American Division Literature [ 20 ]

20- ] American Division Literature .

Genres of Drama .

One cannot look at the genre of drama played out on English and American stages without first looking at the history of drama in England – more specifically the Elizabethan popular theater .

  The early church in England in celebrating Christmas and Easter developed special music in which choir groups would musically respond to one another . Sometimes a soloist would answer the choral group or vice versa . This back-and-forth musical conversation eventually suggested to the early church the concept of dialogue . Soon , costumes and settings were added and people began to “act out” their roles in dramas . Crowds grew in number . Eventually the secular communities became involved , starting festivals at which dramatic episodes were enacted in cycles of plays . the subjects for these “ mystery” or “ miracle” plays were still based on events in the Bible and production fell into the hand of various trade guides .

        Secular involvement began to be reflected in these productions – at first minor changes like adding comic or tragic scenes that are not in the Bible ; but eventually they became completely secular works . The first formal tragedy written and enacted in England was in 1561 – Gorboduc by Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton in the tragedy of blood tradition of Seneca , a first-century stoic philosopher .

        Drama can take two different fundamental forms under which many other genres fall : tragedy and comedy .

Tragedy .

   In a tragedy , the protagonist [ the tragic hero or heroine ] is overcome in the conflict and meets a tragic end . The tone is serious and builds in the audience a fatalistic sense of the inevitability of the outcome and as a result is sometimes frightening . Yet the inescapable aspects of the catastrophe serve as a catharsis that somehow inexplicably purges the viewer of pity and fear . The Significance , then is not that the protagonist meets with an inevitable catastrophe , but rather the degree to which he or she deals with the conflict and the tragedy with dignity , courage and honor .

The Basic Elements of Tragedy .

1-] Mode :  Narrative . 2-]Protagonist : a tragic hero , honorable , high character , a person of conscience . 3-] Catastrophe :  the tragic conclusion of the conflict – usually death of the hero or heroine . 4-] Catharsis : the purging of feelings of pity and fear through the vehicle of the play .                 5-] Spectacles : grand displays used to grasp the attention of the audience .

6-] Reversal :  the point when the protagonist’s situation changes from good to bad . 7-] Hamartia : the protagonist’s fatal error or the mistake made       [ for whatever reason ] that leads to his/her downfall . 8-] Recognition : simultaneous with the reversal , the protagonist’s recognition of the truth of the situation .The protagonist begins in a state of happiness and falls into a state of unhappiness or death .

Kinds of Tragedies .

1-]Classical Tragedies : are those written by ancient Greeks and Romans , those written about the ancient Greeks and Romans and those written in the style and form of those written by the ancient Greeks and Romans .

2-]Romantic Tragedies : are those that are not classical and include many of the tragedies written in the Elizabethan England .

3-] Revenge Tragedies : are characterized by 1-] Senecan technique .

2-] Plot line father revenges son at direction of son’s ghost or son revenges father at directions of father’s ghost . 3-] Sensationalized murders [ the most extreme called “ tragedy of blood”] .

4-] Domestic Tragedies : are tragedies in which the main characters are everyday people , who undergo disasters common to man .These are also called bourgeois tragedies .

 Comedy .

Some Characteristics Common to Many Forms of Dramatic Comedy :

1-] Purpose : to amuse the viewers . 2-] Problems facing the protagonist interesting to the viewer , but not threatening . 3-] Subject : generally a somewhat realistic view of people’s lives , including the disparities between what they should be and what they are . 4-] Emotional Involvement of Audience :  It is a balance between two elements : 1-]A superficial involvement based on relevance to their own lives and on familiarity .2-] Detachment arising from less involvement with the fate of the protagonist as contrasted to the high levels of emotional involvement of the audience with the fate of the tragic protagonist  . 3-] Intellectual laughter . 4-] Style : friendlier as contrasted to the exalted style of tragic drama . 5-] Includes a sustained plot . 6-] Uses humor . 7-] Laughter involved by a good-natured look at the inconsistencies in human nature of life . 8-] Uses wit [ the bright intelligent use of words to invoke laughter .

A-] Low Comedy : It is just plain fun with jesting and clownish behavior .

