Element of Drama

Elements of Drama

Dialogue

Dialogue is the action of giving and taking speech which is specialization form of conversation. It is designed to serve the needs created by the various context and models of drama. According to the circumstance we try to rephrase our feelings and ideas which are random as our thought and the thoughts of those with whom we are talking. This expression of ordinary conversation is not coherent and orderly like casual conversation and recording of the speech. The time limitation in the performance force characters expresses their feelings consciously. This condition of theatrical performance demands that dialogue is formulated so that it cannot be nit only heard by the characters talking to one another but also overheard and understands by the audience in the theater. Here what is overheard by the audience or reader must be able to develop a full understanding of the characters and the plot. This means the dramatic action or performance, dialogue helps to develop a plot of the play, reveals the identity, role, nature, status and position of the characters on the stage. That’s why dialogue is an extraordinary significant form of conversation. It is the means by which every play conveys the total makeup of its imaginative worlds. Dialogue must fulfill the needs of the audience, director, the set designer, actors. Though it is the artificial form of discourse, it has to serve as a script of a play. Dialogue is also a text for conveying the imaginative world of the play.

Likewise, dialogue provides the identity, role, status and background about the characters on stage. Various characters are given different roles. The dialogue they speak and the language they have used reveal their identity in drama. For example, the dialogue of Helmer is very dominating, Nora’s dialogue is submissive and the dialogue of Krogstad treacherous. The ways they speak reveal their role in the play. Now we know that dialogue can be different from character to character. Basically, the diction or choice of words, tone of speaking, stress pattern in speech, a way of structuring, sometimes musical words and speech like rhyme, alliteration, assonance etc bring various in dialogue.

Plot

Careful design patterns and process its part of every event is known as the plot in drama. The plot is a specialized experience which is wholly interconnected system of events deliberately selected and arranged for the purpose of fulfilling a complex set of imaginative and theatrical purposes. In contrary, in daily experience, we perform a variety of action with different people. They usually do not have a purpose other than work and pleasure or our bodily necessity. This action does not embody a significant patterns or process. The plot is an artificially designed element. And it has to be artificial because within the few hours the interest of audience and readers has to be deeply engaged and continuously maintained. It requires a system of events that quickly develops complication and suspense that leads in turn to a climax and resolution. The interest aroused by events on the stage is a coherent imitation of the world. Plot fulfills the multiple purposes of an action in the drama. We should first recognize that it contains everything which is off-stage as well as on-stage actions that take place in the imaginative world of the play. For example, in “The misanthrope” imaginative character play the role of the action sequence judge in the favor of his enemy. The enemy is part of the plot not part of the scenario. In the plot, all the events are necessarily arranged in chronologically and scenario events are arranged dramatically in and order. The ordering of events can be grasped if we think of the scenario as being constructed of a series of dramatic units that changes one after another in order of play. Te changes in dramatic units may change the dramatic situations slightly sometimes and perceptively to carry the drama forward and fulfills its need of a plot.

Characters

Characters are not real or identical people. The character exists in an imaginative world shaped by the theatrical context and imaginative purpose of drama. Characters are revealed and defined by dialogue and plot. Characters are representative of us, our society and situation on the stage. They are given identity by dramatist to represent reality about us through their speech and action in the play. Although characters are not identical but made up of words and speeches. Characters role, language and the word they use become their reality and personality. Classical characters are defined by the fixed expression of their facial mask but the modern and contemporary situation the details of characters are less important than essayistic form and satiric form of play. Because of modern dramas constant interest in psychological behavior intends to put a great deal of emphasis on characters. For example, Miss Julie, Nora in a Doll’s house, these characters are concerned with human mind, does not embody characters that can be taken as identical to real people. Characters like Julie; Nora exhibits patterns of behaviors that are typical rather than actual. Even though they are not real but they are gifted with human capacities, they can talk, act, have interest on one another, experience pleasure and endure pain. They believe and act according to their belief. We can understand the characters examining identify the important attitudes, beliefs, feelings, action and pay careful attention to the context.

Characterization

This is the process of giving role and identity to the characters in the drama. There are different types of characterization which are –

Protagonist and antagonist: Protagonists are good in everything and always fight for the goodness. The reason­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ why readers and audience choose protagonist is because of his struggle for human welfare. Protagonists are evil forced and representative of bad forces. They always try to create domination, disorder, anarchy and exploitation in the society.

Confident and foil: Confident characters are the minor characters they always support protagonist. Foil characters are also minor characters they assist and encourage antagonist.

Flat and round: Flat characters are static characters they remain unchanged throughout the play whereas round characters are moving and changing characters whose role and personality or thought and identity changes in course of action of the play.

Type characters: Typical, characters that represent certain nature, behavior, thought and status of particular culture and group of society.

Reference-

Klaus, C. H. (2013). New York: Oxford University Press.