Focus on Literary Form: Drama

Focus on Literary Form: Drama

“Soul of the Age! The applause, delight, the wonder of our stage.”

-- Ben Johnson, “To the Memory of My Beloved Master William Shakespeare, and

What He Hath Left Us”

Background: Dramatic Structure

Renaissance playwrights were greatly influenced by

Humanism, looking not only to the Bible but also to Latin and Greek Scholarship for wisdom

and knowledge.

The Great Theme• All of Shakespeare’s plays, like most drama, are

about one great general theme: disorder.

• What is the order in this society?

• How is that order violated?

• How do the characters respond to the loss of traditional order?

• How is order restored?

• Is the new order at the end of the play something healthy or is it shot through with ironic resonance?

Defining DramaA story written to be performed by

actors.Sophisticated (classical) dramas

originated in Greek religious ceremonies honoring Dionysus (god of wine, new life, illusion & fertility).

Classical Dramatic Structure: Comedy &

Tragedy• Always involves conflict• Opening scene conveys a sense of a normal society• A society which is held together by shared rules• Large group scene as symbol of social unity

• Something unusual and often unexpected happens to upset the normality• Creates confusion and conflict• Source of humor OR political, personal, and psychological torment

• Attempts to understand what is going on or to deal with it simply compound the conflict, accelerating it and intensifying it.• Finally, the conflict is resolved

Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy

“Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language

embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being

found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the

proper purgation of these emotions.”-- Aristotle, The Poetics, Part VI






Imitation(from Greek mimesis, or

mimeisthai which means to imitate)

The attempt to capture the essence of reality in artificial

form.






Pity(from Greek eleos, which means “pity” or “mercy”)

The feeling of pain one experiences when watching

another suffer.






Fear(from Greek phobos, which means fear, panic or flight)

The sense of panic or loss of self in terror.






Purgation(from Greek katharsis, which means "purging,

cleansing)

purificationRemoving impurities, as when metal is purified to remove

trace elements so that only one material remains. Tragedy “purifies” pity and fear so that we feel only those two

emotions.

purgingCleansing, as when something harmful is forcefully removed.

Tragedy “purges” harmful emotions like pity and fear from the body.

distillationThe purification or concentration of a substance, as when alcohol is

distilled to make it stronger.Tragedy “distills” and “purifies” pity and fear so that they become

even more intense for the audience.

TragedyDepicts the downfall of a basically good person

through some fatal error or misjudgment, producing suffering and insight on the part of the protagonist and arousing pity and fear on the part

of the audience.

Key Elements of a Tragedy

• tragic hero• An outstanding person of high rank whose downfall is caused by

his own flawed behavior.

• tragic flaw• Part of the hero’s character that leads him to make a fatal

mistake.

• catharsis• A cleansing through the emotions (pity, fear, awe) generated by

the play.

• catastrophe• An unhappy ending featuring the destruction of the hero.

Tragic Endings• The ending of a tragedy: looking back over what has

happened.

• resolution of conflict: • occurs only with the death of the main character

who usually discovers (just before his death) that he brought about his own demise.

• the final series of events: • 1) Hero dies• 2) Group laments over the body of fallen hero &

reflects upon the significance of his life• 3) Hero’s body is carried out & the social group is

reformed (thanks to the sacrifice of the main character(s))

ComedyDepiction of ordinary people in conflict with society.

Conflicts are always happily resolved, and typically arise from misunderstandings, deceptions,

disapproving authority figures, and mistaken identities.

Emphasis is on human foibles & weaknesses of society.

Arouses sympathy & amusement.

Types of Comedies• Farce– Plots full of wild coincidences (full of zaniness, slapstick humor,

and hilarious improbability) and seemingly endless twists and complications (i.e. deception, disguise, and mistaken identity).

• Romantic Comedy– Love plot featuring 2 lovers who tend to be young, likeable, and

apparently meant for each other, but are kept apart by some complicating circumstance until, surmounting all obstacles, they are finally wed.

• Satiric Comedy– Exploration of human vice & folly through plots that trace the

rising fortune of a central character who is likely to be cynical, foolish, or morally corrupt.

Comic Endings• The ending of a comedy: looking forward to a joyful future.

• resolution of Confusion:• Occurs when everyone recognizes what has been going on, learns from it,

forgives, forgets, and re-established his or her identity in the smoothly functioning social group.

• final events:• Typically ends with a group celebration (especially one associated with a

betrothal or wedding), often accompanied by music and dancing.

• The emphasis is on the reintegration of everyone into the group, a recommitment to their shared life together.

• All sources of anti-social discord have reformed their ways, been punished, or is banished from the celebration.

Reading Shakespeare

“The play’s the thing.”Hamlet, Act II, Scene ii

Follow the 3C’sHow can you tell what kind of

Shakespeare play you’re reading/watching?

Just follow the 3 C’s: Count the Couples, Corpses, and Crowns at the end, and you know what your play

is.

