Drama
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Dramas can be performed in various media: live performance, [[radio]], [[film]], and-or [[television]]. "[[Closet drama]]s" are works written in the same form as plays (with dialogue, scenes, and "stage directions"), but meant to be read rather than staged; examples include the plays of [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], ''[[Manfred]]'' by [[George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron|Byron]], and ''[[Prometheus Unbound]]'' by [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]]. Drama is also often combined with [[music]] and [[dance]], such as in [[opera]] which is sung throughout, musicals which include spoken dialog and songs, or plays that have musical accompaniment. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/{{PAGENAMEE}}] [Apr 2007] | Dramas can be performed in various media: live performance, [[radio]], [[film]], and-or [[television]]. "[[Closet drama]]s" are works written in the same form as plays (with dialogue, scenes, and "stage directions"), but meant to be read rather than staged; examples include the plays of [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], ''[[Manfred]]'' by [[George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron|Byron]], and ''[[Prometheus Unbound]]'' by [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]]. Drama is also often combined with [[music]] and [[dance]], such as in [[opera]] which is sung throughout, musicals which include spoken dialog and songs, or plays that have musical accompaniment. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/{{PAGENAMEE}}] [Apr 2007] | ||
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== The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations == | == The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations == |
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Drama is a literary form involving parts written for actors to perform. It is a Greek word meaning "action", drawn from the "to do".
Dramas can be performed in various media: live performance, radio, film, and-or television. "Closet dramas" are works written in the same form as plays (with dialogue, scenes, and "stage directions"), but meant to be read rather than staged; examples include the plays of Seneca, Manfred by Byron, and Prometheus Unbound by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Drama is also often combined with music and dance, such as in opera which is sung throughout, musicals which include spoken dialog and songs, or plays that have musical accompaniment. [1] [Apr 2007]
The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations
The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations is a descriptive list which was created by Georges Polti to categorize every dramatic situation that might occur in a story or performance. To do this Polti analyzed classical Greek texts, plus classical and contemporaneous French works. He also analyzed a handful of non-French authors. In his introduction, Polti claims to be continuing the work of Carlo Gozzi, who also identified 36 situations.
This list was published in a book of the same name, which contains extended explanations and examples. The original French-language book was written in the 19th century. An English translation was published in 1917 and continues to be reprinted to this day.
The list is popularized as an aid for writers, but it is also used by dramatists, storytellers and many others. Other similar lists have since been made, some more attuned to modern sensibilities, but Polti's guide remains one of the most popular and enduring.
The 36 Situations
- Supplication
- a Persecutor; a Supplicant; a Power in authority, whose decision is doubtful.
- Deliverance
- an Unfortunate; a Threatener; a Rescuer
- Crime pursued by vengeance
- an Avenger; a Criminal
- Vengeance taken for kin upon kin
- an Avenging Kinsman; Guilty Kinsman; remembrance of the Victim, a relative of both
- Pursuit
- Punishment; a Fugitive
- Disaster
- a Vanquished Power; a Victorious Enemy or a Messenger
- Falling prey to cruelty/misfortune
- an Unfortunate; a Master or a Misfortune
- Revolt
- a Tyrant; a Conspirator
- Daring enterprise
- a Bold Leader; an Object; an Adversary
- Abduction
- an Abductor; the Abducted; a Guardian
- The enigma
- an Interrogator; a Seeker; a Problem
- Obtaining
- (a Solicitor & an Adversary who is refusing) or (an Arbitrator & Opposing Parties)
- Enmity of kin
- a Malevolent Kinsman; a Hatred or a reciprocally-hating Kinsman
- Rivalry of kin
- the Preferred Kinsman; the Rejected Kinsman; the Object of Rivalry
- Murderous adultery
- two Adulterers; a Betrayed Spouse
- Madness
- a Madman; a Victim
- Fatal imprudence
- the Imprudent; a Victim or an Object Lost
- Involuntary crimes of love
- a Lover; a Beloved; a Revealer
- Slaying of kin unrecognized
- the Slayer; an Unrecognized Victim
- Self-sacrifice for an ideal
- a Hero; an Ideal; a Creditor or a Person/Thing sacrificed
- Self-sacrifice for kin
- a Hero; a Kinsman; a Creditor or a Person/Thing sacrificed
- All sacrificed for passion
- a Lover; an Object of fatal Passion; the Person/Thing sacrificed
- Necessity of sacrificing loved ones
- a Hero; a Beloved Victim; the Necessity for the Sacrifice
- Rivalry of superior v. inferior
- a Superior Rival; an Inferior Rival; the Object of Rivalry
- Adultery
- two Adulterers; a Deceived Spouse
- Crimes of love
- a Lover; the Beloved
- Discovery of the dishonour of a loved one
- a Discoverer; the Guilty One
- Obstacles to love
- two Lovers; an Obstacle
- An enemy loved
- a Lover; the Beloved Enemy; the Hater
- Ambition
- an Ambitious Person; a Thing Coveted; an Adversary
- Conflict with a god
- a Mortal; an Immortal
- Mistaken jealousy
- a Jealous One; an Object of whose Possession He is Jealous; a Supposed Accomplice; a Cause or an Author of the Mistake
- Erroneous judgement
- a Mistaken One; a Victim of the Mistake; a Cause or Author of the Mistake; the Guilty One
- Remorse
- a Culprit; a Victim or the Sin; an Interrogator
- Recovery of a lost one
- a Seeker; the One Found
- Loss of loved ones
- a Kinsman Slain; a Kinsman Spectator; an Executioner