Analyzing the Performing Arts Hamlet The purpose of playing [acting], whose end, both at the first and

now, was and is, to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to Nature. Hamlet, Act III, Scene 2, William Shakespeare (1564-1616) Drama is meant to be performed, to be seen and not merely read. It is through the immediacy of the theatrical experience that drama takes on an aura that radically separates it from the other literary genres. Playwrights visualize their work as it affect the individual. Herein lies part of the fascination of the stage performance over the book, for the book's imagery is effective since the actor's convince the members of the audience that the acting that is transpiring before their eyes is both real and significant. If the members of the audience are convinced , they are transported to a level of consciousness that makes drama, for many people, the most thrilling of literary experiences. Objectives After completing this reading, you will be able to: 1. Identify the main element of drama 2. Define catharsis 3. Distinguish between classical and modern tragedy 4. Assess the value of those techniques unique to film 5. Evaluate a film's and play's literary elements 6. Distinguish among the component parts of tragedy 7. Express more critical judgment in evaluating what you view The Play Although drama includes many of the same techniques other literary genres employ, there exist some profound differences. While writers of short stories and novels and plays have stories to tell, writers of plays have somewhat fewer technique options at their disposal. Playwrights cannot overtly tell audiences what characters look like, what they think, why they do what they do, or even what they are doing; all these must be shown. And they are shown through the interpretation of actors. Out of these limitations come the central conventions of drama. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The playwright is outside of the action Characterization is through speech and action Tone is part of the meaning Characters' thoughts may be suggested by a line's content and its delivery Mood may be suggested by lighting

Since even three-act plays will probably last less than two hours, a play's action must be compressed. Even what seems to be minor action must contribute to the meaning of the whole. As a result, the playwright's use of metaphor and symbol must not be too subtle and must be obviously attached to the play's meaning. Unlike novels, which may be a very subtle (and long), a play, to be convincing, should be unified in time and space. This means that a play's subject matter should commence as near to the end of the action as practical. In other words, since the audience wants to see the action at it climactic point, the action should start rather close to that point. Hamlet, for instance, begins with the sighting of the ghost of Hamlet's father, not with the elder Hamlet's death or even with the plot that led to his death. Rather the action starts at the point where the ghost sets into motion the action that precipitates the climax. Consequently, playwrights often limit their plays to a believable time span and as a few setting changes as are absolutely necessary.

The most important difference between plays and other literary forms is that drama is a group experience. Poems, novels, and short stories unfold within the mind of each individual reader; they appeal to individual emotions, relatively unaffected by outside stimuli. Plays, however, derive much of their response from the fact that members of the audience are affected by one another. Humor, for example, may bring more response because the whole group is reacting to it, and each individual reacts to both the humor and to the group. Moreover, watching something happen, watching it along with others, makes it seem more realistic. Although the audience only watches, individual members participate in the action by identifying with the emotions being portrayed before them. A play, then, is a very different kind of experience for viewers than other forms of literature are for readers. However, although they are intended to be viewed, we do read plays. Consequently, play readers need to imaginatively put themselves into a director's frame of mind. Through his process, readers can take a view that, while it is somewhat different from other reading, reading a play can be a richly rewarding experience. Furthermore, the rewards of reading drama are enhanced directly in proportion to readers' skills and experience in maintaining the director's point of view. Also, it should be remembered that a character's meaning is often indicated by the way a line is spoken: its tone. Therefore, the director's point of view requires readers to become alert to even very subtle shifts in tone, or the meaning can be either misinterpreted or lost. Tragedy Many people feel that the highest form of drama, and perhaps literature, is tragedy. From its earliest beginning in ancient Greece down to today's tragic drama, tragedy seems to have universal appeal. Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher, formulated a philosophic theory regarding tragedy's wide appeal. First, Aristotle believed that literature (all art for that matter), is an imitation of reality. As such, literature presents a heightened and harmonious exercising of individuals' feelings. This exercising of feelings results in their enlargement and in their refinement which leads to the ability to form a more perfect total person, thus reconciling and integrating both emotions and intelligent art. This, according to Aristotle, has an ethically desirable effect upon the total well being of people. Part of this positive effect entails the purgation of emotions which he called catharsis (katharsis). Specifically, catharsis, Aristotle believed, purged the emotions of pity and fear. This purgation is accomplished in the tragic drama, for example, by first exciting then tranquilizing emotions; it excites in order to tranquilize. The Greek view, as Aristotle expressed it, gave catharsis credit for the removal of disturbing, painful elements by purifying them in tragedy. This almost medicinal idea seems to fit well not only into Greek culture but into modern ideas of the arts as well. Part of the fascination of drama would seem to be that the audience identifies with the characters, fears for them as they proceed toward the inevitable, and pities them as they plummet into the catastrophe. Hamlet is a Shakespeare Tragedy Tragedy's Three Components: 1. Beginning (Introduction, Antecedent, Action) 2. Middle (Suspense, Reversal, Climax) 3. End (Denouement, Catastrophe) See the next page for more detailed explanation of these ideas -

