. I so read it to them and added the book and music to the hearing centre.

-Thursday ( 2/4 ) : I talked about the baby’s room rime, “ Jack be Agile. ” I had a little taper holder with a taper in it and I had my childs take bends stating the rime and jumping over the candle stick. After the lesson was over I put the candle holder in our dramatic drama country.

-Friday ( 2.5 ) : The concluding baby’s room rime we covered was “ 5 Small Ducks. ” We discussed how this utilised math and numbering backwards/down. As we read the narrative I had 5 pupils keeping a duck and each clip one went off I had the pupil sit down. I besides played this on a Cadmium and the pupils took turns moving it out with the ducks. The Cadmium was added to the music centre. Five ducks were placed in music as props and the other ducks were placed in math as manipulatives.

-Monday ( 2/8 ) : This started the hebdomad in which I introduced fairy narratives and tall narratives. I started out by giving different scenarios and the pupils had to assist me calculate out if it was the truth or a story. I so explained the elements of these types of narratives and had the pupils create one of their ain through a drawing. My paraprofessional and myself dictated their responses.

-Tuesday ( 2/9 ) : I started by reading Cinderella. I wanted pupils to assist me foretell what would go on following since I figured this was a familiar narrative to them. I added a Cinderella costume and a suit coat to the dramatic drama country.

-Wednesday ( 2/10 ) : Today I read “ The Elvess and the Shoemaker. ” After discoursing the book I had pupils pull what they would make to assist people if they were charming elves. My paraprofessional and myself dictated their responses.

-Thursday ( 2/11 ) : “ Small Red Riding Hood ” was discussed today. I talked about aliens and asked pupils if they thought this could truly go on. The book and tape for this narrative was placed in the hearing centre.

-Friday ( 2/12 ) : To stop the hebdomad I read “ The 3 Small Pigs. ” I had the pupils help me foretell what would go on to each house and each hog as we went through the book. I added gum elastic hog noses to the dramatic drama country every bit good as the felt board narrative to the marionette centre in the loft.

-*All books from both hebdomads were kept out on my bookcase so pupils could utilize them during independent clip or if they chose the reading centre.

Consequences:

During this procedure I monitored pupils as I read and as they chose centres. While watching them as I read I looked to see if they were reacting to voices, certain parts of the book and if they were replying the inquiries I asked at different points throughout reading. This helped me cognize right off the chiropteran if they were groking or non. This besides helped me do note of who I could watch during centres to see if they utilized any of the points I placed around the room after reading the books. I was surprised because the bulk of those that seemed lost during me reading the book frequently selected reading or hearing and selected those books we had talked about. I could hear them reading out loud and utilizing the images in the book to assist steer them so they could state what was go oning. They would acquire excited when they would acknowledge that was something I had shared with them and it seemed to intend more to them than merely picking a book at random. It was amusing to watch pupils at the hearing centre excessively because they would hold their earphones on and be in the quiet zone, but all of a sudden you would hear them get down stating the narrative out loud. In the dramatic drama country all of the props and costumes were the first things anyone grabbed. There were a few who would set on the Cinderella costume and say that she was a princess and drama in it, but there were others who would have on it and truly acquire into moving out the narrative. I do n’t hold many male childs that go to the dramatic drama country because aside from dress-up apparels it is largely used by the misss as the housekeeping country. There was one male child that struggles to grok narratives and he selected dramatic drama everyday after we read Cinderella and he would travel over at that place and set on the suit and feign to be Prince Charming. He did a great occupation at reciting assorted things that happened so he truly benefited from the excess support. The last country I added things in was our marionette centre in the loft. The pupils truly enjoyed the felt board narratives. I have had felt board stories up at that place all twelvemonth and I can merely remember two times in which they have been used. After reading the narratives and adding them to that centre everyone that went up at that place used the pieces to recite the narratives. It was incredible to me since it had seldom been used in the yesteryear that they would utilize it every bit much as they did and every bit efficaciously as they did. One thing that truly stood out to me was pupils who would choose the authorship and art centres. While in these centres about all of the pupils over the two hebdomad p brought me something they had created and told me it was a certain portion from one of the books we had discussed. I thought that was neat because even though I had n’t added anything new for them to utilize they still utilized the stuffs they had to demo their enjoyment and comprehension of the narratives.

Artifacts:

Throughout this procedure I did several things in order to roll up informations and do observations. As I mentioned in the subdivision above, I foremost watched the pupils as I read/introduced the book and made a mental note of who I was most funny to watch during halfway clip. Then during centre clip I circulated the room and listened to student treatments as they played. The bulk of them, at least for a part of the clip exhausted playing, related in some manner to the books we had discussed. If I saw pupils dressed up as a character, stating a felt board narrative or listening/reading one of the books we had talked about I would acquire my camera and snarl some images. I video recorded several pupils reciting nursery rhymes on the felt board every bit good as a group in dramatic drama re-enacting the ball from “ Cinderella. ”

Decision:

I feel that this procedure was an utmost success and thoroughly replies a resonant yes to my research inquiry. I was really pleased at the overpowering response by my pupils to the props that were accessible to them. The chief intent of my end was to see if this helped more with comprehension and I can state that it truly did. I have several pupils who ca n’t state me anything about a narrative after it is read and those are some of the 1s I focused on watching. They all, at some point or another, chose a centre and selected an activity within that centre entirely because they recognized it from our readings. All of them were able to state at least a portion of the narrative, if non all of a narrative, when utilizing the props. This is decidedly something that I will go on to make every bit much as possible in order to go on to assist those pupils who struggle to grok. For those that can grok good it will go on to function as added support for their content cognition.

Comparison/Contrast Essay Although both Clarice Lispector’s “The Smallest Woman in the World” and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” are magic realist stories showing the extreme sizes of two people, the stories depict differently how a society can react to a certain type of person. Through scenery and physical description, the authors show that different types of people can be loved or hated by a society. Marquez’s text starts off with children seeing a large being in the water.

