Definitions, Types & Characteristic of Drama

College of Arts University of Mosul

Drama:
Definitions, Types, and Characteristics

Hamed Alass 'ad

1. Definition of drama

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" which is derived from the verb meaning "to do" or "to act". Drama, in some form, is found in almost every society, primitive and civilized, and served a wide variety of functions in the community. It is a unique literary form because it is designed to be acted out on a stage before an audience, where actors take the roles of the characters, perform the indicated action, and utter the written dialogue. It is an enacted fiction primarily based on mimic action. That is, drama is something that one goes to see, and which is originally organized to be seen rather than to be read. Some specialists have defined drama as the most elegant expression of thought nearest to the truth, the most concrete form in which art can recreate human situations and relationships, and the most wide ranging of all the arts: it not only represent life, but it is also a way of seeing it.
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2. Characteristics of Drama

The major characteristics of drama are as follows:

2.1. Characters: Characters are the people in the play 's plot. Most plays have a round, major characters and flat, minor characters. The main characters are more important to a work and usually have a bigger part to play. Miranda from Shakespeare 's Tempest is an example of a main character. We learn much about her characteristics throughout the play, and she plays a big role in the reconciliation of the characters toward the end of the play. On the other hand, minor characters are less important. An example of a minor character is Marcellus from the play 'Hamlet, ' whose role is only to inform about Hamlet 's father 's ghost. We do not know nor do we need to know anything

References: o Abdullah, A. K. (?): History of Literary Criticism: An Introductory Reader. Mosul: Mosul University Press. o Beaty, J. and Hunter, J. P. (1998): The Norton Introduction to Literature: Drama Vol.3. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. o Cudden, J. A. (1999): Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. London: Penguin Books Ltd. o Hussain, M. M. and Kaddawi, T. A. (2012): An Introduction to English Literature. Mosul: Ibn Al-Atheer Press. o Socholes, R. (1971): Elements of Drama. New York: Oxford University Press. o www.britannica.com o www.ehow.com o www.quizlet.com o www.wikipedia.com