Varieties of DramaChapter 6

The world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel.--Horace Walpole, Author (1717-1797)

What are the differences between tragedy and comedy?

What are some of the devices playwrights use to make people laugh?

What are the types of comedy? What dramatic styles have influenced the

theater in the twentieth century?

Focus Questions

Complete vocabulary on page 269 DUE TODAY!!!!

Vocabulary

The two most recognized varieties of drama are tragedy and comedy

Tragedies are serious and end in catastrophe Comedies are usually lighthearted, with clever

dialogue and amusing characters who are in amusing situations, end happily

Tragicomedies: plays that have both qualities Dramas: are not tragedies, but are serious in

nature Literary/Dramatic Styles (sub-class): romanticism,

realism, naturalism, symbolism, expressionism Historical Eras (sub-class): Greek theater,

Commedia dell’arte, Restoration period

Varieties of Drama - Overview

Considered humanity’s highest literary achievement

Sober and thoughtful, based on profound human emotions and conflicts that do not change with time or place

Focus is the protagonist who is engaged in a struggle but ultimately fails and is overcome by opposing forces

External forces set in motion by a choice or error the character makes

Tragedy

Tragic character has no control over internal/external forces once the choice has been made or action has begun

Inevitability: Outcome appears predestined – audience sees that there is nothing the character can do to avoid it.◦ E.g. Prologue of Romeo and Juliet calls characters

“star-crossed lovers” and shows their fate is sealed.

Protagonist’s struggle elicits audience’s pity and compassion (Pathos)

By the end of the tragedy, pathos is purged and audience feels a sense of relief (catharsis)

The type of protagonist has changed over time (from kings to commoners)

Regardless of how common they seem, protagonists have something that sets them apart or elevates them above other people.

They have a flaw or make an error that has serious consequences

They make no apology for their actions They set goals based on unyielding beliefs They know that almost everything worth

having demands some sacrifice They are willing to make the sacrifice

themselves, never asking another to make sacrifices for them

5 Characteristics of Tragic Characters

According to Aristotle’s Poetics:◦ Tragic protagonist is average or better person who

is brought from happiness to misery in a play◦ Through this suffering, the protagonist gains a

sense of awareness (self-truth, or truth of others)◦ Protagonist becomes alienated/isolated from

society◦ Hamartia (character weakness or error in

judgment) causes the action/inaction that brings protagonist’s difficulties

◦ Most common form of hamartia is hubris (excessive pride)

Aristotle and Tragedy

Audience reactions (pity and fear) brought about by:◦ Spectacle (visible part of the play)◦ Plot (“the soul of the tragedy”)

Pity is for the protagonist, fear is for the audience

When a person of stature, struggling against dynamic forces falls, resulting effect is purging (catharsis)

Tragedy includes scenes of recognition and reversal

Recognition◦ Protagonist achieves inner awareness◦ Protagonist identifies a loved one, relative, or

friend from birthmark or scar or by some other means

Reversal◦ Ironic twist in which an action produces an effect

opposite to what would at first seem likely

From Jean Anouilh’s Antigone:◦ Tragedy is clean, it is firm, it is flawless. It has nothing

to do with melodrama.◦ In a tragedy, nothing is in doubt and everyone’s

destiny is known. ◦ Tragedy is restful; and the reason is that hope, that

foul, deceitful thing, has no part in it. There isn’t any hope. You’re trapped. The whole sky has fallen on you, and all you can do about it is to shout.

◦ And you don’t say these things because it will do any good to say them: you know better than that. You say them for their own sake; you say them because you learn a lot from them.

◦ But in tragedy, where there is no temptation to try to escape, argument is gratuitous: it’s kingly.

Modern Tragedy

Arthur Miller’s modern tragedy Death of a Salesman◦ While watching the film, take notes regarding:

What forces is the protagonist struggling against? What is his main weakness? Explain how the play communicates a sense of

inevitability?◦ There will be an essay due about this tragedy on

Monday (April 15)

Viewing Activity

1. Examine Death of a Salesman as it fits into the framework of a “tragedy”.

2. Examine Willy Loman using the “5 Characteristics of Tragic Characters”

3. Examine Death of a Salesman using Aristotle’s philosophy of tragedy from Poetics

2-4 Pages, Typed, Double-Spaced, 12pt Font

Essay Topics

Greek: komos + ode = lit. “revel song” Societal & conciliatory: all characters come

together at the end of the play – even the villains rejoin the group!

Often depends on a specific time and place BUT greatest/longest-lasting comedies have

situations that most audiences can easily identify with.

Many types Doesn’t always make you laugh out loud

Comedy

Protagonist overcomes opposing forces, achieves desired goals, or both.

Protagonist often less-than-average person Like all drama, comedy is built around

character, situations and dialogue Comic situations consist of predicaments

that seem insurmountable or improbable◦ Mistaken identities, rash promises, or a series of

events in which everything seems to go wrong are typical comic situations

Conventions of Comedy

Tragedy Comedy

Inevitable – no way to change the outcome

Universal theme & appeal

Emotional Protagonist fails Protagonist alienated

from society Protagonist average or

better Protagonist falls from

leadership/power

Predictably unpredictable

Time and place oriented

Intellectual, mental Protagonist achieves Protagonist becomes

leader of new society Protagonist less than

average Protagonist achieves

success (often because of mistakes/shortcomings)

It is difficult to determine what makes people laugh

Comic plays are more difficult to perform than serious dramas because of the unpredictability