The children think “it was an enemy ship” which can prove that the large size of a person can be very intimidating at first. Opposite to Marquez’s text, in Lispector’s text, the smallest woman is greeted with friendliness, she was immediately named by the French explorer. This can prove that the small size of the woman can be seen as less intimidating than a larger person. However, in both stories, the characters are suddenly treated differently once they have been displayed to a larger crowd.

Once the seaweed is removed from the drowned man, the children start to play with the man and are less afraid of him. Also once the woman of the village see the man, they seem to fall madly in love with him. They treat him almost like a god. In contrast, in Lispector’s text the people that read the article about the smallest woman in the world, they seem to dislike the idea of her size. The townspeople want her to be their slave or their toy. I think that the difference in size can be seen in both a literal and figurative sense.

Literally the large size of the man is what the woman see as a physical appeal to them while the small size of the woman is seen more a “creepy” or “strange” aspect of her appearance. However, I also believe that the size of the characters is used as symbolism. For example, we can see that the large size of the man could represent authority and power and this may be why the men of the village feel intimidated my him. It could also show that he is powerful or strong. The woman’s small size could be seen as weak or young.

It also can be compared to a lack of importance or lack of influence. In the story we see that even the kids don’t seem to respect her. The characters race also has a role on the societies views. For example, they describe the woman as being a “as black as a monkey”, describing how she may be animal-like or treated as a beast. They see her as a primitive being. The fact that she is black may also be why some of the people in France don’t seem to respect her. Throughout history black people have been oppressed which is a theme the author added in.

In Marquez’s text, the fact that the woman named the man as if they knew him, indicates that he was most likely of the same race as them. This is a fact that should be considered in why they feel a close bond with him. The authors also use setting to explain how the magical characters are treated. We can see that the man found from the ocean was treated better than the woman who was found in a dangerous part of an African forest. The woman of the town describe Esteban as ” most peaceful … man on earth” in which we can find similarities with how we describe the sea.

Many people think of the sea to also be peaceful or serene, which is where the drowned man came from. On the contrary, the woman was treated in a negative fashion which could be partially because of where she came from. The woman came from “the depths of … a jungle”. This can be seen as a dark and mysterious place which may insinuate why the people that read about her seem afraid or dislike her. Another difference between settings in the story is that in Marquez’s text, the town where the people discover the man seems to be a small village which isn’t the fact in Lispector’s text, which is the country of France.

Perhaps the authors were trying to show that people that grow up in bigger towns have more of a biased view on the outside world while people that grow up in smaller cities are more open minded, which would explain the different views on the characters in the story. In conclusion, Lispector’s “The Smallest Woman in the World” and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” show how magic realist text are used to push the boundaries of fiction while explaining worldly views. Although both story depicts a magical character’s life, they show through physical description and setting that people can be treated differently.

————————————————- DRAMA Origin of Greek tragedy and comedy Drama, in the western world, begins with ancient Greece, where the two major forms of drama ……….. tragedy and comedy ……….. were an aspect of religious ritual. Greek tragedy is believed to have begun in the sixth century B. C. with Thespis who introduced the first actor on the stage. The first dramatic dialogue lies in the conversation of this actor with leader of the satiric chorus. The dramatic element was subsequently added by Aeschylus in the fifth century B. C. and later by Sophocles of the same period.

They added a second and third actor on the stage respectively. Euripides, a contemporary of Sophocles, used drama as a medium for dealing with the problems of human existence. As the Greek drama developed, the chorus was detached from the main action. Of these ancient Geek tragedies, thirty-two plays are now extant ………. seven by Sophocles, and eighteen by Euripides. Greek comedy originated from the humorous side of the Dionysian rites. A actual feature was the singing procession, or comos. Their song along with a kind of mummery or play-acting developed into comedy. Greek comedy passed through three stages ……..

Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, and New Comedy. The Old comedy was the comedy of political and personal satire. The satirical plays of Aristophanes were directed against Euripides. The Middle comedy was a transition from this to the comedy of social life and manners. The satire became impersonal. In the New Comedy, the love intrigue became the dominant theme. The best known writer of the New Comedy was Menander who died in the third century B. C. His plays are now extant in Latin translations by Plautus and Terence. Drama and in Rome The Romans wrote comedies and tragedies in the manner laid down by the Greeks.

The characters were mostly stock figures like the comic slave, the braggart soldier, the proud cook, the young lover, the hunch-back, the cuckold and so on. The outstanding writers were Plautus (200 B. C. ) and Terence (150 B. C. ). Twenty plays of Plautus are now extant, including the “Menaechmi”, from which Shakespeare took the plot for “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”. Only six plays of Terence are extant. The most important writer of Roman tragedy was Seneca, who was a statesman and philosopher in the Stoic School. His ten plays are translated into English during the Elizabethan period. Drama in England

Like other countries, the drama in England had its origin in the services of the church. In the Middle Ages, the services of the church used to be in Latin, and the Bible was therefore, beyond the comprehension of the common people. The clergymen started illustrating Biblical stories by dump shows in order to bring the religious doctrines within the comprehension of the laymen. They were enacted within the church and the actors were all clergymen and monks. In due course, dialogue, first in Latin, then in the vernacular, was introduced and thus the ritualistic representations in the church developed into full-fledged drama.

Subsequently the place inside the church was found inadequate and so the representations were transferred to the churchyards. When this also proved insufficient, the drama passed from the church to the street, from the clergymen to the laymen. The mystery and miracle plays The Mystery and Miracle plays mark an advancement in the development of the medieval religious drama. The Mysteries dealt with themes taken from the Bible, whereas Miracle plays dealt with the lives of saints. The institution of the festival of Corpus Christi by Pope Urban IV in 1264 gave an impetus to the growth of these plays.