B-] High Comedy :intends the laughter to be at the characters – at their ridiculous conduct or attitudes  - laughter that is intellectual , but not mocking.  The  degree to which humor is used , the form it takes and the manner of presentation are fundamental to it .

Comedy can take many forms and examples of each can be found in any age . Yes , some forms were more prevalent on a certain literary periods .

1-] Sixteenth Century [ particularly Elizabethan England ] .

Romantic comedy :

2-] Seventeenth Century .   Realistic Comedy .

3-] Eighteenth Century .  Comedy of manners [ sentimental] .

4-] Nineteenth Century .  Burlesque , operetta .

Romantic Comedy .

The plot revolves around a love story with a happy ending . Shakespeare’s  “As You Like IT”is a notable example of the romantic comedy .

Notice :  A peculiar characteristic of the romantic comedy is that the heroine often will pretend [ for whatever reason ] that she is a man . An interesting reversal on the convention is the trend in the modern “ romantic comedy” to have the hero mask as a woman [ e.g. Tootsie , Mrs. Doubtfire  ] .

 Realistic Comedy .

     A reaction that began late in the 16^th century against romantic comedy . This form is based on real life , usually in London and is characterized by a cynical tone and extensive use of satire . An example is Ben Jonson’s “The Alchemist” . Jonson joined George Chapman to introduce a new form of realistic comedy called “ the comedy of humors” Those plays focus on the humor or predominant character trait of the protagonist : melancholic , sanguine , choleric and phlegmatic .

Comedy of Manners .

    A realistic form practiced during the Restoration [ late 17^th century ] and later in the 19th century ] and later for two revivals [ late in the 18^th century and again late in the 19^th century ] . Its name is indicative of its subject : the contrived , self-conscious manners of society . The characters tend to be stereotypes , with heavy use of satire , clever dialogue , and forbidden illicit love . The comedy of manner is also called Restoration Comedy .

Sentimental Comedy .

Reacting to the immorality extant in the comedies of manners . This form came to be called “ reformed comedy” that aimed to restore virtue to the comic stage . The result was a form steeped in sentimentality with “ perfect” heroes and contrived plots that destroyed the dramatic reality of the plays . “The Conscious Lovers” by Richard Steele is an example .

Burlesque .

It uses an elevated style for a base subject of a base style for an elevated subject .In drama , this form of comedy has many devices available , including song and dance  routines and bawdy humor . An often cited example of burlesque in drama is “ The Beggar’s Opera" by John Gay .

Operetta .

It is called also the “ comic opera” . This colorful musical production such as those of Gilbert and Sullivan , blends dialogue with singing in plots that are often romantic .

Other Forms of Dramatic Comedy .

1-] Comedy of Intrigue .                                                                                 It is [ also called the comedy of situation ] in which the twists and turns of the plot line supersede the characters  involved in the situations .

2-] Farce Comedies  in which farce [ low comedy when the humor is based on the silliness of the situation ] is central to the play . The characters generally are exaggerated stereotypes who get into unbelievable situations that often result in “ slap-stick” comedy . “ Charlie’s Aunt” by Brandon Thomas [1892 ]is a farce .

3-] Court Comedies .  They are written for royal command performances in which a clever style and light tone work together with a plot somewhat devoid of action and with elements of mythology and contrasting characterization .

4-] Commedia dell’arte .  In it stock characters [ played by Italian actors ] were given a scenario or main idea of the plot and improvise the dialogue . Although Italian in origin , those improvisations greatly influenced Elizabethan dramatic comedy .

5-] Satiric Comedy . In it satire is used to make ridiculous the root causes of social problems , particularly  dysfunctional political policies , social customs and contemporary thinking .

6-] Tragicomedy , Neither writers nor critics have found all plays to fit neatly into either the comic or the tragic mold . Both forms can properly include elements of the other , sometimes to the point that they are called tragicomedy . This form was used in Elizabethan and Jacobean England and is characterized by inclusion of both characters from the higher classes usually found in tragedy and characters from the lower classes found in comedy .

The tragicomedy as a dramatic form is attributed to Beaumont and Fletcher in the first decade of the 17^th century . Shakespeare’s “ The Winter’s Tale” and Killingrew’s “ The Prisoner” are both tragicomedies .