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Drama 1
Drama 1
3.0 Objective
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Tragedy
3.3 Comedy
3.4 Tragi-Comedy
3.5 History Plays
3.6 Problem Plays
3.7 Realistic Drama
3.8 Poetic Drama
3.9 Epic Theatre
3.10 Theatre of the Absurd
3.11 Classical Sanskrit Theatre
3.12 Let Us Sum Up
3.13 Questions
3.14 Suggested Readings
3.0 OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this unit is to discuss in detail the kinds of drama that we see
being performed or read. Plays are categorised and labelled as tragedy, comedy,
history, problem plays, poetic drama, epic drama, the theatre of the absurd, etc.
The present unit explains as to how these distinctions are made; what reasons
behind the specific labels are; and what time period (socially and politically) has
been responsible for their growth. The unit has a sub-division on Indian Classical
Sanskrit Theatre which discusses the Indian aesthetic theory. One would do well
not to ignore Sanskrit drama as it has been a landmark development in the growth
of theatre at the world level. This also initiates the growth of drama as part of
new literatures which is inclusive of Spanish, German, French, Indian dramatic
writing, etc.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Different types of Drama have existed down the ages from Greek classical theatre
to the present times. We have already read about the origin and growth of drama
in our first unit. Let us answer a few questions about drama which helps us
understand the different kinds of drama entertaining, realistic, romantic, relations-
based, theme-oriented, etc.
3.2 TRAGEDY
Aristotle first defined tragedy in his Poetic’s around 330 BC. He defined tragedy
26 as “the imitation of an action that is serious and also as having magnitude,
complete in itself,” in the medium of poetic language and in the manner of Different Types of Drama
dramatic rather than of narrative presentation, involving “incidents arousing pity
and fear wherewith to accomplish the catharsis of such emotion.”
Aristotle says that the tragic hero will evoke pity and fear if he is neither
thoroughly good nor thoroughly bad but a mixture of both but is certainly “better
than we are in the sense that he is of higher than ordinary moral worth. Such a
man is exhibited as suffering a change in fortune from happiness to misery because
of his mistaken choice of an action, to which he is led by his hamartia, the tragic
flaw or the error of judgment or a moral weakness in character. The plot evokes
tragic pity and fear. In this way tragedy relieves the spectators of harmful emotion.
The dramatist depicts incidents which arouse pity and fear for the protagonist,
bringing the plot to a logical and foreseeable conclusion. This explains how an
audience experiences satisfaction even from an unhappy ending. In Shakespeare’s
King Lear, Lear’s madness and his death arouses pity and fear in the audience,
thus catharsis in spectators gives a satisfaction despite it being a tragic play. “In
his tragedies Shakespeare is indeed grappling with the whole world on a scale
approximated only by the profound tragedians of Greece. Tragedy in his work
goes beyond individual failure, Nations crumble, and ambition, lust and
ingratitude sear the earth. Sensitive souls shudder. They question the chimeras
of man and fate, receiving dusty answers. Love for them turns to mockery,
common decency become a jest, they see blood flowing like a torrent; conscience
gnaws at the marrow of their being; self disgust and a general disgust with mankind
ravage many of them” (Gassner:234). Thus Hamlet and Lear are partially authors
of their own suffering because of their conduct. Hamlet’s sharp questioning of
man and society emanates from the dramatic shock of discovering the murder of
his father and his mother’s infidelity; but later his procrastination are aberrations
from sound policy. Man struggles against man. Thus it is drama of individual
will. Aristotle’s definition excludes many plays which are commonly thought of
as tragedies. Not all tragic heroes suffer because of a tragic error.
Contemporary critics suggest a cluster of overlapping perspectives which
collectively describe the tragic vision.
First, tragedy begins by asking the ultimate questions: why are we here? Does
life have meaning or purpose? Can life have meaning in the face of so much
suffering and evil in the world? Does death negate the significance of the
protagonist’s life and the goals he/she was seeking? Tragedy offers no singular
solution: people suffer because of their own actions. At times the tragic hero
appears to suffer simply because he/she lives in a cruel and unjust universe.
