Drama And Its Features

CONTENT
• DEFINITION OF DRAMA
• FORMS OF DRAMA
• FEATURES OF DRAMA

DRAMA
Drama is taken from the Greek word, ‘Dran’, which can be said to mean, do or act. That is, drama as a genre of literature possesses a major feature which is action, whether it is on a built stage or on a village pathway as in the case of village festivals or dances. And this becomes a unifying factor for all dramatic types.

FORMS OF DRAMA
The forms of drama include the following:
Comedy: This refers to a drama usually imbued or filled with a light atmosphere and which often ends on a happy note (e.g.) The Blinkards by Kobina Sekyi and De Graft’s Son’s and Daughters.
Tragedy: Often regarded as the opposite of comedy because it is a drama whose atmosphere is usually serious and tense with an unhappy ending and in most cases involves death or a calamity e.g. Women of Owu by Femi Osofisan and Hamlet by William Shakespeare.

Tragi-comedy: It is a play which harbours elements of tragedy and comedy and often ends on a happy note (e.g.) Tempest by William Shakespeare

History Play: Also known as the chronicle play or Epic, its material is based on historical records. Besides presenting the history of individuals and people, History play also glorifies the past heroic deeds of individuals and people. William Shakespeare has a number of history plays. The commonest of them is Julius Caesar.

Farce: It is a comic drama, though of a cheaper kind in which a spectator’s belief in what is happening is not as important as the main desire to cause laughter. In a farce, believability is sacrificed while laughter and hilarity enjoy more prominence (e.g.) The Comedy of Errors by Williams Shakespeare.

Melodrama: In this type of drama, for purposes of creating excitement, sensation and shock in the spectator, belief is downplayed. Melodrama is often referred to as a tragic farce, especially when a tragedy lacks a sense of believability or convincingness (e.g.) The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe.

Mime: In this type of drama, action and events are conveyed through the medium of movements, facial expression and gesture without words. In other words, it is a speechless play (e.g.) Sango by Duro Ladipo.

Opera: This is a drama that is essentially made up of songs. Here, all the actions are musical. Hence, opera is a musical play in which all of the words are sung. (e.g.) ”Samson and Delilah” adapted from the Holy Bible.

EVALUATION
1 Discuss ‘drama’ as a genre of literature.
2 Highlight any three forms of drama.

FEATURES OF DRAMA
The following are the features of drama. But there is no restriction toward other literacy writers or authors to use some of these features. And they include:
Dramatis Personae: The display of all the participants in a drama.

Cast: A list of actors and actresses given defined roles in a drama by the playwright or director.

Playwright: The writer of a piece of drama or play.

Conflict: Another common feature of drama often involving the protagonist and the antagonist in their rivalry and struggle for assertion of influence or relevance.

Protagonist: A character that plays the most prominent role in a play or novel, often referred to as the hero/heroine or the chief character.
Antagonist: A character in a play or novel who opposes the protagonist rightly or wrongly. Often he/she contradicts the protagonist.

Denouement: Also known as resolution or the unknotting of events, it is the resultant process soon after the climax has been reached. Here the conflict in a play or novel is finally resolved.
Catharsis: This means purgation (from ‘purging’ the original Greek word). It is the feeling by an audience of a sense of release or the cleansing of the mind of excess emotion, often through the shedding of tears as when a great tragedy is being played out on stage.

Tragic Flaw: A costly mistake made by the protagonist in a play or drama. It could also mean an in-built or inherited weakness (flaw), say pride (hubris), which aids the downfall of the protagonist.

Dramatic Irony: It is a point in a drama or fiction in which a character out of ignorance says or does something which runs counter to the prevalent course of action whose real outcome is known to the audience but is hidden from the character in question.

Suspense: It is the state of anxiety and expectation in the reader/audience of a play or novel as to the likely outcome of events. It raises a reader’s interest and keeps him/her guessing as to what will happen next.

Soliloquy: It is a device in drama or novel which allows a character to engage in a loud self-talk while enabling the reader/audience to have access to what is in his/her mind.

Prologue: It is the formal introduction to a play written in prose or verse whose content is relevant to the unfolding events in the play.

Epilogue: It is the closing comment in a play which justifies an earlier course of action or fills an untreated gap in a play. It always comes at the end of a play.

Chorus: It is a couple or a band of people in a play who takes it upon themselves as a group to comment on the proceedings of a dramatic action. The group sheds light on the unfolding events and audience for what is yet to happen.

Flashback: A literary technique in a drama or novel involving the recalling of an earlier scene, action or event which sheds further light on what is currently happening.

Dialogue: It is a conversation between characters. Although, dialogue is an integral part of drama or play, novelist and poet often make use of it to make their narration a bit dramatic and real.

GENERAL EVALUATION/REVISION QUESTIONS
1 Discuss the importance of chorus, epilogue and prologue in drama.
2 Discuss dramatic irony with scenes from any of the recommended plays.

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

1. In a play or story, we refer to the character who contradicts the protagonist as the
   (a) opponent (b) obstacle (c) villain (d) pun.
2. A bashful smile of appreciation illuminated Nelly’s pretty face’. The figure of speech implied in the use of illuminated is (a) personification (b) metaphor (c) simile (d) meiosis
   3 ‘Hedwig, in spite of her misfortune, held her head to high heavens.’ The device used is
   (a) alliteration (b) anagnorisis (c) personification (d) prolepsis
   4 __ determines the atmosphere of a poem. (a) Tone (b) Theme (c) Structure (d) Synopsis.
   5 A type of play which is funny, whose action is difficult to believe is called a
   (a) farce (b) melodrama (c) prosaic drama (d) comedy.

THEORY
1 Discuss ‘Mime’ and ‘Opera’ as different forms of drama. 2 List and define six features of drama.
READING ASSIGNMENT
1 Exam Focus: Lit-in-Eng by J.O.J. Nwachukwu Agbada et al., pgs 1-3
2 Essential Literature-in-English for SSS by Ibitola A. O., pgs 5-7.