IntroductionLiterary Studies8

Drama II: 

Drama II

Types of Utterance : 

Types of Utterance Turn allocation How many lines is each character‘s turn? Do some characters have longer turns than others, if so, why? Stichomythia Special kind of turn allocation that occurs when speaker‘s alternating turns are of one line each Repartee Quick responses given in order to top remarks of another speaker or to use them to one‘s own advantage

Ex.: Stichomythia & Repartee: 

Ex.: Stichomythia & Repartee KING RICHARD Infer fair England’s peace by this alliance. ELIZABETH Which she shall purchase with still-lasting war. KING RICHARD Tell her the King, that may command, entreats. ELIZABETH That, at her hands, which the King’s King forbids. KING RICHARD Say she shall be a high and mighty queen. ELIZABETH To vail the title, as her mother doth. KING RICHARD Say I will love her everlastingly. ELIZABETH But how long shall that title ‘ever’ last? KING RICHARD Sweetly in force, until her fair life’s end. ELZABETH But how long fairly shall her sweet life last? KING RICHARD As long as heaven and nature lengthens it. ELIZABETH As long as hell and Richard likes of it. KING RICHARD Say I, her sovereign, am her subject low. ELIZABETH But she, your subject, loathes such sovereignty. KING RICHARD Be eloquent in my behalf to her. ELIZABETH An honest tale speeds best being plainly told. KING RICHARD Then plainly to her tell my loving tale. ELIZABETH Plain and not honest is too harsh a style. KING RICHARD Your reasons are too shallow and too quick. […] (Richard III, IV, 4: 343-361)

Lack of Communication: 

Lack of Communication The living-room. PAM sits on the couch. She reads the Radio Times. MARY takes things from the table and goes out. Pause. She comes back. She goes to the table. She collects the plates. She goes out. Pause. The door opens. HARRY comes in. He goes to the table and opens the drawer. He searches in it. PAM turns a page. MARY comes in. She goes to the table and picks up the last things on it. She goes out. HARRY’S jacket is draped on the back of the chair by the table. He searches in the pockets. PAM turns a page: There is a loud bang (off). Silence. HARRY turns to the table and searches in the drawer. MARY comes in. She wipes the table top with a damp cloth. There is a loud bang (off). MARY goes out. […] (Edward Bond, Saved, 13)

Wordplay – Pun : 

Wordplay – Pun Let her not walk i’th’sun. Conception is a blessing, But as your daughter may conceive – friend, look To’t. [...] (Hamlet, II, 2: 184-186) POZZO: I hope I‘m not driving you away. Wait a little longer, you‘ll never regret it. ESTRAGON: [Scenting charity] We‘re in no hurry. POZZO: [Having lit his pipe.] The second is never so sweet….[He takes the pipe out of his mouth, contemplates it]…as the first, I mean. [He puts the pipe back in his mouth.] But it‘s sweet just the same. (Beckett, Waiting for Godot, I)

Wit : 

Wit LADY BRACKNELL Good afternoon, dear Algernon, I hope you are behaving very well. ALGERNON I’m feeling very well, Aunt Augusta. LADY BRACKNELL That’s not quite the same thing. In fact the two things rarely go together. [Sees Jack and bows to him with icy coldness.] ALGERNON [To Gwendolen] Dear me, you are smart! GWENDOLEN I am always smart! Aren’t I, Mr Worthing? JACK You’re quite perfect, Miss Fairfax. GWENDOLEN Oh! I hope I am not that. It would leave no room for developments, and I intend to develop in many directions. (Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, I)

Elements of Secondary Text : 

Elements of Secondary Text Dramatis personae Speech prefix / speech heading Stage direction (didascaly)

Example: Stage Directions: 

Example: Stage Directions VLADIMIR: Sometimes I feel it coming all the same. Then I go all queer. [He takes off his hat, peers inside it, feels about inside it, puts it on again.] How shall I say? Relieved and at the same time…[He searches for the word.]…appalled. [With emphasis.] AP-PALLED. [ He takes off his hat again, peers inside it .] Funny. [He knocks at the crown as though to dislodge a foreign body, peers into it again, puts it on again.] Nothing to be done. [ESTRAGON with a supreme effort succeeds in pulling off his boot. He looks inside it, feels about inside it, turns it upside down, shakes it, looks on the ground to see if anything has fallen out, finds nothing, feels inside it again, staring sightlessly before him.] Well?. ESTRAGON: nothing. VLADIMIR: Show. ESTRAGON: There’s nothing to show. VLADIMIR: Try and put it on again. (Beckett, Waiting for Godot I)