Though the causes of suffering are diverse, yet the purpose of suffering appears
almost universally acknowledged: only through suffering does a person attain
wisdom. According to Francis Fergusson, the plays follow a tragic pattern of
purpose, passion and perception.
Second, tragedy pushes the individual to the outer limits of existence where one
must live or die by one’s convictions. Facing the end of life, a person quickly
recognizes life’s ultimate values. Tragedy depicts men and women who
dissatisfied with the hand destiny has dealt with them, challenge the rules of the
game. Tragedy does not depict man as a helpless puppet dancing to the strings of
destiny. The tragic vision does not assure man’s ultimate downfall. Instead, it
explores ways in which free will exerts itself in the world. The determination to 27
Drama: An Introduction act rather then submit often leads to disastrous results but at the same time it
tests the basic substance of humanity. This tremendous strength of will to scale
the heights and accomplish the impossible sets the hero apart from the ordinary
humanity but inspires us with a vision of human potential. Thus tragedy far from
being a pessimistic view of life, is ultimately optimistic about the value of human
achievement and the unconquerable strength of human spirit. To put into Eric
Bentley’s words. “Tragedy cannot entail extreme pessimism, for that would be
to lose faith in Man.” The tragic vision encompasses the paradox of human
freedom, admitting the possibility of great goodness and great evil.
Some of the kinds of tragedy are:
i) Revenge tragedy or the tragedy of blood which derives from Seneca its
materials of murder, revenge, ghosts, mutilation and carnage. It was a dramatic
genre that flourished in the late Elizabethan and Jacobean period. Kyd’s The
Spanish Tragedy (1586) established this popular form, later to be followed
by Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta (1592)’ Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi
(1612) and Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1602).
ii) Domestic tragedy was written in prose and presented a protagonist from
the middle or lower social ranks who suffer a commonplace or domestic
disaster. This was popularized by eighteenth century writers. For example,
George Lillo’s The London Merchant.
iii) Social tragedy revolved around an issue of general social or political
significance. These represent middle class or working class heroes and
heroines. Notable tragedies of nineteenth and twentieth centuries are Henrik
Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and, Ghosts, and Arthur Millers Death of a Salesmen
(1949).
iv) Melodrama: originally applied to musical plays including opera. The
protagonists are flat types. Here drama relies on implausible events and
sensational action. Continuous action drives the plot through a series of
adventures. It thrives on thrills, excitement, suspense and rescues. The conflict
is external and everything is delineated as black or white. Melodrama appears
to deal with serious subjects, but its seriousness is only pretence. Most of
the serious dramas never reach the heights of tragedy and thus become
melodramas. Adventure films are examples of this.
v) Romantic tragedy: Romances which end unhappily or with the death of the
hero and heroine are categorised as romantic tragedies e.g. Shakespeare’s
Romeo and Juliet.
vi) Heroic drama: Heroic dramas may not look deeply into the philosophical
questions of good, evil, man’s relation to supernatural, etc. but they abide by
the rule of poetic justice and portray swash-bucking adventures. e.g. The
Count of Monte Cristo.
3.3 COMEDY
At the most fundamental level, comedy focuses on pleasure and amusement.
The spectators are made to feel confident that no great disaster will occur and
28 usually the action turns out to be happy for all.
Allardyce Nicoll describes three techniques of comedy which create a comic Different Types of Drama
detachment (i.e. we laugh at the hardships of comic characters because the author
sets them at a psychological distance): derision, incongruity and automatism.
Derision takes aim at human frailties such as stupidity, hypocrisy and arrogance,
knocking the victim off his self-built pedestal. The character too pretends more,
thus setting himself up for the fall. With insults and sarcasm, comedy’s sharp
writ seeks to pierce the over-inflated egos of pompous politicians, bragging
generals and haughty aristocrats. Derision creates distance by placing its subjects
beneath us as contemptible and foolish. Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a classic
example of this.
Incongruity provokes laughter by means of ridiculous contrast in situation,
character or dialogue. The unexpected element takes us by surprise. Misplaced
words or statements are also a source of laughter. For instance, Shakespeare’s A
Midsummer Night Dream or Gogol’s The Inspector General.
Automatism occurs when people are depicted as acting without thinking. Comic
characters often have annoying habits or mannerisms. They lose the ability to
interact naturally. For example, Chekhov’s The Marriage Proposal.