Histories – somebody’s named King.Comedies – everybody gets married.

Tragedies – everybody dies.

The History PlaysFactually based with dramatic

liberties.Keeping the monarch, Queen

Elizabeth, happy (and, consequently, staying out of jail) means ignoring

potentially great dramatic material.Showing the messy

divorces and deaths of Henry VIII’s six wives

might have sold a lot of tickets, but at what cost?

The History PlaysSynopsis of all the History

plays (they’re all pretty much the same):

An English king (usually named Henry, sometimes Richard, and once John) is fighting the French. At the

same time, someone at home is trying to take over the

throne of England from the reigning king.

The ComediesConstructing a Shakespearean comedy is like ordering from a

Chinese restaurant: Choose one item from Column A (setting), two items from

Column B (characters), five items from Column C

(unnecessarily complicated plot points), then select a title

from Column D.It’s simple & fun!

Make Your Own Shakespearean Comedy!

Setting Characters Plot Points

Title

VeronaVeniceArdenTyre

An islandA forestAthens

DenmarkSyracuseSchenect

ady

Long-lost identical twinsParents who

don’t understandDimwitted lower-class character

Girl disguised as boy

Cuckolded husband

Nondescript young lovers

Half-human/half-beast

A quarrelsome couple

Magical fairy or sorcerer

Jews!

ShipwreckMistaken identity

Unrequited love

Arranged marriagesA pound of

fleshMagical potions

Pretending to be dead

Drunkenness

Sibling rivalryBroken vows

Love As You Like ItMeasure for Gentleman

The Comedy of Nothing

Twelfth Night Dream

A Midsummer’s Winter

The Taming of the Comedy

Much Ado About Ends

Troilus and Cymbeline

Love’s Errors LostPericles, Tyred of

Shrews

The TragediesIn Shakespeare’s tragedies you

know going in that the title character is going to die by the

end of Act V.

“Knowing the ending does not diminish the experience. It’s like the movie Titanic. You knew from the title that the ship was

going down, but you still enjoyed watching Leonardo DiCaprio freeze to death” – From Reduced Shakespeare

Freytag’s PyramidStructure of a 5 Act Tragedy

expo

sitio

n

com

plica

tion reversal catastrophe

climax

Hints and Tips for Reading Shakespeare

What all Shakespearean Scholars Know:

Shakespeare’s Language

Language changes all the time. The way people spoke 400 years ago was different from the way we speak now.

When reading Shakespeare, remember that his words were

intended to be performed. The first rule of learning how to read Shakespeare is you must read it out

loud!!! The second rule is that you must read

it more than once.

Characteristics of Shakespeare’s English

Forms of “do”Forms of “do” were not necessary in forming questions or making imperative statement or

their negatives.How long within this wood intend you stay?

How long do you intend to stay in this wood?Using “do” was reserved for its emphatic use.

I love you not. I do not love you.What said she? What did she say?

I think not of them. I do not think of them.Slept she here? Did she sleep here?


Negatives Negatives were often compounded for

emphasis. Today, we would classify the following as “double negatives”

and consider them improper.“Which never shook hands, nor bade

farewell to him . . .”“Nor will you not tell me who you

are?”“No, nor I neither.”


PronounsThe pronouns thee, thou and thy are seldom, if ever, used today. They are occasionally employed to suggest elevated

language or a style of “classical” English. During Shakespeare’s day these words were commonplace and

followed a more or less specific structure.Thee and thou, rather than you, were used as objects of a

verb or preposition.God give thee joy!

You OR thee/thou were used as subjects with only subtle distinctions if any.

Would’st thou have me?Thou hath killed my child!

If you would not, it were a good sign.Likewise with your and thy as possessive pronouns:

I do not fear your favours or your hate.So well thy words become thee as thy wounds.

Shakespeare’s Language

From Will to JillThe apparel oft proclaims the man.

It’s gotta be the shoes.There is small choice in rotten apples.

Beggars can’t be choosers.Now I am in a holiday humor.

Party on . . .Suit the action to the word, the word to the action.

Just do it.An honest tale speeds best being plainly told.

To make a long story short . . .What’s gone and what’s past help should be past grief.

Don’t cry over spilled milk.And thereby hangs a tail.

That’s all, Folks!

Shakespeare’s Language & Legacy

Many of Shakespeare’s idioms or words/phrases have become part of the English language.

That boy is always hungry! He’ll eat us out of house and home!

“He hath eaten me out of house and home.” – Henry IV, Part 2 II.i.75-6

“There’s a method in my madness”“Though this be madness, yet there is method

in’t.” – Hamlet, II.ii.99The world is your oyster.

“Why then, the world’s mine oyster.” – The Merry Wives of Windsor, II.ii.4-5

Line ReferencesPlays are divided into sections called acts and scenes. The following line reference is typically utilized when

quoting a Shakespearean play:

Macbeth, II.i.35The play’s title is written in italics.

