Drama – Flashcard

A genre of literature that conveys a sense of urgency and heightened emotion to a reader or audience. Through drama, we can learn about ourselves and other people. How fictional characters cope with the pain and pleasure in their lives provides interesting insights into our own perceptions of life. Drama is a vast genre with a long history of development.

Drama began with the folklore of primitive people as they told of important events and people in their history. Almost every civilization had some form of drama that was handed down verbally from one generation to another. These stories or myths were sometimes performed as part of religious ceremonies

The Golden Age of Greek culture occurred in the middle of the 500s BC when Pericles led the Athenian democracy. Athens became the center of Greek culture for most of the next two centuries. During this time, Athens and other Greek cities produced works of classical art that included sculptures, paintings, philosophy, and literature. The literature of the Golden Age provides examples of classic values and the struggle of humans to live virtuous lives. At the same time, Greek writers were using human reason in an attempt to understand the relationship of nature and mankind. The greatest Greek poetry of the Golden Age was found in drama

Drama was created and was most successful in the city-state of Athens. Greek drama consisted of tragedy, comedy, and satire. It is generally believed that Greek drama began as part of the festival of Dionysus, the god of wine, agriculture, ecstasy, and fertility. Singing narrative lyrics that told of the adventures of gods and heroes was customary at the festival. The chorus and a lead singer engaged in dialogue during these performances. Tragedies were stories about suffering that dearth with the past and the relationships between people and gods. Comedies were stories that ended happily and involved the current time period

Greek plays were presented outdoors in theaters built into hillsides. Audiences sat on rows of stone seats that sloped up the hill. There was no scenery or curtains, and all parts were performed by male actors. Only men were allowed to attend the plays. The actors wore elaborate costumes with high boots and covered their faces with large masks so the audience could see them. The masks showed the age, sex, and mood of the characters. Funnels (megaphones) were placed in the mouths of the masks to amplify the actors' voices

Tragedy became the most important form of literature during the Golden Age. The three greatest writers of Greek tragedies were Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. The dramatic form of tragedy was created in the early fifth century by Aeschylus (525 BC-456 BC). The writers of Greek tragedies relied on dialogue to related the plot of the story to the audience. There was very little action in a Greek tragedy. The chorus changed the mood of the scenes of the play with their lyric passages. Most of the plays were based on mythological stories that were familiar to the audience

He presented the play through the dialogue of the characters. Aeschylus' greatest play was Oresteiam a trilogy that many consider to be the most important work of Greek drama. His plays were serious in nature and were marked by effective dialogue and a complex plot

A young rival of Aeschylus who changed the form of the Greek tragedy. Sophocles increased the number of actors, more sharply defined the characters, made the plot more complex, and focused on one tragic issue or event. Sophocles always tried to write objectively by not inserting his personal views into his literary works. In his greatest play, Oedipus Tyrannus, the chief character Oedipus had to face his destiny for killing his father and marrying his mother. Sophocles also wrote the tragedy Electra, a story taken from Greek mythology. The play described the relationship of Electra and her father Agamemnon

The youngest of the three great tragic playwrights. Euripides used his characters and the plots of his plays to express his personal opinions. He used three actors, each of whom was able to perform many different parts in the play. The characters in Euripides' play had more human like traits than the idealized heroes of Aeschylus and Sophocles. Euripides revealed his characters through psychological insight and a description of their emotions and passions. His plays introduced the element of romance while reducing the role of the chorus. Most of Euripides' plays focused on women, particularly Medea (the woman scorned), Phaedra (who committed suicide) and Alcestis (who sacrificed her own life for her husband).

