Elements of Drama

Drama

A form of literature written for performance. It includes many of the literary devices and elements that we see in fictional texts, but it is usually structured differently. A Midsummer Night’s dream is a work of drama. Traditionally, there are two types-tragedy and comedy.

Comedy

A story that ends happily. Modern audiences would classical a”comedy” as a funny story, but traditionally, these stories do not have to include humor to be considered comedic. Usually, comedies center around ordinary, working class people rather than nobility or royalty.

Tragedy

A tragedy is a drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable cur instances. Tragedies end unhappily for the main characters, and usually center around royalty of nobility.

Protagonist

A protagonist is a character around whose teh story revolves. The protagonist. Is the main or most important character in teh story. Some dramas include several protagonists, as you will see in a Midsummer Night’s Dream. The protagonist is often confused with the ”good guy: or “the hero” but that is not always the case. The protagonist can be a villain, a hero, or an anti-hero.

Antagonist

The antagonist is a major character in the plat whose ideas and/or values conflict with those of the protagonist. The antagonist is often confused with “teh villain” or “the bad guy” but that is not always the case. The antagonist in a Midsummer Nights dream, for example is mischievous , but not an evil character.

Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony exists when there is as situation on stage that the audience knows about, but the characters in the drama are unaware of. This often adds humor or suspense for the audience.

Conflict

Conflict is the major source of tension within the drama. There are many ways in which authors bring a sense of conflict and the most common types are man vs. man, man vs. nature, and man vs. self.

Act

An act is a major division within a play, much like a chapter is a division in a novel. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is written in five acts.

Scene

A scene is a further division within an act.

Aside

As Aside is when words are spoken by a character directly to the audience, which the other characters on stage do not her. It is usually used to give the audience mroe information about a situation in the play or the thought process of a character.

Monologue

A monologue is a speech given by one character to another or one character to the audience

Dialogue

A dialogue is a conversation between two or more characters on stage.

Pun

A pun is a play on words, often on those that sound alike.