Senses of humor change over time and in different places

Problems with Comedy

Likely the most noticeable characteristic of comedy

Comes in various forms: overstatement or understatement

May include physical characteristics – bulbous nose/large teeth/mannerisms

Or mental characteristics – almost-too-brilliant child prodigy or incredibly dense person

Exaggeration of “humors” from Shakespeare’s time – personality determiners

Exaggeration

Anything that seems out of place, time, or character

Comes in many forms:◦ Unnatural Action – treating a poor person like he’s

rich◦ Unnatural sound or pronunciation◦ A twist or turn of events that changes logical

completion of a pattern◦ Reversal – tables turned and weak overthrow

strong◦ Dialogue about irrelevant when something critical

is at stake

Incongruity

Looking forward to a potential laugh E.g. “banana peel on the sidewalk” Gets laughs before the punch line Also occurs in mistaken identity

◦ The reversal of roles and anticipation that truth with come out is the source of laughter

Created by a “plant” – idea, line, or action emphasized early (foreshadowing) – 3 exposures needed◦ Plant, establish, clinch (combination = running

gag)

Anticipation

Incompletion: a line or bit of action started but never finished◦ Completed with the audience’s laughter

Anticlimax (letdown): excitement about something is built up to great proportions, and there is nothing (like bursting a bubble)◦ A flat line is always good for a laugh. It follows a

build-up to the punch line, but the follow-through is never equal to the preparation. Instead of maintaining the momentum of the joke or the gage, the line is delivered with either a drop in pitch or with little or no expression in the voice.

Causes of Anticipation, cont.

Double meaning – the heart of many humorous lines

Puns and word play Depend on audience recognizing the

possible interpretations and selecting the least likely one

Can be in dialogue or names of characters

Ambiguity

Discovering hidden or obscure meanings Audience is often amused to recognize the

difference between a character’s inner motivation and the apparent motivation.

Also amused to discover what is going to happen just before it actually does

Recognition

One of the most important elements of comedy

Cruel, violent, grotesque, abusive actions and events cause laughter because the audience is protected by knowing they are not really happening or not as damaging as they seem.◦ Think Wiley Coyote/Road Runner

Protection

Good comedy builds up pressure and releases it Relief of pressure is humorous when pent-up

emotions are allowed to explode in a laugh◦ E.g. A comic character lights the fuse on a powder keg

and places it in the path of an adversary (the plant). Fuse goes out at the last moment and the adversary passes unharmed (anticlimax/letdown). Character approaches powder keg to see what went wrong (anticipation). Powder keg blows up in character’s face (incongruity). Comic character emerges ragged and soot-covered, but unharmed (protection and relief).

Relief

Three main classifications of comedy come from study in ancient Greece:◦ Old Comedy: scathing satirical attack on political

events and figures◦ Middle Comedy: evolved to focus more on social

occurrences, incorporated everyday speech◦ New Comedy: (originated by Menander) presents a

sentimental view of life and tries to appeal to audiences’ intellect rather than base sense of humor

These classifications ONLY used for comedies of ancient Greece

Comedies after categorized as LOW or HIGH

Types of Comedy

Focuses on physical antics (The Three Stooges)

Characters are usually outlandish, and play is exaggerated in style and performance

Utilizes various comic techniques to get the laugh…

Low Comedy

Based on improbable characters and implausible coincidences and events

Practical jokes, clowning, physical indignities (ear pulling, shin kicking, pie throwing)

Achieved sometimes through screen scenes and asides

Used more since end of WW2 to enhance serious works

Latin word farcire means “to stuff” – when first used in theater, farce referred to any sort of impromptu addition “stuffed” into a play (esp. jokes or gags)

Farce

Relies on physical comedy and exaggeration Less coherent than farces Mockery of a broad topic, such as a style,

societal view, or literary form Audience should have previous knowledge

of the play’s subject or will not enjoy its humor

In the US, burlesque evolved into the bawdy variety show

Burlesque

Mockery of a certain person or work, incorporating a caricature (exaggerated feature) of the subject

Requires prior knowledge of the subject being ridiculed (Tina Fey/Sarah Palin)

Relies less on physical than farce or burlesque

E.g. Space Balls

Parody

Intellectual humor Essential to pay attention to the dialogue,

because high comedy almost exclusively relies on witty dialogue, not physical action

Like parody and burlesque, ridicules a particular subject, but presents the subject in a different way…

High Comedy

“Drawing Room Comedy” – the main action takes place in the drawing rooms of upper-class citizens

Usually mocks pretenses of the upper classes

Built on clever use of language – wit includes puns, paradoxes, epigrams, and ironies

Dialogue often attacks socially-accepted standards of the day

Extremely popular in the Restoration Period

Comedy of Manners

Ridicules human folly, societal views, or individuals

The satirist usually has the goal of changing something for the better by ridiculing it

Intellectual in its attack – mocks using language rather than physical antics

Has been around since the Old Comedy of Aristophanes

Satire

Blazing Saddles◦ Classic 1974 Satire Comedy from Mel Brooks

While viewing, consider:◦ Is Blazing Saddles an example of “low” or “high”

comedy?◦ What elements of comedy do you observe?◦ What conventions of satire are present?

Viewing Activity

Research & Teach a style: Textbook page 288. Choose a style with a

partner and create an informational “poster” to teach the class about your style. Include:◦ An image that conveys the style◦ Production examples◦ Definition◦ Conventions

Styles of DramaYou may use technology to

search the internet for additional

info.

Style Choices*Romanticism*Constructivism*Realism & Naturalism *Symbolism*Theater of the Absurd *Expressionism*Theater of Involvement *Epic Theater*Total Theater Theatricalism