Types of drama

1. TYPES OF
DRAMA
AND
THEIR
SIGNIFICANCE

2. WHAT IS DRAMA?
• Drama is the specific mode of fiction
represented in performance (a play, opera,
mime etc.)
• The term "drama" comes from a Greek word
meaning “action“ which is derived from "I do“.
• In English the term “play” comes from the
word meaning “game”
• the standard term used to describe drama
until William Shakespeare’s time.

4. TYPES OF DRAMA :-
There are six types of drama. These are:-
1. Comedy
2. Tragedy
3. Melodrama
4. Farce
5. Fantasy
6. Opera

5. Interior View of the Britannia
Theatre, Hoxton

6. COMEDY
• It is light play in nature.
• It creates a very funny and happy ambience
and makes the audience to relax.
• It is very energetic in nature.
• Always it has a happy ending.
Eg. “As You Like It” by William Shakespeare.

7. SIGNIFICANCE OF COMEDY
 Comedy tends to bring humor and induce
laughter in plays, films, and theatre. The
primary function of comedy is to amuse and
entertain the audience, while it also portrays
social institutions and persons as corrupt, and
ridicules them through satirizing, parodying,
and poking fun at their vices. By doing this,
authors expose foibles and follies of
individuals and society by using comic
elements.

8. Pictures Of Some
Comedy Scenes

9. TRAGEDY
• It is serious play in nature.
• Deals with problem as a theme.
• It creates a strong mood of unhappy and sad
feeling among the audience.
• Always it has a sad ending.
Eg.”Macbeth” by William Shakespeare.

10. SIGNIFICANCE OF TRAGEDY
 Aristotle was the first to fully define it in his
work Poetics. He wrote that tragedy must involve
the reversal of fortunes of a powerful person
from good to bad, due to the hamartia of the
protagonist. He also wrote that tragedy must
create a sense of fear and pity in the viewer,
which can then lead to catharsis. More modern
dramatists, such as Arthur Miller, have written
that tragedy can also be written about the
common person; in fact, the viewer may more
easily relate to this type of tragedy and thus feel a
greater sense of fear and pity.

11. Modern Greek tragic
masks

12. MELODRAMA
• The melo- part of melodrama comes from the
Greek melos, which also gives us the word melody, and a
melodrama was originally a stage play that had an
orchestral accompaniment and was interspersed with
songs.
• It is mainly judgmental drama where always good wins over
the evils.
• There are some commonly portrait characters in this play
like a noble hero, suffuring heroine and a evil villain exists.
• Everything from dialogue to costume is shown in a larger
than life pattern.
Eg. “Ruined” is a play by Lynn Nottage.

13. SIGNIFICANCE OF
MELODRAMA
 Comes from "music drama" – music was
used to increase emotions or to signify
characters.
 Melodrama is a genre of drama that
exaggerates plot and characters with the
intention of appealing to the emotions.

14. Pictures Of
Melodrama

15. FARCE
• It is the play which has only funny elements
and no human values.
• Overall funny and hilarious in nature.
• Main objective is to entertain the audience.
Eg. “The Importance of Being Earnest “ by Oscar
Wilde.

16. SIGNIFICANCE OF FARCE
 The basic purpose of a farcical comedy is to
evoke laughter. We usually find farces in
theatre and films, and sometimes in other
literary works too. In fact, all of these forms
combine stereotyped characters
and exaggeration to create humor.
 Farces also contain improbable coincidences,
and generally mock weaknesses of humans
and human society.

17. Pictures Of
Farce

18. FANTASY
• Show differences between positive and negative
powers.
• It has fairy tale type characteristics
• Showing some magic or powers that have no
scientific bases yet verified by repeatable
evidence.
• Use of mental powers or technologies that are
not possible or not yet discovered.
Eg. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William
Shakespeare

19.  Fantasy is a type of drama, that portrays
characters in a medievalist setting, which is to say
that there are elements often associated with
medieval legends such as kings, queens,
princesses, dragons, knights, unicorns, and so on.
 These kinds of drama serve to fuel our
imaginations, and satisfy our longings for
adventure. Thus, fantasy directly relates to our
deepest desires and dreams. That is why they are
important for increasing power of imagination in
growing minds.

20. Pictures Of
Fantasy

21. OPERA
• An extended dramatic composition is called
opera, in which aall parts are sung to instrume
ntal accompaniment, it includes arias, choruse
s, and recitatives, and that sometimes include
s ballet. Compare comic opera, grand opera.
• The form or branch of musical and dramatic ar
t represented by such compositions.

22. SIGNIFICANCE OF OPERA
 It conveys convincing messages, which is
important for everyone curious about opera
to read.

23. Pictures Of
Opera