Comedies make use of several of the traditional roles. They tend to portray
characters as recognizable stereotypes. Comic characters remain on the other
side of line separating fiction from reality. This aesthetic distance allows us to
laugh at their troubles without feeling pity and fear of tragedy. The world of
comedy is characterized by absence of real pain. For all its criticism of human
limitations, hypocrisy and foolishness, comedy views human beings as survivors.
In comedy we laugh at our shortcomings and learn from our failures.
In his work on ethics, Aristotle describes two types of contrasting characters.
The braggart (alazon) pretends to be more than he is, while the ironist (eiron)
seems to be less than he is. Aristotle defined comedy as written about persons of
minor importance whom their faults rendered ridiculous. The pair of crafty
schemer and the parasite was one of the most popular plots. This can be witnessed
in Jonson’s Volpone (1606) where Volpone and Mosca trick others out of money
and wives both. Similarly Horner in The Country Wife (1675).
Within the broad spectrum of comedy the following types are often distinguished:
i) Farce: It is a type of comedy designed to provoke the audience to hearty
laughter – ‘belly laugh.’ This employs highly exaggerated or caricatured
type of characters, puts them into improbable and ludicrous situations, and
makes free use of sexual mix-ups, broad verbal humour, and physical bustle
and horseplay. At times the sustained brilliance and wit of dialogue helps to
achieve the comic effect in a better way. Human beings are presented as
helpless victims of their bodily urges, hungry for food, drink and sex.
Characters in farce are usually single minded, seeking to satisfy their cravings
with reckless desperation. Little emphasis is on depth of characters. Thus
comedy which focuses on physical humour or “slapstick” is called farce.
Plot complications, mistaken identities and miscommunication make it
effective. Facial expressions and body gestures bring farce to life. Farce is
effective in performance than as literature. Comedians like Charlie Chaplin
and Keaton became masters of farce. 29
Drama: An Introduction Commedia dell Arte was a form of comic drama developed around mid-,
sixteenth century by guilds of professional Italian actors. Playing stock
characters, the actors largely improvised the dialogue around a given scenario.
Commedia performers relied on stereotypes and familiar situations to invent
dialogue and action. The plot is enlivened by the buffoonery of ‘Punch’ and
other clowns. Wandering Italian troupes played in all the large cities of
Renaissance Europe and influenced various writers of comedies.
ii) Comedy of Manners is the most prominent form of high comedy as it holds
the customs of aristocratic society up to ridicule. It uses verbal wit and sarcasm
to depict the charm and reveal the pretensions of its characters. It exhibits
two contrasting impulses: to celebrate and to criticize. The comic vision
professes both hope and discouragement about the human condition, looking
for the best but expecting the worst. It originated in the New Comedy of the
Greek Menander as distinguished from the Old Comedy of Aristophanes.
Shakespeare’s Loves Labour Lost and Much Ado About Nothing are examples
of comedy of manners. The comedy of manners, as its name implies,
concentrates upon the depiction of men and women living in a social world
ruled by convention. Its manners are not simply the behaviour of humanity
in general but the affectations and cultured veneer of a highly developed and
self-conscious group. Intellectual refinement, epigrammatic wit and easy
dalliance had been made the prime qualities sought after by the gallants and
their mistresses. At the same time, it tends to tone down and to intellectualize
ordinary emotions.
This form of comedy was given a high polish in Restoration Comedy (1660-
1700), and is much indebted to French writer Moliere (1622-73). It deals
with the relations and intrigues of men and women living in a sophisticated
upper Different class society and relies for comic effect on the wit and sparkle
of the dialogue often in the form of repartees. Each person tries to cap the
remark of the other, or to turn it to his or her advantage. William Congreve’s
The Way of the World (1700) and William Wycherley’s The Country Wife
(1675) are classic examples of mastery of wit.
iii) Sentimental comedy grew out of this comedy of manners. It represented
the 18th century middle class life and its reaction against what had come to
be considered the immorality of a situation and indecency of dialogue.
Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer, Sheridan’s The Rivals and A School for
Scandal and Wilde’s The Importance of Being Ernest deleted the indecency,
revived the wit and gaiety of Restoration comedy.
iv) Comedy of Humour was a type of comedy developed by Ben Jonson based
on the ancient physiological theory of the ‘few humours’ the primary fluids
i.e. blood, phlegm, choler (yellow bile) and melancholy (black bite) whose
mixture was held to determine both a person’s physical condition and
character type. Thomas Shadwell had a flair and skill in depicting humorous
types. This is also called the ‘satiric comedy’ or the ‘corrective comedy’. It
tends to see the dark side of humanity and uses laughter as a satiric weapon.
Jonson’s Volpone is an example of this comedy which exposes the false
premises on which people stand.
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v) Tendency comedy is another mode of the comic in which one is made to Different Types of Drama
3.4 TRAGI-COMEDY
According to Horace Walpole, “Life is a comedy to those who think, a tragedy to
those who feel”. Not all plays fit into a single category; in fact most plays consist
of elements from two or more genres. It was a type of Elizabethan and Jacobean
drama which intermingled both the standard characters and subject matter and
the standard plots of tragedy and comedy. People were of high degree and low
degree and the plot was serious criticism with lowbrow farce and slapstick humour.
Fletcher’s The Faithful Shepherdess (1610), Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice
and The Winter’s Tale are popular tragicomic romances. It is thus defined as an
interpretation of emotional reaction where tragedy and comedy are both present
yet one does not merely follow upon the other but arises from it.
One of the first dramatists to explain tragicomedy as a uniquely modern world
view, Friedrich Duerrenmatt (1921-1990) felt that the 20th century was an era
lying in the shadow of two wars, and the Holocaust, and could no longer support
the spirit of exaltation and therefore the true reflection of modern humanity is a
paradox in which the tragic is depicted as comic; thus man is like a circus clown
with a sad face, whose actions appear comical but the implication of ultimate
meaninglessness behind those action came closer to tragic despair.
a stage situation
wears down his capacity for action arouses his capacity for action
provides him with sensations forces him to take decisions
experience picture
spectator is involved in something he is made to face something
suggestion argument
instinctive feeling preserved brought to the point of recognition
spectator is in the thick of it spectator stands outside (observer)
the human being is taken for granted human being is the object of inquiry
he is unalterable able to alter
eyes on finish eyes on course
one scene makes another each scene for itself
growth montage
linear development in curves
evolutionary determinism jumps
man as a fixed point man as a process
thought determines being social being determines thought
feelings reason
Dramatic theatre enacted plots, involved the audience and stimulated their
emotions. Epic theatre tells a story in a way that invited the audience to consider
the events involved and to make their assessment of them. Adjustments had to
be made in the form of the play. If the dramatic play was a closed system of
underdevelopment scenes, but with a plot so structured that the audience was in
suspense till the end; then the epic play was a montage of independent incidents
which showed a process and it moved from scene to scene by curves and jumps
which kept the audience alert to judge what was right. Brecht sometimes compared
his plays to scientific experiments and change for the better lay at the centre of
thinking. Brecht rejected the notion that human nature was fixed and that man’s
own thinking governed his being. In epic theatre man’s thinking is conditioned
by his social situation and will change if that changes. He is the agent of social
change. Mother Courage and her Children (1941) is a good example of an epic
play. By employing a detached narrator and other devices to achieve alienation
effects, Brecht aimed to subvert the sympathy of the audience and the
identification of the actor with his role. He hoped to encourage his audience to
criticize and oppose the social conditions. The theatre of illusion had always
carefully concealed machinery behind the curtain. Brecht had a bare grey stage
and had minimal scenery and properties. Bright white light was used for every
scene. The songs invite the actors to step out of their roles and address themselves
to the audience. Brecht always insisted on the texture of the reality.
Brecht’s theory which rejected Aristotelian principles, regarded a play as a series
of loosely connected scenes, dispensed with dramatic climaxes and used songs
to comment on the action.
3.13 QUESTIONS
1. Enlist the different types of drama and point out two distinctive features of
each.
2. Differentiate between high comedy and low comedy.
3. Trace the growth of tragedy and comedy in English Literature.
4. How does comedy offer a balance to the perspective of tragedy?
5. Compare and contrast Greek theatre with Sanskrit drama.
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