Structure in Drama : 

Structure in Drama Story Plot Linear Non-linear/Mosaic

Structure – Three Unities : 

Structure – Three Unities Unity of Action Unity of Place Unity of Time

Structure – Freytag‘s Pyramid : 

Structure – Freytag‘s Pyramid

Structure: Closed – Open drama : 

Structure: Closed – Open drama Closed drama: Consists of tightly connected acts which are logically built upon each other present an unambiguous solution in the end Open drama: Consists of loosely connected, often fragmentary scenes Present endings which do not bring about any conclusive solution or result Typically neglects the concept of the unities

Theater of the Absurd : 

Theater of the Absurd Term applied to many of the works of a group of dramatists who were active in the 1950s: Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet, Eugène Ionesco, Edward Albee answered to the need of providing an explanation of man‘s apparently purposeless role and position in the universe lack formal logic and conventional structure inexpressible, irrational, ridiculous solitude, isolation, hostility no illusion of reality, underlines constructedness of play difference between the characters’ words and actions lack of motivation, intention, ability

Space in Drama : 

Space in Drama Stage design Lighting Auditory sound effects, music Special effects

Space in Drama : 

Space in Drama Word scenery: the setting is created rhetorically rather than by means of painted canvas, stage props and artificial lightening, characters describe the locale Here’s neither bush nor shrub to bear off any weather at all, and another storm brewing; I hear it sing i’ the wind. Yond same black cloud, yond huge one, looks like a foul bombard that would shed his liquor. If it should thunder as it did before I know not where to hide my head, yond same cloud cannot choose but fall by pailfuls. (Shakespeare, The Tempest, II, 2: 19-23)

Space in Drama : 

Space in Drama Setting and Characterisation: e.g. Beckett Waiting for Godot e.g. William Congreve‘s The Way of the World Symbolic Space e.g. Shakespeare‘s The Tempest e.g. Shakespeare‘s Midsummer Night‘s Dream

Time : 

Time How are references to time made in characters‘ speech, setting, stage directions? What is the overall time span of the story? How long does the performance take? Which general concepts of time are expressed in and by a play?

Time in Drama : 

Time in Drama Played time Playing time Ellipsis, Pause Speed-up, Summary Slow-down, Stretch

Example:: 

Example: Enter Beatrice. A clock strikes one. BEATRICE: One struck, and yet she lies by’t – oh my fears! This strumpet serves her own ends, ‘tis apparent now, Devours the pleasure with a greedy appetite And never minds my honour or my peace, Makes havoc of my right; but she pays dearly for’t: No trusting of her life with such a secret, That cannot rule her blood to keep her promise. Beside, I have some suspicion of her faith to me Because I was suspected of my lord, And it must come from her. – Hark by my horrors! Another clock strikes two. [Strikes two.] (Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, The Changeling, V, 1: 1-12)

Time: Order: 

Time: Order Flashback (analepsis) e.g. Arthur Miller‘s Death of a Salesman Flashforward (prolepsis) e.g. prologue in Shakespeare‘s Romeo and Juliet

Time: Frequency : 

Time: Frequency Singulative: an event takes place once and is referred to once Iterative: an event takes place several times but is referred to in the text only once Repetitive: an event takes place once but is referred to or presented repeatedly

Characters in Drama : 

Characters in Drama Characters represent one of the most important analytical categories in drama since they carry the plot. Characters’ interactions trigger and move the plot, and their various relationships to one another form the basis for conflicts and dynamic processes. In other words: there cannot be a play without characters.