Originally, the comedic form of drama was developed by Epicharmus (530 BC-440 BC)at Syracuse. Later, Sophron of Syracuse wrote comedies that featured a mime and short realistic sketches of scenes from everyday life. Comedy, which also evolved from the festival of Dionysius, was developed in 486 BC. The first great writer of comedy was Cratinus. The choral performances of the comedies were intended to amuse the audience. The plots of the comedies described everyday life in Greece. Current events and well-known people such as Socrates the philosopher and Euripides the poet were also an inspiration for the writers of comedies. Aristophanes (448 BC-388 BC) was the leading writer of Old Comedy. Athens was defeated in the Peloponnesian War in 303 BC. As a result of the outcome of the war, there were many changed in Athens, including less freedom of speech for the writers of comedy. The satirical plots of the comedies written by Aristophanes (445 BC-380 BC). Gradually, Old Comedy made way for Middle Comedy, which was distinguished by less criticism of the government and public figures. In addition, the chorus also disappeared in the Middle Comedy plays. Alexis and Aristophanes were the leading playwrights of Middle Comedy, which featured complicated plots. This led to another form of drama called New Comedy. Menander was the best known writer of New Comedy plays. New Comedyy featured problems individuals faced in everyday life. Many of the plots of these plays involved the interaction of common people with the gods.

Accius was considered by his peers to be the greatest writer of Roman tragic poetry. Most of his plays were translations of Greek tragedies, many from the great Greek writer Euripides. The tragedies of Accius were performed until the end of the Republic around 30 BC. Accius wrote Decius and Brutus, which are plays about ROman history. He also wrote Didascalica, which describes the history of Greek and Latin poetry

Pacuvius was considered to be the greatest writer of Roman tragedy before Accius. He was from Tarenum and was taught by his uncle, Quintus Ennius. He wrote a Roman play, Paullus, which describes the victory of Lucius Aemilius Paullus over the MAcedonian Perseus in 162 BC. He wrote many plays that were translated from Greek originals. Pacuvius followed Ennius to Rome and joined the circle formed by Roman general Scipio Aemilianus. This group included orator-statesman Gaius Laelius, Greek Historian Polybius, satirists Lucilius, writer of tragedies Pacuvius, and Greek Stoic philosopher Panaetius

He adapted his comedies from Greek plays, left a lasting influence on Western drama and literature. Plautus' plays featured comical actions by actors and witty dialogue. His comedies were a reflection of the Roman culture because of his creation of a Latin literary idiom. The idiom was the use of the colloquial Latin, or the language of the people

The greatest Roman writer of comedy after Plautus. He came to Rome as a child and was a slave to a Roman senator. His plays were written in Latin and were models for the development of comedy in the Western world. He based many of his plays on the works of Greek playwright Menander. His plays reflected the everyday life of Romans and featured simple dialogue. Terence was also a member of the circle formed by a Roman consul and General Scipio Aemilianus

A Roman statesman (politician) and orator and was the first significant writer of Latin prose. Cato was known for his opposition to the Hellenic influence in Rome. Cato was also an opponent of the circle of the Scipio family. Cato wrote Origines, the first Latin history of Rome and other Italian cities. Cato's influence on the development of Latin literature was significant. Around 160 BC, he wrote a treatise on agriculture called De agricultural. He also wrote an encyclopedia and Praecepta, which outlined rules of conduct for his son. Cato was the first to publish his political speeches

An argument in writing that includes a discussion of the facts and conclusions reached by the author

The Middle Ages (beginning about 455 AD and extending about 1000 years) is also known as the medieval era and refers to the period between ancient and modern times in western Europe. The Middle Ages included the Anglo-Saxon period, 455-1066 and the Middle English period, 1066-1485. Drama in the Middle Ages was mostly connected to the Catholic Church, as many plays portrayed the events of Easter and Christmas. Other plays called mysteries presented stories of the Bible set in the time period of the Middle Ages. Miracle plays and morality plays were dramas that were based on the lives of saints

The Renaissance was a great cultural movement that began in Italy. The Renaissance included the Early Period (1485-1558), the Elizabethan Period (1558-1603), the Jacobean Period (1603-1625), the Caroline Period (1625-1649), and the Commonwealth Period (1649-1660). A great wave of new interest in the literary classics of ancient Greece and Rome emerged during the Renaissance. Many Italian artists began to search for this ancient literature and attempted to give it new life. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English playwright and poet who gained fame with works such as Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar and Hamlet

