ELEMENTS, TECHNIQUES

AND LITERARY DEVICES IN

DRAMA
What is Drama?
As mentioned in the previous module,
literature is quite complex and consists
of a wide array of genres, including poetry and
fiction which were mentioned in the
previous discussions. Drama, on the other
hand, is another literary genre with various
characteristics which are distinct from the other
types of literary works. In literature,
A mode of fictional representation through dialogue
and performance
❖ a type of play which is written for theater,
television, radio and film
❖ a composition in the forms of either verse or
prose for the purpose of portraying
life or character or telling a story which often
involves conflicts and emotions
through action and dialogue
❖ comes from the Greek words δρᾶμα (an act, a
play) and δράω (to act, to take
action)
❖ its writer is known as dramatist or playwright
Types of Drama

Drama is classified into different

categories according to mood, tone,
and action shown in the plot. Below
are some of the most famous types of
drama written nowadays.
What makes this category different from the
other types is that its
writer uses lighter tone. Moreover, it is
sometimes known to be sarcastic in nature
as it has
the tendency to make fun out of serious
topics.
1. Comedy
Comedy
This known to be a broad genre of film,
television, and literature.
Nonetheless, its ultimate goal is but
simple – to make the audience laugh. In
order to achieve such goal,
a playwright often uses quaint
circumstances, unusual characters,
and witty remarks.
The following are the sub-genres of
comedy:

➢ romantic comedy
– It focuses on lighthearted, humorous plot
lines which are often
centered on romantic ideas like how true
love is able
to overcome many obstacles.
➢ sentimental comedy
- It began in the 18th century as a reaction
to the immoral tone
of English Restoration play. This sub-genre
of comedy
focuses on the middle-class protagonists
who are able to
successfully overcome a couple of moral
trials.
➢ comedy of manners
- It is also referred to as the anti-
sentimental comedy which
writes about the manners and feelings of
modern society. It
also questions societal standards.
➢ tragic comedy
- It portrays characters who take on
tragedy with humor in order
to bring out happy endings out of serious
situations.
The following are the common
examples of comedy:
• The Simpsons
• America’s Funniest Home
Videos
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by Shakespeare
2. Tragedy
As a type of drama, tragedy is basically rooted
on its literal meaning which
connotes something that is unpleasant and
unwelcome. Generally, it has darker
themes and portrays subjects which include
death, disaster, and all sorts of human
suffering in a manner that is dignified and
thought-provoking.
type of drama in volves two important
elements: (1) its intense seriousness in dealing
with matters in
which survival is at stake and (2) its
involvement of the whole community in
matters of ultimate and common concern. A
tragic flaw, a characteristic which often leads
to a downfal, is usually present among the
story’s protagonists
Tragedies come in different types
which include:
➢ Greek Tragedy
- Typically, it involves a protagonist of high
rank who commits a
mistake in judgment (flawed) and accepts
his fall from grace.
Typically, it includes the elements of Gods,
mythology,conflict, suffering and catharsis.
Among the great Greek
tragedians were Sophocles, Euripides and
Aeschylus.
Roman Tragedy
- These are mostly adaptations of Greek
tragedies. The Roman philosipher Seneca
wrote nine plays which still exist at
present and adopted by Elizabethan and
Jacobean playwrights during the late 16th
and early 17th centuries.
➢ Elizabethan and Jacobean Tragedy
- Elizabethan tragedies, which are not all written by
Shakespeare, often involve main characters of high
status
(nobility, military rank, among others) who
committed an error
or flawed, encounter a reversal of fortune and die
towards the
end of the play. On the other hand, Jacobean
tragedies
usually have the characteristic of revenge tragedies.
➢ Revenge Tragedy
- This type of tragedy often involves one character
who seeks revenge upon another character in the
story for an evil doing.
The most common examples of this are Hamlet by
Shakespeare and The Duchess of Malfi by John
Webster.
➢ Tragicomedy
- This is a single dramatic work which consists
of a combination
of tragic and comic elements. One popular
example of this is the play Waiting for
Godot by Samuel Beckett.
➢ Domestic Tragedy
- Unlike the Elizabethan period tragedy, it
portrays a common
man in a domestic setting as the tragic hero in
the story. The best examples for this are Henrik
Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and
Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh.
3. Farce
This type of drama features exaggerated or
absurd forms of comedy. It is a
nonsensical genre of drama in which the
characters intentionally overact and get
themselves into a slapstick or physical humor.
Webster’s Dictionary refers to it as “a
light dramatic composition marked by broadly
satirical comedy and improbable plot”.
Recently, it is known as something serious that
has turned comical.
4. Melodrama
This is an exaggerated type of drama which
shows classic one-dimensional
characters like heroes, heroines, and villains
who deal with sensational, romantic, and
threatening situations. Examples of melodrama
are the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee
Williams and Margaret Mitchell’s novel, Gone
With the Wind.
5. Opera
This type of drama combines theater, dialogue,
music and dance to tell grand
stories of tragedy or comedy; hence, it is known
as a versatile genre of drama. This
genre requires their performers to be both
actors and singers since they will be
expressing their emotions and intentions
through song instead of a dialogue.
6. Docudrama
This new genre involves dramatic portrayals of
historic events or non-fictional
happenings. It is more often presented in
movies such as Apollo 13 and 12 Years a
Slave.