Overview

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theater, or on radio or television. In literature, it refers to the written text of these performances (the script).

Core Idea

The core idea of drama is mimesis (imitation) of action. Unlike a novel, which tells you what happened, drama shows you what is happening right now through the speech and action of characters.

Formal Definition

Drama is a composition in prose or verse presenting in dialogue or pantomime a story involving conflict or contrast of character, especially one intended to be acted on the stage; a play.

Intuition

Drama is conflict in real-time. It strips away the narrator’s voice and leaves only the characters interacting with each other. It is the most social of literary forms, as it is intended to be experienced communally by an audience.

Examples

  • “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare: A tragedy exploring revenge, madness, and moral corruption.
  • “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett: A seminal work of the Theater of the Absurd.
  • “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller: A modern tragedy about the American Dream.

Common Misconceptions

  • Misconception: Drama is just reading a script.
    • Correction: A script is a blueprint. The true art of drama is realized in performance, where acting, directing, and staging contribute to the meaning.
  • Misconception: Drama is always serious.
    • Correction: Drama includes comedy, farce, and satire just as much as tragedy.
  • Tragedy: A branch of drama that treats in a serious and dignified style the sorrowful or terrible events encountered or caused by a heroic individual.
  • Comedy: A dramatic work that is light and often humorous or satirical in tone and that usually contains a happy resolution of the thematic conflict.
  • Dialogue: Conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or movie.

Applications

  • Catharsis: Providing an emotional release for the audience.
  • Social Mirror: Holding a mirror up to society to show its virtues and vices.
  • Education: Used in pedagogy (role-playing) to explore complex situations.

Criticism and Limitations

  • Ephemerality: A performance exists only in the moment; the text remains, but the specific artistic act of the play vanishes.
  • Constraints: Drama is limited by what can be physically represented on a stage (though film has expanded this).

Further Reading

  • The Empty Space by Peter Brook
  • Poetics by Aristotle