The Neoclassical period (also known as the Enlightenment) included the Restoration (1660-1700), the Augustan Age (1700-1750), and the Age of Johnson (1750-1790). During the Restoration Period, British monarch Charles II was restored to the throne. The Augustan Age (1700-1750) witnessed a return to the influence of the Latin literature of the ancient Roman Empire. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), was the leading figure in English literature in the late 1700s. Drama during the Neoclassical period included comedies that ridiculed the manners and lifestyles of the upper class

The school of thought and the period of literature in which emotion and imagination are considered more important than reason. The ideals of Romanticism began to be expressed through the arts in the late 1700s to the mid 1800s. Melodrama first appeared in the early 1800s

This period of literature was named for Victoria, who reigned as the queen of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 until her death in 1901. The 19th century was a time of great social and political changes in the world, much of which took place during the long reign of Queen Victoria. Modern drama appeared near the end of the Victorian Age.

A literary and cultural movement that began in the early 1900s and continued through the end of World War II. Many of the writers of the Modernist period did not support the social, political or economic values of the 1800s. Part of the reason for the movement away from the 1800s was due to the tremendous destruction and loss of life that occurred during World War I. The Modernist movement included art, philosophy, architecture and literature in both Europe and America. Some leading playwrights associated with the Modernist movement include T.S. Eliot, Eugene O'Neill, and Tennessee Williams

A drama present a story through the actions and speech of actors who assume the role of the characters before an audience. A drama may consist of one or more acts, which may be divided into smaller segments called scenes. There are four basic types of drama: tragedy, modern drama, melodrama, and comedy

A literary work in which a hero or protagonist is destroyed by some flaw within his character and by forces that he or she cannot control. The fate of the hero, or protagonist, is tied to questions about morality, fate and the meaning of life. Greek tragedies were stories about suffering that dearth with the past and the relationships between people and the gods. One of the best-known tragedies is the story of Macbeth by William Shakespeare

A fault or an imperfection that eventually leads to the downfall of the protagonist of a story. The tragic flaw of Dr. Jekyll in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, was his quest to control his inner self. Eventually his inner self, in the character of Mr. Hyde, destroys Dr. Jekyll. In Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, Captain Ahab's tragic flaw was his obsession with finding and killing a great white whale

Developed out of the tragedy in the late 1800s at the end of the Victorian period of literature. Modern drama and tragedy are similar in that there is a serious tone in each type of literature. The plots of a modern drama and tragedy both address the effects of serious or somber circumstances that the characters must face. The main difference between a tragedy and a modern drama is the possibility of a happy ending in the latter.

A melodrama differs from a tragedy because there is a possibility of a happy ending. There are stock characters in a melodrama including a villain, a hero, and a vulnerable heroine. Melodrama literally means a play with music. The plot of a melodrama most often involves an improbable situation featuring the struggle between good and evil. The melodrama was most popular during the nineteenth century. Gradually, the music and singing were eliminated from the melodrama and the genre virtually disappeared from the theater in the first part of the 20th century, although it was still being used in some movie serials into the 1930s. The first melodrama was Pygmalion, written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1762

A type of drama that is whimsical, funny, and sometimes absurd. Comedies may show characters in a light-hearted conflict with themselves, each other, or society. Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing is an excellent example of comedy. Shakespeare's comedy often connected laughter, dreams, love, and youth with religion, violence, aging, and death

Drama consists of the elements of plot, characters, characterization, setting, theme, mood, dialogue, and the audio and visual presentation. These elements must work together to create a production that will reflect the true intent of the author

A minor or secondary plot in a narrative that may affect the main plot in a positive or negative manner. For example, the relationship between Huckleberry Finn and his father in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was a subplot in the novel. Another example of a ubplot is the grave robbing activities of Jerry Cruncher in A Tale of Two Cities

Drama involve characters of many different types that make the story interesting. The character type describes the manner in which a character, a person, or animal taking part in the action of a literary work is portrayed in a story. There are several standard character types, including round, flat, static, and dynamic

A character who is complicated and, as a result, seems more believable and vivid

A character that exhibits only one or two qualities or traits and is less important to the story

A character that stays essentially the same throughout the action of the story

A character who is changed by events or interactions with other characters, in contrast to a static character