Implicit Figural Characterization : 

Implicit Figural Characterization JIMMY Why do I do this every Sunday? Even the book reviews seem to be the same as last week’s. Different books – same reviews. Have you finished that one yet CLIFF Not yet. JIMMY I’ve just read three whole columns on the English Novel. Half of it’s in French. Do the Sunday papers make you feel ignorant? CLIFF Not ‘arf. JIMMY Well, you are ignorant. You’re just a peasant. [To Alison.] What about you? You’re not a peasant are you? ALISON [absently.] What’s that? JIMMY I said do the papers make you feel you’re not so brilliant after all? ALISON Oh – I haven’t read them yet. JIMMY I didn’t ask you that. I said – CLIFF Leave the poor girlie alone. She’s busy. JIMMY Well, she can talk, can’t she? You can talk, can’t you? You can express an opinion. Or does the White Woman’s Burden make it impossible to think? ALISON I’m sorry. I wasn’t listening properly. JIMMY You bet you weren’t listening. Old Porter talks, and everyone turns over and goes to sleep. And Mrs. Porter gets ‘em all going with the first yawn. CLIFF Leave her alone I said. JIMMY [shouting]. All right, dear. Go back to sleep. It was only me talking. You know? Talking? Remember? I’m sorry. CLIFF Stop yelling. I’m trying to read. JIMMY Why do you bother? You can’t understand a word of it. CLIFF Uh huh. JIMMY You’re too ignorant. CLIFF Yes, and uneducated. Now shut up, will you? (Osborne, Look Back in Anger)

Means of Characterization : 

Means of Characterization External appearance Body language, gestures, mimics Voice of actor / actress Dialect, sociolect, colloquialisms Telling names

Example: Hamlet : 

Example: Hamlet

Characters in Drama : 

Characters in Drama Major characters: Protagonist Antagonist Eponymous hero Minor characters: Foil Confidant Round characters Multi-dimensional Dynamic Flat characters Mono-dimensional Static Types Telling names

Character Constellation : 

Character Constellation

Example: Romeo and Juliet : 

Example: Romeo and Juliet

Character Configuration : 

Character Configuration Character configuration denotes the sequential presentation of different characters together on stage. Configurations thus can change when characters exit or enter the stage. e.g. Shakespeare‘s Romeo and Juliet.

Dramatic Irony : 

Dramatic Irony Congruent Awareness Discrepant Awareness Superior awareness Inferior Awareness "The words or acts of a character in a play may carry a meaning unperceived by himself but understood by the audience" (Holman, C. Hugh. A Handbook to Literature. Indianapolis: Odyssey, 1977. p. 171)

Types of Stage : 

Types of Stage Greek Classicism The Middle Ages Renaissance England Restoration Period Modern Times

Greek Classicism: 

Greek Classicism

The Middle Ages : 

The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages : 

The Middle Ages

Renaissance English: 

Renaissance English Apron Stage

Globe Theatre : 

Globe Theatre

Globe Theatre: 

Globe Theatre

Restoration Period : 

Restoration Period

Modern Times : 

Modern Times

Dramatic Sub-Genres : 

Dramatic Sub-Genres Tragedy: A serious play whose protagonist dies in the end. Comedy: A humorous play with a happy ending. More generally, a play with a nontragic ending.

Dramatic Sub-Genres : 

Dramatic Sub-Genres types of comedy High vs. Low Comedy Romantic Comedy Satiric Comedy Comedy of Manners Farce Comedy of Humours Melodrama

Dramatic Sub-Genres : 

Dramatic Sub-Genres types of tragedy: Senacan Tragedy Revenge Tragedy / Tragedy of Blood Domestic / Bourgeois Tragedy Tragicomedy

Sources : 

Sources Vanderbeke, Dirk. 2003/2004. Introduction to Literary Studies. ppt-presentation. Department of English Studies, University of Greifswald. Meyer, Michael. English and American Literatures. 2nd ed. Tübingen and Basel: Francke, 2005. Jahn, Manfred. 2003. Narratology: A Guide to the Theory of Narrative. Part III of Poems, Plays, and Prose: A Guide to the Theory of Literary Genres. English Department, University of Cologne. Lethbridge, Stefanie and Jarmila Mildorf. 2003. Basics of English Studies: Am Introductory course for students of literary studies in English. English Departments, Universities of Tübingen, Stuttgart, Freiburg. Manfred Pfister. Das Drama: Theorie und Analyse. 10th ed. Munich: Fink, 2000.