Tragedy's Three Components Good tragedy has three basic components as it proceeds: 1. a beginning (introduction; antecedent action), 2. a middle (suspense; reversal; climax), and 3. an end (denouement; catastrophe). CLIMAX

Rising Action

Falling Action

INTRODUCTION CONCLUSION Beginning 1. Introduction (How to Start): Tragedy usually begins with one of five basic openings: a) a speech given by a major character b) small talk between minor characters c) a speech given by a chorus d) a recited prologue e) an exchange between major characters 2. Antecedent Action: In order to explain the present action of a play's characters, events that occur prior to the opening action must be explained. These events are the antecedent action. Middle 1. Suspense: As with any longer work of literature, something must be curious or sufficiently enthralling to maintain the self-discipline to read on or, as in the case with drama, to come back after the intermission. Without a doubt, one of the most effective methods of maintaining reader/viewer interest is through suspense. Suspense is more than simply curiosity, though. Suspense encompasses a tension, an emotional involvement that rivets spectators to their chairs and makes it nearly impossible to put down certain books. Suspense requires somewhat more than simply passive involvement with the literature; its cathartic effect fulfills our expectations and so intrigues us that we feel cleansed afterward. A playwright may not only heighten suspense by making the members of the audience experience curiosity, and uncertainty or excitement because they do not know the outcome, but also through the technique of foreshadowing. Foreshadowing, you should remember, hints at what the outcome will be without actually giving away the plot. Sometimes foreshadowing is accomplished by dwelling on something that will be important later. For example, the letter opener that will later become the murder weapon in a mystery play will be examined and commented upon early in the action. In the popular movie Jaws, for another example, a picture of a shark destroying a small boat is shown relatively early in the film. This foreshadows the destruction of the boat by the giant shark at the film's conclusion. By letting an audience see hints that mirror later events, their curiosity is stimulated and suspense is enhanced. Dramatic irony may also be used to stimulate suspense. 2. Reversal: The dramatic turning point (reversal) for the protagonist is that point at which it is

discovered that the fate that was expected is not the fate that will transpire. Often during the beginning and the middle of a play, plans are made, character relationships established, and certain events are expected. Then suddenly, a dramatic reversal reveals that the main character's expectations will not occur as were anticipated. For example, Romeo, thinking that Juliet is dead, kills himself. Hamlet, seeking vengeance and the throne, is himself the object of vengeance which results in his death. Captain Ahab in Moby Dick, seeking to destroy the great white whale, is himself destroyed by the whale. The reversal is the odd twist of fate and at other times a logical outgrowth of a character's personality; in any case, the technique is dramatic and contributes to a play's cathartic value. 3. Climax: An often misunderstood term, the dramatic climax is not at the end of a play nor is it usually near the catastrophic events. Rather, the climax is the point at which the catastrophe becomes inevitable. Actually in many plays. Such as in Shakespeare's tragedies, the climax comes during Act III-- directly in the middle of the play. For example, in Hamlet's rising action there are exposition, antecedent action, character introduction, and conflict. All these contribute to what Aristotle called the complications and results in mounting tension (suspense). The rising action peaks at the climax, after which the falling action begins. This falling action or turning point begins and the tragedy proceeds rapidly toward disaster again in Hamlet, when Hamlet mistakenly kills the King's chief counselor, the old fool Polonius. End Catastrophe and Denouement: Closely related in tragedy, the catastrophe and the denouement come at or near the end of the play. The catastrophe is that point at which the protagonist, and often those allies and loyal friends about him, are killed. Denouement is a general terms which means unraveling or untangling. In it, the plot action ends and any unanswered questions are explained. A denouement is necessary to the achievement of a satisfying drama so that members of the audience do not leave the theater puzzled about any part of the dramatic story. Modern tragedy, while essentially the same as classic tragedy, has undergone a certain shift in emphasis. Contemporary emphasis has changed what the ancient Greeks called fate (the will of the gods) to a greater concern for the environment. In other words, the modern fates are the society or the system or whatever controls people's destiny. Moreover, the characteristics in classic tragedy really cared what happened to tragic protagonists because their deaths changed the fortunes of all people in a society. Modern protagonists, by contrast, do not have the fortunes of society resting upon their shoulders. In fact, their lives or deaths seem to have no significant impact upon the societies in which they live. Willing Suspension of Disbelief The willing suspicion of disbelief is an awkward sounding expression that is of essential importance to the performing arts. Basically it means that while you are in the theater watching a play or a movie you must, for that period of time , suspend belief - - that is, pretend to believe that what you are seeing is actually taking place right before your eyes. If you are not able to do this, then the play or movie fails. It fails because you, the audience, remain unmoved and untouched by what you see. If you do not willingly suspend your disbelief, the you can never be frightened, thrilled, excited, or brought to tears because throughout it all you know the actors are only pretending. The preforming arts presuppose the ability to willingly suspend disbelief because without it people would not attend plays nor would they go to movies. Drama and film grip us, excite us, and intrigue us precisely because we believe, for a time, that reality is occurring up on stage or screen, right before your eyes. We can, therefore, immerse ourselves in the preforming arts and escape into another reality.