Until the thirteenth century Miracle plays were annually performed at several important towns like Chester, York, Coventry, and Lancaster. Curiously enough, these religious plays combined serious theme with farce, buffoonery, and coarse humour. Devil and Vice were depicted in a funny manner. The Devil was represented as a hideous monster, hairy and shaggy with horns, hoofs and a tail. Vice appeared in a fantastic, variegated dress carrying a wooden dagger and indulging in mad tumultuous pranks and jokes. He continued to have a comic role in English drama for long.

This sort of medieval religious drama reached its highest point of development in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The “cycles” presenting a series of plays containing a story of the creation of the world were popular in England in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries. Of these, four cycles ……… Chester comprising twenty-five plays, York comprising forty-eight plays, Wakefield comprising thirty-five plays, and Coventry comprising forty-two ……… have been preserved. Monks and scholars generally wrote the plays. Their settings were elaborate.

Heaven was presented in an awe-inspiring manner while Hell was presented as a dragon’s mouth. Theatrical effects were obtained by several devices as trap doors, pulleys, and the beating of drums. The aim of these was to instruct an entertain people. The Moralities and Interludes The end of the fifteenth century witnessed a parting between the serious and comic elements in these plays. The serious part of the story was treated separately in plays called “Morality Plays”. The comic or the lighter side was presented in “Interludes”.

In the Morality Plays religious instruction was substituted by moral teaching and biblical figures were substituted by personified virtues and vices. Mostly the theme was the struggle for a man’s soul. The purpose of these plays was to inculcate virtue by showing the forces of Good and Evil in action. The characters were mostly personifications of abstract qualities like Sin and Repentance. The first known Moralities called “Paternoster” plays were performed in the latter part of the fourteenth century. It dealt with the conflict between the Seven Moral Virtues and the Seven Deadly Sins.

The best Morality play is, however, “Everyman” published in the early sixteenth century. Humour was kept alive in the character of the Vice, who may be regarded as the forerunner of the Shakespearean clown. The term “Interlude” is applied to a species of professional performance carried out on special occasions like banqueting. It was used to fill intervals. It marks a definite advance in the art of comedy and forms a bridge of sorts between the Moralities and the Elizabethan drama. The characters were living human beings, and the aim was to amuse and entertain the audience.

With the interlude, drama lost its didactic character and became a vehicle of secular entertainment. The most famous interlude is John Heywood’s “The Four Ps” printed in 1569. The characters in are a Palmer, a Pardoner, a Pothecary and a Pedlar vying with another in telling the biggest lie. The verdict goes in favour of the palmer who stated that of the five hundred women he had known he had never seen one “out of patience”. The five divisions of the dramatic plot The basic of every dramatic story is conflict. It may take different shapes.

It may be between the hero, representing good, and the villain representing evil, it may of the hero against fate or circumstances, or against social conventions and customs. It may also be an inward war as in the case of Macbeth. In any case, a kind of conflict is the central element of the dramatic story. The plot begins with the opening of this conflict and ends with its conclusion. If we sympathise with the struggler, the play is a tragedy, and if laugh at him, it is a comedy. The theme of the play passes through five stages. They are exposition, complication, climax, denouement, and catastrophe.

This is called “the dramatic line”. Perhaps this five-fold structure of dramatic story accounts for the common division of play into five acts. The Exposition introduces the circumstances or situation from which the initial incident is to begin. Its aim is to give all the information necessary for the audience to understand the play. This is not an easy part of the play and its management may be regarded as a real test of a dramatist’s skill. Mrs. Stowe admits in her book “The Minister’s Wooing”, ”When one has a story to tell, one is always puzzled which end of it to begin with.

You have a whole corps of people to introduce what you know and your reader does not; and one thing so presupposes another that whichever way you turn your patchwork, the figures seem ill-arranged”. This is the experience of a novelist who can recourse to direct narrative and explanation. We can, then presume the difficulty of a dramatist who is denied such privileges. The least dramatic among the methods adopted by the dramatists is that of speech given by one of the characters, or a prologue. An example is the dialogue in the Second Scene of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”. A good exposition takes the form of a dialogue which is natural nd appropriate. It is brief, clear and dramatic. The first portion of the play after the initial incident comprises the Complication or the Rising Action or the Growth of the conflict towards the crisis. It should be characterised by clearness and logical consistency. Every incident should appear natural, and nothing that is essential should be obscured by unimportant details. The proper relation between character and action should be maintained. Every scene should have its role in the development of the plot or add to our knowledge about the characters should be indicated.

If the conflict is between two persons, both the characters should be made familiar to the audience, and if it is within the mind of the hero, hiss qualities and conduct should be presented carefully. The foundation for the following action should be thus laid. In climax or Crisis, the story reaches a point at which the balance begins to learn decisively to one or the other side. This is therefore known ass the turning point also. The treatment of the crisis may vary according to the circumstances. It may consist of a single incident or a group of incidents.

Generally the crisis is placed about the middle of the action, tin Shakespeare’s plays, it is generally towards the close of the third act or the beginning of the fourth act. In “Macbeth”, the Banquet scene, which comprises the crisis, occurs In Act III. After the appearance of Banquo’s ghost and the escape of Fleance, Macbeth’s fortunes are reversed. The dramatist should be careful that the event which determines the whole course of the action to its catastrophe comes out of the action itself and is not superimposed from outside.

The crisis over, we enter upon the denouement which is the falling action. In comedy it implies the removal of the obstacles or the clearing away of the misunderstanding which has hitherto been hindering the good fortune of the hero and the heroine. In tragedy it lies in the removal of those resisting powers which have been holding the powers of evil in check. In any case, our uncertainty and suspense come to an end and we rejoice in the happiness of the hero and the heroine or sympathise with them. The denouement presents to the dramatist the difficulty of maintaining the nterest of the audience after they are able to forsee the fortune of the characters. Small wonder Fielding hated “the man who invented fifth act”: Oddly enough, in Shakespeare tragedies, our interest continues even after the ending of the play can be clearly foreseen. CatastropheI is the final stage of the plot. The dramatic conflict comes to an end. The play to an end. The play usually ends with a sense of finality. But in modern plays and novels nothing is concluded and as Tennyson said, we seem to be poised on the crest of a wave which does not break.