The act is written in capital Roman numerals.The scene is in small Roman numerals.The line number is written as a normal

number.

Reading Shakespeare for comprehension

Due to the nature of the theater, Shakespeare had to create atmosphere and setting though language.

He used words to paint scenery and language to achieve lighting effects. People went to “hear” a

play, not “see” it.Questions to ask about comprehension:• Who are the characters in the play? (The way characters speak and the language they use tell us a great deal about them and their situation.)• What is the situation in the play?• Where do the events take place?• When do the events take place?• How can the words be lifted off the page and hold the attention of the audience?

Reading Shakespeare for Literary Aspects

imageryantithesis

similemetaphorhyperbole

personification

assonance

alliterationrepetition

onomatopoeiarhymelists

bombastrhetoric

irony

oxymoronpuns

malapropismmonosyllables

apostrophesynecdoche

Identify literary devices and figurative language:

Reading Shakespeare for Theme

Some Common Shakespearean Themes:

conflict, appearance & reality, order & disorder, change (metamorphosis)

Questions to ask about theme:• Is there a specific point the author is trying to get across to the reader/viewer?• How does the theme or controlling idea relate to your world?

Elizabethan Beliefs

Historical Context You Need to Know

Elizabethan BeliefsMarriage

Age of Consent, for a female child:(from The Law’s Resolution of Women’s Rights, 1632)

7: “Father shall have aid of his tenants to marry her”9: “she is able to deserve and have dower”

12: can “consent to marriage”*”A woman married at 12 cannot disagree afterward.

But if she be married younger, she may dissent till she be 14.”*

14: considered to be outside wardship16: “to be past the Lord’s tender of a husband”

21: “able to make a land grant”Worthiness:

(from A Very Fruitfull and Pleasant Booke called Instruction of a Christian Woman, 1523)

“. . . first let her understand that chastity is the principal virtue of a woman.”

Elizabethan BeliefsMyths & Magic

Fairies, magic, witches, spells and prophecies all formed part of the Elizabethan view of life. Folklore and superstition were often as important to people

as the official religious beliefs taught by the church.

Many Elizabethans thought that fairies, goblins and sprites came out at night to play tricks on innocent people. It was believed they could make people go insane, give them terrible nightmares or even lure

them into a devilish underworld.Diseases and disasters were often blamed on

witches. Many women who didn’t fit into society were branded as witches and accused of working

for the devil.

Elizabethan BeliefsGhosts

There were many explanations of a ghostly visit during Shakespeare’s time. A ghost could be . . .

a hallucination brought about by stress, poor diet, or exhaustion.

a specter seen as a portent or omena spirit of a dead person returned to perform

some deed left undone in lifea spirit of a dead person returned from the

grave or from purgatory by divine permissionan angel disguised as a dead person, or a devil

disguised as a dead person to tempt a living relative into eternal damnation

Elizabethan BeliefsLittle & Large

The human body was thought to be a miniature representation of the

universe as a whole. Various parts of the body were linked to the planets and the signs of the zodiac. Things that happened in the universe (the

“macrocosm”), were suppose to happen on a much smaller scale

within the human body (the “microcosm”).

Elizabethan BeliefsThe 4 Humours

The body was thought to contain four “humours”, or fluids – black bile, phlegm, blood & choler. A person’s temperament depended on

the way the humours were mixed. In Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony describes Brutus as a man in whom all these humours are mixed perfectly. But most people were thought to

have one humour that was more dominant than the others.

Illnesses & mental disorders were blamed on an imbalance of the humours. For example,

melancholia (depression) was thought to be caused by an excess of black bile.

Elizabethan Beliefs & Shakespeare

Strange States of MindCharacters have mental problems in several of

Shakespeare’s tragedies. They go insane with grief or with the pressure of having to make a decision.

Feelings of guilt may come out in strange ways.Some examples:

Lady Macbeth pretends to be tough and mocks Macbeth for feeling guilty for their crimes, but her

own horror is revealed when she starts sleepwalking and imagines she can see blood on

her hands.Ophelia in Hamlet goes insane with grief,

eventually committing suicide, when Hamlet rejects her and kills her father, Polonius.

Elizabethan BeliefsThe Chain of Being

A concept inherited from the Middle Ages as an attempt to give order or “degree” to the vastness of creation. The

idea was that God created everything in a strict hierarchy, or chain that stretched from God himself down to the

lowest things in existence. Everything had its own place.Humans occupied a place in the chain below angels but

above animals, plants, and stonesHumans, from Highest to Lowest:

MonarchNobles

ChurchmenGentlemenCommoners

All women were considered to be inferior to men; except Queen Elizabeth – her position as monarch outweighed the fact that she was a woman.Accepting one’s place in the chain was a duty that would be rewarded by God in heaven. Disrupting the chain was

thought to lead to chaos.

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Focus on Literary Form: Drama