American Division Literature [ 21 ]

21- ] American Division Literature .

Drama .

Chronicle Play .

Other forms of drama can be classified as either tragedy or comedy . One example is the chronicle play . Based on the 16^th century chronicles [ historical records ] , these Elizabethan dramas were characterized by enactments of battles , funerals and other historical events . Some incorporate the elements of the romantic comedy ; others are clearly tragedies . Yet a third group of chronicle plays called the history play is not comic nor tragic . Perhaps the most famous examples of chronicle plays are based on Chronicles of England , Scotland and Ireland by Raphael Holinshed , first published in 1578 . These chronicles became a major historical source for 13 of Shakespeare’s plays . Also based in part on Holinshed’s Chronicles are Shakespeare’s “King Lear ,” “ Cymbeline” and “Macbeth”.

Restoration Heroic Drama .

Its form can be tragedy or tragicomedy . These were with settings in exotic places , such as Morocco , feature a hero torn between love and duty . The dialogue is often in heroic couplets and overflowing with hyperbole .

Heroic dramas can include a sinister , evil male antagonist [ a villain ] who may be the father of the heroine and an equally evil female antagonist [ a villainess ] who tries to win the protagonist’s affections .

The Melodrama .

A form that is most often a comedy , and it can also be an element in a tragedy. The melodrama means “ a play with music” and was used in a period of English history when in the 19^th century plays were allowed to be performed only in Patent Theaters “ a monopoly” due to the Licensing Act , but musicals could be performed anywhere . By adding music and song , these dramas could be legally performed .

Pantomime .

It is drama acted out without words . These mixtures of drama and dance were popular in England in the 1700s , but were especially enjoyed in Elizabethan drama as single episodes used for dramatic effect in spoken drama . This use is called the dumb show . The pantomime as a form has survived through silent films and such comedic actors as Charlie Chaplin and Red Skelton .

 As you study form in literature , you will doubtless encounter many trends , movements , themes and conventions that group certain works from prose , poetry and drama together .