This inconclusiveness is supported by those who favour realism, for, in life, they say, there is no such things as an “end” yet we must bear in mind that drama is a series of incidents selected for dramatic treatment. Audience demand a story in which no loose threads are left. The dramatist has to make the catastrophe the natural outcome of the forces which have been at work in the play. Aristotle recommended that the unraveling of the plot must arise out of the plot itself, and must never be brought about by a dues exmachina.

Though modern dramatists do not resort to a “God out of the machine” they employ such means as he timely removal of the villain by an accident, or the turning up of a will, or the discovery of a birthmark or something that reveals the real identity of the hero, or the unexpected arrival of an uncle long reported to be dead and so on. More common is the sudden change of heart of one of the characters to make the story end happily. The dramatist who employs such contrivances in a comedy may not do so when writing a tragedy. The reason is not far to seek. In comedy life is treated in a light and superficial manner..

Criticism of life in the drama The drama is different from novel in being objective. The novel permits the writer to intrude often to express his interpretation of life. He can do it directly or indirectly while the dramatist is forced to confine himself to the indirect method alone. According to Henry James, an novel is a personal impression representation of life. It is not, therefore, easy to detect in a play, the writer’s philosophy of life. The dramatist throws on our shoulders the entire responsibility of finding his meaning and even explaining what he has merely implied. But occasionally the dramatist escapes from the estraints imposed on him by making one of the characters in the play represent him. The Chorus of the Greek tragedies was thus a representative of the dramatist. He is often the mouthpiece of the dramatist’s philosophy of life. The modern dramatist no longer makes use of such a device. The main function of the chorus was to report the events that took place off stage and to make some comments on the morality of the actions presented on the stage. In modern plays, its place is often taken by one of the characters in the drama. Thus Enobarbus in Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra” is a kind of chorus.

With his critical comments he serves to bring out the cause of Antony’s degeneration uner the spell of the “Serpent of old Nile”. In modern problem plays, we often come across a character whose principal function in the play is merely to move through it as a philosopher spectator. He expounds moral problems on behalf of the writer. The French critics call him “raisonneur”. But it is not always right to identify an out-spoken character with the dramatist. For instance some commentators hhave made the mistake of discovering in the melancholy Jacques in “As You Like It” the representative of Shakespeare.

But Shakespeare makes all the other characters in the play laugh at him which indicates that he does not express Shakespeare’s views. The dramatist may very often find the Chorus –like character or the “raisonneur” inadequate to express his views on life. He often makes his view clear to the audience through the utterances of the various characters. Even while speaking in accordance with their personalities and situations, they may express the writer’s ideas about me and things. We can thus gain a clear idea of Shakespeare’s ideas and judgements from the utterances of his characters.

The difficulty lies in discriminating the particular moments when they express the dramatist’s views. Canon Beeching holds the opinion that the sentiments put into the mouth of these characters with whom we are expected to sympathise invariably express the writer’s views. But we notice that even the characters unable to arouse our sympathy may sometimes express moral truths, defined by them on earlier occasions. For instance, when Edgar says at the end of “King Lear”, “The Gods are just and of our pleasant vices make instruments to plague us”,

Edmund, the villain replies, “Thou hast spoken right; ‘tis true; the wheel has come full circle; I am here”. Shakespeare’s commentary upon the plot is provided more by Edmund than Edgar on this occasion. We should ,therefore, be careful in examining the sentiments expressed by the various characters in a play. In conclusion, we can say without any shadow of doubt that dramatist’s criticism of life is embodied in the whole spirit of the play. The world that the dramatist creates, with all men and women, their actions, passions and motives, their struggles followed by success or failure, is a world for which the dramatist lone is responsible.

It goes without saying then that it is a projection of his own personality. The whole play, therefore, reveals the temper of his mind, the way in which he looks upon things, the line of hs thoughts, his interests, and his attitude towards life. Characterisation in Drama One of the differences between drama and novel lies in the exposition of character. Usually it is thought that drama is concerned with action and, therefore, characterisation is a secondary matter in it. According to Mr. Henry Arthur Jones, “The first demand of an average theatrical audience is always the same as the child’s ……… Tell me a story”.

But story in a drama is childish and unintellectual unless it is related to character. If the story is nothing more than a succession of incidents, it is not much different from the adventures of a highway man. The story in a play should display the various aspects of human nature. As Hudson says, “Characterisation is the rally fundamental and lasting element in the greatness of any dramatic work”. This is illustrated best by Shakespeare’s plays. Centuries have passed since Shakespeare wrote them, but we are still interested in them, and our interest is by no means less than that of the Elizabethan audience.

What keeps our interest alive are the men and women in them. The essential quality of “Macbeth” lies not in the murders Macbeth commits, but in the character of Macbeth. Even lago, the villain, can hold us spellbound with his villainous schemes, originated in his brain. “Hamlet” is nothing more than a revenge play when we consider its plot, but none of these revenge plays that hooked the Elizabethan audience can appeal to us now as “Hamlet” does. Shakespeare has worked miracle out of that raw material by developing the psychological element in it, and that accounts for the immortal appeal of “Hamlet”.

The first condition in characterization in a lay is brevity. The dramatist has to portray the motive and conduct of a person within a few scenes. Since characterization and action cannot be divorced in a play, and the progress of the story has to be kept up, the task of the dramatist is not easy. This can well be illustrated with Shakespeare’s delineation of Macbeth. In the first act, the dramatist gives us an account of Macbeth’s courage on the battlefield, the evil fermenting in him, the confidence that others, including King Duncan, had in him, and above all, his superstitious nature.

The essential qualities of Lady Macbeth are also portrayed with equal precision. Her moral courage, her singleness of purpose, her influence over her husband’s sensitive nature are all laid before us in the first act itself. Yet Shakespeare has allotted to Lady Macbeth less than sixty speeches in the whole play, and Macbeth speaks about 150 times, and none of the speeches is long. “Macbeth” thus illustrates Shakespeare’s skill in characterization. Concentration is another necessary condition in characterization in plays. The main qualities of a character should be emphasized.

