Playwrights and Dramatic Structures

1. Chapters 6 + 7: Playwrights
+ Dramatic Structures

2. Creating the world of the play
• Playwright creates the template and the
focus
• People and Action – “Drama is not about the
day nothing happened.”
• Structural Conventions – Limited time and
space
• Strongly Opposed Forces – creating balance
• Incentive and motivation
• Obstacles and Complications
• Crisis and Climax
• Point of view – Author vs society

3. Parts of a Play
• Story
• Includes all events that
happen in the text,
including events mentioned
in the text
• Plot
• Includes only the events
that take place on stage
• Conflict
• Struggles and obstacles for
the characters to overcome

4. Dramatic Structures
• Dramatic structure is how a playwright chooses to frame
the conflicts of the play.
• Aristotle – Poetics
• Climactic Structure – tight-knit form that limits the scope of events
• Few Characters
• Few Locations
• Late Point of Attack – Where the action begins
• Few Plots
 Deus Ex Machina

6. Visualization of a Climactic Plot

9. Episodic Structure
• Many Plots
• Many Characters
• Early Point of Attack
• Many Locations

10. Circular Structure
• Sometimes called an “Anti- Play”
• Ends where it began (Like a circle)
• An expression of the futility and meaninglessness
of human efforts

11. Serial Structure
• A series of scenes that don’t necessarily feature the same characters
• Connected by theme
• The scenes could stand on their own as vignettes

12. Dramatic Characters
• Protagonist
• Comes from “For the argument”
• Drives the plot forward
• Hero Character?
• Antagonist
• Comes From “Against the Argument”
• Tries to thwart the desires of the Protagonist
• Villain Character?

13. Character Types
• Extraordinary Characters - In dramas of the past, the leading
characters are often people who are exceptional in some way.
• Representative or Quintessential Characters - complete, fully
rounded portraits of people—who embody a whole group or type.
• Archetypal Characters- Embody human traits that can cross
cultures.
• Stock Characters - Characters defined by class, occupation, marital
status, etc. They are predictable, clearly defined types. Other
characters have one dominant trait, which overshadows all other
features.