Dramatic Conventions and The Renaissance Theater

English 10

What is Drama?

Drama: literature in which plot and characters are developed through dialogue and action

Dialogue: conversation between characters; critical for conveying thoughts and feelings, and every twist and turn of the plot in drama

Dialect: regional speech used to emphasize a character’s roots

Elements of Drama

Plot: the sequence of events which move the story along; in drama these are divided into:

Scenes – each scene has a different time or place

Acts – scenes are grouped into acts

Stage directions: done in italic type and separated from dialogue by parentheses

Provide background, ideas for setting/scenery/props

Costumes, lighting, music, and sound effects

Directions to actors – how they should look/move/behave

Dramatic Conventions

Tragedy: a work in which the main character, or tragic hero, comes to an unhappy end

Tragic Hero: the main character of a tragedy who comes to an unhappy or miserable end

Generally a person of importance (king or queen)

Exhibits extraordinary abilities

Tragic Flaw: a fatal error in judgment or weakness of character, directly leads to his or her downfall

Dramatic Conventions

Other Characters

Antagonist (usually “the bad guy”)

Foil – a character who provides a sharp contrast to another character.

Grendel is a foil for Beowulf

Major and minor characters

Dramatic Conventions

Comic Relief: eases the intensity of the action by following a serious scene with a lighter, mildly humorous one

Catharsis: the purging (releasing) of emotions through art

Fate: destiny, an inevitable course of events

Tragic Heroes are usually fated to end up the way they do

Dramatic Conventions

Soliloquy: a speech that a character makes while alone on stage, reveals his or her thoughts to the audience

Monologue: a speech by one actor

Aside: a remark made in an undertone to the audience or another character, but that other characters on stage are not supposed to hear

Dramatic Conventions

Irony:

Verbal Irony: a writer or character says one thing but means another

Situational Irony: a character or reader expects one thing to happen but something else actually happens

Dramatic Irony: the reader knows something that a character does not know

Other Important Literary Terms

Motif: a recurring word, phrase, image, object, idea, or action in a work of literature

Blank Verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter

Meter: a fixed pattern of rhythm

Ex: iambic pentameter

The Renaissance Theater

Could not show “reality,” so the audience had to rely heavily on its imagination.

Actors wore elaborate costumes.

Limited props -- scenery was described through the play’s language.

Act and scene divisions were added by later editors to allow for scene changes.

Popular Renaissance Theaters

The Theater – 1st public theater in London

The Curtain – 2nd theater built

The Globe – most famous theater; owned by Shakespeare’s acting company

3 main parts of The Globe:

The building (16-sided polygon)

The stage

The tiring house (backstage)

Admission was 1 penny for general seating

Renaissance London