Every word of the dialogue may be used for this purpose, and supererogatory talk may be avoided. A dramatist sometimes commits the mistake of being absorbed in the development of the character to such an extent that those qualities which do not influence the action may also be mentioned. This is called over characterisation , characterisation in accused Shakespeare of this tendency.. Impersonality is another necessary condition in characteriisation. Unlike the novelist, the dramatist has to spend apart from his characters.

He cannot take them to pieces and lay their soul bare before us or pass judgement upon them. The plot and the utterance of the characters are the only means by which the dramatist can reveal his men, and women, their thoughts, their motives and passions. The dramatist, therefore, makes use of movement of the story, then crises and situations in it to display the intellectual and moral qualities of his characters. In the words of Hudson, “We know them by what they do, as the tree is known by its fruit”. In a good play, as in a good novel plot rests upon character.

A number of men and momen of different dispositions, motivated by different passions asr brought together and the clash of their interests constitutes the plot. The evacuation of the story then reveals thir dispositions, their motives and passions. Dialogue plays an important role in characterization. The characters exhibit their passion and motives, feelings and conflicts in their utterances. When the interest of the drama is psychological, the plot concerns itself rather with the play of the forces behind action, and then dialogue becomes an adjunct to action or an integral part of it.

Dramatic dialogue as a means of characterization can be classified under two heads. They are utterances of a given person and the remarks made about him by the other characters in the play. In the words of modern psychological playwrights like Ibsen, the utterances of the given person serves the purpose. Shakespeare generally reveals the fundamental qualities of his characters as soon and as clearly as possible. Though self-portrayal is the principal means of characterization by dialogue, the comments made by others about a person may be add to it. It is not correct to take every work uttered by a character as an indication of his nature.

His situation, his sympathy, antipathy and similar aspects should be taken into consideration. Occasional phrases uttered by a man can never be a reliable guidance to his character unless they are reinforced by various other utterances scattered through the play. Shakespeare uses this method in his “The Merchant of Venice”. Antonio is praised lavishly by all the other characters in the play. Salanio speaks of him as “the good Antonio”, Lorenzo refers to him as a “true gentlemen”, Gratiano loves him abundantly, and the gaoler grants him special privileges.

The same method is employed in revealing the character of Brutus inn “Julius Caeser” too. Soliloquy, which is a minor subdivision of “aside” is another means employed by the dramatists to take his audience down into the hidden recesses of a person’s nature. Certain aspects of a man’s character cannot be revealed in his action or his own word. Neither can the dramatist dissect his men and women as the novelist does. He, therefore, makes the characters themselves do ht work of dissextion, for we cannot understand them well unless we know the workings of their mind.

They think aloud, and we overhear what they say. A man, especially a villain, cannot disclose his design to a confidant, and in such a case, he is allowed to reason then imagine, not that the man is talking to himself or to us, but only thinking, and that we are concealed spectators of his thoughts. Modern critics however, condemn the use of Soliloquy, especially in realistic plays,. It is now regarded not only as clumsy, but also as non-dramatic, and the play that contains it is stigmatized as “old-fashioned”.

Modern critics accept the confidant, but also on condition that he has an essential part in the action. The different types of drama Drama has been divided broadly into two categories ………. Tragedy and Comedy, the former dealing with adversity and unhappiness, and the latter dealing with joy and mirth. Aristotle in his “poetics” defined tragedy as “artistic imitation of an action that is serious, complete in itself, and of adequate magnitude”. He gave importance to suffering or rather, “an incident of a destructive or painful sort, such as violent death or physical agony”.

In order to evoke pity, he recommended a hero neither too good nor wholly vicious, but “brought low through some error of judgement or shortcoming” known as “hamartia” or tragic flaw. It existed within the character of the hero, but inn modern plays, the tragic law exists in the milieu more than in the hero who merely becomes a victim of external circumstances. The effect of tragedy, according to Aristotle, is to arouse the emotions of pity and fear in such a way as to effect that special purging and relief known as “catharsis”. It can be brought about by proper constructions of the plot, which must have a beginning, a middle and an end.

Pity and fear are aroused not merely by the complete action but by salient incidents in the plot. Tragedy can be divided in the basis of form and content. From the point of view of form or structure, it is divided into the classical and the romantic tragedy. The former is based on Greek conventions, and the latter follows it own rules. One of the main features of the classical tragedy is the Chorus. It is consisted of a band of singers and dancers. In Greek tragedy the men and the women forming the Chorus belonged to a lower social rank than the chief characters.

Its main function was to report the events that occurred off stage and to make some comments from time to time. In the preface to “Merope”, Mattew Arnold explains the function of the chorus as to collect and weigh the impression which the action would at each stage make on a pious, thoughtful mind. It deepened the feeling aroused in the spectacular by reminding him of the past, and by indicating what was to come. To combine, to harmonize and to deepen the feelings excited in the audience by sight of the play was the function of the chorus.

Its importance dwindled as Greek drama developed. In Aeschylus, it takes part in the action, but in Sophocles, it becomes a mere commentator, and in Euripides, it is a lyric element. The Elizabethan dramatists in England reduced it to a single speaker, unrelated rest of the characters, who spoke the prologue or occasional interpretations of the plot. In modern plays it is rarely used as in Eliot’s “Murder in the Cathredal”. The Three Unities is another feature of the classical tragedy. The theory of unities was first propounded by Aristotle a Greek philosopher of the fourth century B.

C. They are of time, action, and place. Actually Aristotle mentioned only two ………. Unity of time and unity of action. The unity of place was implied in the first, by the unity of action he meant that the story should be the imitation of one action, and of the whole of this , and that the parts should be so arranged that if any of them is transposed or taken away the whole would become different and change. By the unity of time, mentioned in “Poetics 5 “he meant that tragedy should confine itself to ne revolution of the sun, or slightly exceed the limit.

