Drama Definition, Elements & Dramatic Monologue
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Drama
Definition
To quote Aristotle, drama may be called "imitated human action". But since his meaning of "imitation" is in doubt, this phrase is not as simple or clear as it seems to be. According to Prof. J.M. Manly, there are three elements in the drama
- A story
- Told in action
- By actors who impersonate the characters of the story.
Or a simple definition of drama may be given in the words of Professor Schelling; who calls it "a picture or representation of human life in that succession and change of events that we call story, told by means of dialogue and presenting in action the successive emotions involved".
Elements
In other words, every scene in a play must have an importance of its own. It must be closely connected with the main theme of the drama and should thus form an indispensable part of the main framework.
It is therefore very essential that every scene should be studied critically so as to estimate its importance. Thus the dramatic significance of a scene may be based on any of the following elements:
1. Characterization
2. Plot-interest
3. Style or language
4. Any other aspect of dramatic significance
Characterization
Every scene should be studied from the point of view of the dramatist's art of characterization. It may here be mentioned that there are five ways open to a dramatist for displaying characters.
- In judging a character, we should consider carefully all that is said about him by others.
- When a character himself says anything, we must carefully study the circumstances in which his speeches are made. In other words, we should always make allowances for the force of circumstances to influence human behaviour.
- No character should be interpreted by single or detached incidents. Before forming a general estimate about a character, all possible details should be taken into consideration.
- A study in character contrasts and is always helpful in judging a character fully.
- The development of every character from the scene to the scene must be carefully watched. Sometimes characters change greatly with the passage of time.
Plot-Interest
It is quite obvious that the plot forms an indispensable part of the drama, for it is mainly through action that a character is revealed.
A plot may be defined as a planned series of inter-related actions progressing because of the interplay of one force upon another, though a struggle of opposing forces to a climax and a denouement.
It is therefore very essential that we should watch the development of the plot in a play as it progresses from scene to scene. We should try to estimate the importance of every scene as an organic part of the whole.
Every scene should carry the story further, and give us information about the necessary details. In other words, every scene should be studied as an important screw of the past structural machinery of the play. The opening scenes have always a special significance of their own.
Style
While discussing the dramatic significance of a scene proper attention must be paid to its style. A scene may be written in a prosaic or poetic style.
Other Aspects
Another point of view from which a scene may be studied is whether it can be successfully staged or not.
Dramatic Monologue
Definition
A dramatic monologue is a long speech by a single person. It differs from soliloquy which means the expression of ideas by a character in a play. On the other hand, dramatic monologue is a kind of lyric which was used and improved by Robert Browning.
These poems are dramatic in the sense that they have a theatrical quality i.e. the poem is meant to be read to an audience. To say that the poem is a monologue means that these are the words of one speaker with no dialogue coming from any other character.
Characteristics
- A speaker is a single person who is not a poet.
- The views of the speaker may contradict with those of the poet.
- The speech of this character makes up the whole of the verse, in a specific situation at a crucial moment.
- This character addresses & interacts with one or more people, but we know of the others' presence & what they say or do only from clues in the poetic dialogues of the speaker.
- The primary focus of the poet is to tell the readers and audience a story having a moral in a way that boosts the curiosity towards it, the speaker's temperament & character.
- The subject of the monologue is self-revelation. These are some of the features of dramatic monologue.
- The rhyme scheme is not important in Dramatic Monologue.
These were some of the key features of dramatic monologue.
Examples
- My Last Duchess by Robert Browning
- The Bishop Orders His Tomb by Robert Browning
- Andrea del Sarto by Robert Browning
- Men and Women by Robert Browning
- Christmas Eve and Easter Day by Robert Browning
- Dramatis Personae by Robert Browning
- The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by Eliot
- Ulysses by Tennyson
These are some of the famous dramatic monologues.
Ulysses as a Dramatic Monologue
- Ulysses, the single character, who is the main speaker is of the view that living with his wife in the house is not worthy.
- He desires to go away for new experiences.
- He wants to attain knowledge which would forever develop his wisdom and understanding.
- The poem is a protest against the idealism of the Romantic Age, which Ulysses’s wife is a symbol of.
How to Write a Dramatic Monologue
- You need to think about a character, the speech of whom will be in the verse form.
- Give specific traits to the character.
- The audience and the readers should be able to understand the nature of the character.
- Compose the dialogues in the form of a poem.
- The dialogues should be clear enough to describe the character, the other character present there and the surroundings.
- Check for errors.
- Rewrite the script.
- Share with your friends.
