Drama Terms (Streetcar)

Anagnorisis

Greek for ‘recognition’; the moment when a character moves from ignorance to knowledge.

Antagonist

The character most in moral opposition/contrast to the protagonist. Often a villain.

Anti-climax

AKA Bathos; when an event that has been built up has an unsatisfying or tension-diffused ending. Often used for comedy.

Apostrophe

Addressing an abstract idea/entity; eg “O, death!”

Archetype

A character who fits the qualities and attributes of a traditional, well-known character role.

Aside

When a character stops speaking to tell someone else something they don’t want other characters to hear. Often towards the audience/reader, breaking the fourth wall. Often written using parentheses or hyphens.

Bawdy

Vulgar, coarse, or sexual innuendo.

Blank Verse

Unrhymed lines of Iambic Pentameter. Most common English verse form bc it mimics everyday speech rhythms.

Blazon

French for ‘coat of arms’; poetical device where women’s features are described and praised in a list from top to bottom. E.g hair → eyes → nose → lips → neck → breasts.

Bombast

Absurdly pretentious speech, which, when used intentionally by the author, is spoken by pompous/ridiculous characters.

Cadence

The melodic rise/fall of patterns of speech/prose/verse.

Caesura

Latin for ‘cut'; a pause in the middle of a line of verse. Generally not marked – it's part of the way the reader/singer pronounces the line.

Catastrophe

Greek for ‘overturning’; the tragic resolution of a narrative, often involving the protagonist’s death.

Catharsis

Greek for ‘purgation’; the purging of guilt/unhealthy emotion from the protagonist OR the purging of horror and fear from the audience at the end of a tragedy.

Climax

The point of highest tension in the narrative.

Comedy

Greek for ‘revel’; a genre of narrative dating back to Ancient Greece. Usually set in everyday environments and almost always have happy endings. If a work of Shakespeare ends with a marriage, it is a comedy.

Comic relief

Humour written in to give the audience/reader a break during darker scenes.

Crisis

Just before the climax, when something terrible has happened; the high stakes are set.

Denouement

French for ‘untying’; the resolution of the plot.

Dramatic Irony

When the audience/readers know something the characters don’t.

Eponymous Hero

A character whose name is in the title of their narrative.

Exposition

Establishing the setting and characters of the text.

Farce

A dramatic comedy characterised by slapstick, ridiculous scenarios, and a frantic pace. Featuring exaggerated human types and far-fetched coincidences.

Hamartia

A character’s ‘fatal flaw’ - the characteristic that will lead to their downfall (eg pride, loyalty).

Hero/Heroine

A character who saves the day; typically the main character and the protagonist.

Hubris

Greek for ‘wanton insolence’; a character’s belief that they are the best (often better than the gods in their universe). A fatal flaw.

In Media Res

Latin for ‘in the middle of things’; a narrative opening in the middle of the action.

Juxtaposition

Opposite or contrasting ideas, themes, motifs, objects, or characters, placed next to each other.

Machiavellian Character

A character who is like the 16th century Florentine statesman, Niccolo Machiavelli, who was atheistic, unscrupulous, cunning, and ruthless.

Meter

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem.

Mood

The atmosphere and tone

Motif

A repeated theme, idea, or image.

Pathos

Making the audience/reader feel empathy for a character

Peripeteia

Greek for ‘sudden change’; the reversal of a protagonist's fortunes from prosperity to misery.

Plot

The narrative of a text.

Poetic Justice

When good behaviour is rewarded and bad behaviour is punished.

Resolution

When the conflict of the narrative is fixed, usually towards the end.

Soliloquy

Latin for ‘to speak alone’; a speech made by one character who is either alone onstage or cannot be heard by other characters. Used to show a character’s inner thoughts and help the audience understand their motives.

Stress

Emphasis on certain syllables.

Subplot

A secondary narrative that happens concurrent to the main narrative but is not central to it.

Tragedy

A genre of narrative dating back to Ancient Greece. Plots surround the downfall of the protagonist, who dies at the end, often due to their Hamartia. If a work of Shakespeare begins with a marriage, it is a tragedy.

Tragic Flaw

A character’s ‘fatal flaw’ - the characteristic that will lead to their downfall (eg pride, loyalty). (Synonymous with Hamartia)

Unities

A classical drama convention that required playwrights to observe Unity of Time, Unity of Place, and Unity of Action in their works.

This means a play's action should happen within a 24 hour time period (sometimes 36), in one geographical location, and only feature a small group of characters.