His statement (“Poetics 17”) that, as contrasted with epic, tragic episodes are short and (“Poetics 26”) confined in less extended limits ……… crowded into a narrow compass, is the nearest he comes to any utterance regarding Unity of place. In short, Aristotle’s requirements were interpreted to mean that the action of the play should be a unified whole, the time should be limited to twenty-four hours, and the scene should be unchanged, or it should at least remain within the limits of a single city.

According to some, Aristotle, insisted on the unity of action only, and the other two unities were added by critics of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They argued that verisimilitude ……… an illusion of reality ……… could be achieved only by the observance of the three unities. In England romantic tendencies were stronger than academic precepts and therefore, the playwrights violated the theory of the unities came from Dr. Johnson who defended the romantic playwrights for following laws of nature rather than those of art imposed by the critics.

It is universally admitted that more than Sophocles and Aeschylus, Seneca, the Roman dramatist, influenced the tragic writers of the renaissance in England. It happened so on account of the melodramatic elements in his plays and because he wrote in Latin which was treasured more than Greek then. His understanding of the working of human emotions commended itself to he Elizabethan playwrights in England. Moreover, Seneca showed in his plays a moral tone and system of philosophy popular in England. The moral purpose and the rhetorical methods of Senecan play appealed to them.

While Aeschylus, Sophoclus, and Aristotle believed that man had some chance for happiness. , Seneca showed that man was sure to be beaten. But he introduced a stoical remedy that appealed to the Elizabethan dramatists. Senecan plays were immersed in honours, epigrammatial moralizing and stichomuthia or line repartee. The Senecan tradition also associated with supernatural arents like ghosts. Kyd’s “Spanish Tragedy”, and Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” and “Macbeth” show Senecan influence. The Neo-classical tragedy departed from the Senecan model in two points. They were the introduction of romantic love and the dropping out of chorus.

The ancient playwrights held the opinion that the introduction of romantic love would mar the dignity of the hero and the high seriousness of the narrative. The Neo-classicists, however, trudged in the footsteps of the classicist in observing the Three Unities rigorously, and in making the drama basically narrative. Nearly everything, especially of a violent character, happens, in a neo-classical theory, off the stage and is narrated to the audience. The neo-classicists as well as the romantic dramatists dealt with great legends of the past and were in this respect not different from classicist.

The chief characters were all majesty, far above the ordinary human beings. The dialogues were stately, devoid of homely phrases, and mostly poetic. No attempt was made by the neo-classicists to mirror ordinary life. The romantic plays, though dealing with aristocratic character, were different in the method of treatment. The tragic hero is placed in a common world, among ordinary people. The dialogue had many touches of familiarity and even colloquialism. Realistic details like King Lear’s famous, “Pray you, undo this button” abound. Thus the romantic tragedy was a combination of the idealistic and realistic elements.

To the romantic dramatists, unity of action meant not a single action, but organic connection among the various action presented in the play. Subplots, like the comic plot in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” were introduced, provided the two plots were independent. Moreover, the romantic drama is, unlike the neo-classical plays, a drama of action. Nearly, everything happens in the stage. Duels are fought, murders and suicides committed, and battles waged in full view of the spectators. The play of Shakespeare and his contemporaries thus satisfied the appetite of the Elizabethan audience for the action.

The romantic dramatists differed from the neo-classicists in their attitude towards the theory of unities too. They ignored the unity of time and place. Even Shakespeare moved his scenes from town to town, and from country to country, and described the events of many years. Tragic comedy is a new form of play. The classical dramatists never allowed any comic element to enter their tragedies though they allowed serious element in their comedies. But the romantic playwrights disregarded this line of demarcation between tragedies and comedies. They freely mingled tragic and comic scenes in their plays.

Addison calls it “One of the monstrous inventions that ever entered into a poet’s thought”. Dyrden agreed with him by commenting, “There is no theatre in the world which has nothing so absurd as English tragic-comedy”. Though considered a non-Aristotlean form, the trig-comedy was successful. Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” is an example for it. The important characters in tragi-comedies were drawn from both the high class and the low class. A serious action is introduced as threatening the protagonist who, by a sudden change of fortune, escapes and the play ends happily.

The term “tragic-comedy” is sometimes applied to play with double plots, one serious and the other comic. On the basis of content, tragedy may be divided into various types. One of them is the horror tragedy, developed in England in the early part of seventeenth century by Ford and Wesbter. The appeal to the audience is made in these plays, not by characters, but by incidents. The aim of the writers who wrote horror tragedies was stage sensationalism. The inner struggle in these tragedies depends upon external events. Horror from situation dominates these plays. An example is “The Duchess of Malfi”.

The Heroic tragedy was cultivated during the Restoration Period by a number of dramatists, the prominent among whom are Dryden and Otway. The subjects of these plays were love and valour and the themes were developed to epic magnitude. An air of exaggeration prevailed in them. Dryden himself said, “Heroic play is the representation of nature wrought up to a high pitch”. The scenes in them were laid in distant countries like Peru, India and Mexico. The characters were men of superhuman power and women of immortal beauty and unattainable virtue. The speeches were magnificent, marked by a declamatory style.

The heroic meter, instead of blank verse, was employed in them. Its Artistic beauty and effect were marred by its artificially and exaggeration. Domestic tragedy was a type of play written in the eighteenth century. The term is also applied to some of Ibsen’s plays and some Elizabethan tragedies like” A Woman Killed with Kindness”. It is a serious play, realistic in style with its hero drawn from the low or middle class and its action concerned with personal or domestic matters. The domestic tragedies were written mostly in prose. They were devoid of emotional force and was based on pity and sympathy.

An example is Lillo’s “The London Merchant”. Comedy, according to Aristotle, deals with “ some defect or ugliness that is painful or destructive”. The characters, mostly from low classes were drawn from observation and experience. The writers were often satirical and the characters became caricatures of actual human beings. The plots were less complicated than those of tragedy. Misunderstandings and mistaken identities played a prominent role in them. Yet a good comedy can penetrate deeply into the roots of the human nature, and make the audience aware of man’s limitations.

Aristotle believed that the play is rendered comic by making the characters in it worse than they are, thereby making them objects of merriments. Ben Johnson also believed that whatever is awry in men provokes laughter. A number of critics from Kaunt to Hazlitt have found that the source of laughter is incongruity. In sidney’s opinion also, “Laughter almost ever cometh of things most disproportioned to ourselves and nature”. Allardyce Nicoll traces the source oof laughter to a desire for liberation from the restraints of society.

It goes contrary to Bergson’s view that the source is automatism which implies that the conditions of comedy are unsociability on the part of the object of laughter. The first regular drama in English in the form of a comedy was “Ralph Roister Doister” written by Nicholas Udall in 1550 or so. The writer seems to have been influenced much by Latin comedies of Plautus and Terence. The second English comedy was “Grammer Gurton’s Needle” of doubtful authorship performed at Christ’s college in Cambridge in 1552. Both these comedies had the classical division into five acts, and the action was limited to a single day and a single locality.

On the basis of form, the comedy may be divided into classical and romantic comedies, which differ from each other in the same manner the two types of tragedies do. On the basis of content, comedy may be divided into various types. The comedy of Humours was written chiefly by Ben Johnson who used the term “humours” in the medieval sense in which it reffered to the four fluids: blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile in the human body. According to the theories of humours, a person’s physical, mental and moral conditions are determined by the state of his humours.

An imbalance in their proportion affected the behaviour of the person, and a perfect balance created an ideal man. The dramatists who adopted this theory designed “humourous” characters, whose behavior was determined by a single humour. Ben johnson’s “Every Man in His Humour”is the earliest play written in this way in 1598. Shakespeare has introduced “humourous” characters like the melancholy Jacques in “As You like it”. Johnson drew comedy down to real life, using it to present the follies of contemporary London. The comedy of humours disregarded humour as the term is used now.

It depended on wit and satire. The comedy of Manners developed in the Restoration period. The writer were influenced by the French dramatist Moliere and the Spanish dramatist Claderson. It is realistic in nature, and concentrated on the activities, intrigues and amorous achievements of gay, frivolous men and women who used to meet in cafes, chocolate houses, clubs and gambling centres in London. Reputations were murdered and Clandestine love affairs were carried out by them. A lot of senseless prattle went on with scandal mongering in the air.

This degraded life of the aristocratic classes of the day is presented in these comedies. Satire was an integral part of these comedies. It was the satire at the follies of those who strive to enter the elegant circle by plotting against their rivals and competitions in love. Besides satire, it made use of wit which is seen in the repartees that abound in these plays. It has been critised for its obscenity and immorality. The Genteel Comedy was developed by Colley Cibber in the middle of the eighteenth century. His “The Careless Husband” is regarded as the first genteel comedy in English.

The term was first used by Addison for the type of comedy that portrays more artificial life than the comedy of manners. Affectations ruled the life of the upper class society then, and these affectations are presented in humorous manner in these comedies. Laughter arises not out of the playful fancies of intellectual men, but ou of the affectations of the high class society. The Comedy of Intrigue came into inception in the days of Fletcher and continued to be popular till the end of the eighteenth century. In this type of comedy laughter arises out of the disguises and the intrigues and complications of the plot.

An important writer of this type of comedy is Fletcher. The play captures our attention with a series of situations leading to innumerable mistakes and amusing denouements. There is little wit, no humour, no satire, but there are several comic situations. Its laughter depends on external sources, and it provides little intellectual mirth. The Sentimental Comedy of the eighteenth century was a reaction against the comedy of manners of the Restoration period. The sentimental comedy was opposed to the light-hearted fun in the comedy of manners.

In fact, it is opposed to the spirit of comedy itself. Humour is driven out of it, and as Allardyce Nicoll says, it presented tears in place of laughter. The place of humour was taken by pathos. Wit or brilliance had no place in this type of comedy. The writer aimed at moral edification, for they felt that the taste of the readers had been degraded by obscenity and vulgarity depicted in the comedy of manners. Distressed middle class characters were presented in these comedies to evoke sympathy. The principal writers of this type of comedy were Richard Steele, Huge Kelly and Cumberland.

It developed not only on account of the theatrical and social changes of the time, but also because the rising middle class demanded a different type of comedy. The sentimental comedies provided moral lectures and lacked emotional appeal. Hazlitt aptly says, “It is almost a misnormer to call them comedies; they are rather homilies in dialogue”. The One Act Play The origin of the one-act play can be traced back to the short farces that flourished in Italy from the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries and the miracle and mystery plays of became a curtain-raiser. In 1903 when W. W.

Jacob’s play “The Monkey’s Paw” was acted as a curtain-raiser, it appealed to the audience so much that most of the people left the theatre when the curtain descended upon this play became a series rival to the long play. The one-act play may be tragic as in Synge’s “Riders to the Sea”, it can be didactic as Willis Hall’s “The Day’s beginning”, it can be comic and satirical Houghton’s “The Dear Departed”, or oit can be a fantasy like Lord Dunsany’s ‘The Golden Doom”. It can be farcial too Arnold Bennet’s “The Stepmother”, or melodramatic like ‘The Monkey’s Paw”. It can be written in verse like Christopher Fry’s “A Phoenix too Frequent”.

The outstanding characteristic of the one-act play is that it turns upon a single idea or situation, presenting a single mood or single aspect of character, though it presents a conflict like long plays. A few characters are introduced and the interest is concentrated on a single dominant character in whom a single trait is revealed in a flash. Dialogues are short, and the dramatist cannot unities of action, time and place are observed. It has an immense future because modern people have less time and inclination for long plays, it is cheaper to produce, and can be performed by amateurs.

Above all, the growth of radio and television has made it popular. The importance of the opening scene of the play The Exposition as given in the essay on drama. Soliloquy and the Aside The aside like the soliloquy indicates that dialogue is not the only substitute for the dramatist for direct analysis and commentary of the novelist. Soliloquy is a convention by which a character, alone on the stage, utters his thoughts aloud. The audience is thus provided with the information necessary to understand the character’s motives and the state of mind.

Aside is another similar stage device in which a character, not necessarily alone on the stage, expresses his thoughts in a short speech which is supposed to inaudible to the other characters on the stage. Both these conventions, prevalent in the Elizabethan and later drama, were adopted by the dramatist to take the audience down into hidden recesses of a person’s nature. The dramatist, being denied the privilege o dissect his characters as the novelist does, has to resort to such means to enable the audience and readers to understand his characters well.

In soliloquy and aside the characters are not supposed to be speaking to us or to themselves, but they are merely thinking aloud. The conventions, however, fell into disuse in the nineteenth century when realism was insisted upon. Melodrama “Melos” is a Greek term meaning “song”, and the term melodrama wass, therefore, applied to musical accompaniment was a characteristic of most of the plays, because “legitimate” plays were permitted only in the Drury Lane and Covent Garden theatres while musical entertainment had no such restrictions at all. In melodrama the hero and heroine were embodiments of virtue, and the villain was a monster of evil.

The plot was centered round intrigues and violent effect and emotional excitement. Now the term “melodrama” is applied to any work that contains improbable events and sensational actions. Tragic Flaw / Hamartia In Aristotle’s view, tragedy should evoke pity. To do so he recommended a hero neither superlatively good and just or wholly vivious and depraved. He brought to misery through some mistaken act caused by an error in his judgement or some shortcoming in his nature. This error of judgement is called “hamartia” or “tragic flaw”. It exists within the character and causes the tragedy.

In Greek tragedies a common form of hamartia was pride which tempts a man to disregard divine power. It moves us to pity because the hero is not an essentially evil man, and his misfortune is far more than what he deserves. In modern social drama the tragic flaw often exists in the milieu, and the hero becomes a victim of external circumstances. Catharsis “Catharsis” in Greek signifies “purgation” or ‘‘purification”. The effect of tragedy, according to Aristotle, is to arouse the emotions of pity and fear in such a way as to effect purging and relief, and this is known as “catharsis” in tragedy.

Recently, Aristotle’s “Catharsis” has been interpreted as applying not to the effect on the audience, but to an element within the play itself. It then signifies the purgation of the guilt attached to the hero’s tragic act by demonstrating in the course of the drama that the hero performed this act without knowledge of its nature. Aristotle distinguishes the tragic from comic and other forms by this effect. In any case, he accounts for the extraordinary fact that many tragic representations of suffering, defeat and death leave on the audience a feeling, not of depression, but of relief and exaltation. Comic Relief

Comic relief is the relief provided by a spell of fun between two serious scenes or just before a serious incident in a play. It is achieved by the use of a humourous characters and their speeches. This was common in Elizabethan tragedy. They are necessary to provide a sort of relaxation to the audience after witnessing a grave scene or to prepare themselves for a grave incident. Sometimes the comic relief is provided by an intrusive episode or dialogue. It not only alleviates the tension, but also adds variety to the play . in some plays they become an integral part of the play and serve to intensify the tragic note.

An example is the “Porter Scene” in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”. Dramatic Irony Dramatic Irony s an utterance by a character in a play when he is ignorant of the real significance of his words. It is a situation in which the audience shares with the author knowledge of something which the speaker in the play is ignorant of. The character acts in a way inappropriate to the circumstances or says something which turns out to be true later though he did not expect such a turn of events. Writers of Greek tragedy, who generally borrowed their plots of this device.

For instance, in Sophocles’s “Oedipus”, the king (Oedipus) hunts for the evil-doer who has brought plague upon Thebes without being aware that the culprit is himself. The English Chronicle plays Chronicle plays are plays for which the source is the Chronicle, or rather, record of events in the chronological order preserved in a king’s court. These historical materials are dramatized into chronicle plays. In England, Marlow’s “Edward II”, and are taken from Holinshed’s “Chronicles”. They were popular in the Elizabethan period when patriotic fervor rising out of the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 reigned supreme in English society.

The early chronicle plays merely presented a series of events during the reign of an English King. The plays were effective on the account of the battles presented on the stage and the pageants and spectacles that accompanied the victory in battle. Marlowe, for the first time selected and rearranged materials from Holinshed Chronicles for his “Edward II”. The Elizabethan chronicle plays are often called history plays. Parallelism in drama Parallelism and contrast are two elements in the composition of the plot of a play.

The central idea of one part of the action reappears in another part of it, and each serves to illustrates and reinforce the other. Shakespeare seems to have been very fond of this stage device, for he often uses it to add to the dramatic interest of the story. However, the best example of parallelism in Shakespearean play is found in “King Lear”, the two plots of which correspond in every detail. Shakespeare has here worked upon two narratives from two sources. In one story we come across a father deceived in the character of his daughters, ultimately getting real love from the one he had spurned.

In the other story, we have a father deceived in the character of his sons, finding love in the one he has tried to kill. The Shakespeare, each supplementing the other in tragical emotions. A sort of burlesque parallelism is found in the comic scenes in Marlowe’s “Doctor Faustus”. The tragic hero Aristotle recommended for the tragedy a hero who is neither too good nor too evil. This is best seen in Shakespeare’s tragedies. His heroes are all men of high rank and great eminence, but they are brought low by some weakness in their nature.

In Macbeth, it was indomitable ambition, in Othello it was an over-credulous nature, and in hmlet, it was a wavering spirit. Tragedy proceeds from the character or the actions of the hero. But Fate or circumstances also plays a dominant role in bringing about the tragedy. The suffering and calamity that fall to the lot of the hero are not of the ordinary type. They are exceptional. Macbeth is pricked by a guilty conscience to such an extent that he feels “life is a meaningless tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”.