13 Melodrama in comparison with tragedy and comedy.

The tragedy is presented in the form of action, which will arouse pity and fear in the audience as it witnesses the action. It allows for an arousal of this pity and fear and creates an affect of purgation or catharsis of these strong emotions by the audience. Tragedy is serious by nature in its theme and deals with profound problems. tragedy is a play in which a central character faces, and is finally defeated by, some overwhelming threat or disaster. The hero or heroine is an active participant in the event through a tragic flaw, a shortcoming of the protagonist, i.e., pride, rashness, indecision. Tragedy will involve the audience in the action and create tension and expectation. Tragedy so defined celebrates the triumph of the human spirit over physical necessity. With the climax and final end the audience will have learned a lesson and will leave the theatre not depressed or sullen, but uplifted and enlightened.

Comedy should have the view of a "comic spirit" and is physical and energetic. In comedy there is absence of pain and emotional reactions. Different kinds of comedy illustrate different ways a playwright may leaven grim truth with humor or temper the playful with the serious. There are situation comedies, romantic comedies, sentimental comedies, dark comedies, comedy of manners, and pure farce. It may deal with the loves and jealousies of the young, and the reluctance other elders to give their blessings or the necessary funds. The behavior of the characters presented in comedy is ludicrous and sometimes absurd and the result in the audience is one of correction of behaviors.

Melodrama is drama of disaster and differs from tragedy significantly; the forces outside of the protagonist cause all of the significant events of the plot. All of the aspects of related guilt or responsibility of the protagonist are removed. The protagonist is usually a victim of circumstance. He is acted upon by the antagonist or anti-hero and suffers without having to accept responsibility and inevitability of fate. Melodrama has a sense of strict moral judgment, where all issues are resolved in a well-defined way. The good characters are rewarded and the bad characters are punished in a means that fits the crime.
Tragedy and comedy are actually two very similar genres-most of the differences lie in the main characters. While comedy shows the ascent of a common or sub-average person from misery to prosperity, tragedy shows the fall of a heroic, high-born character from prominence to misery and often death. Despite these differences, both genres have one major thing in common-the protagonist must undergo many hardships and trials. While these trials destroy the tragic hero, they shape the comic hero into a better person. The essential difference between tragedy and comedy is in the depiction of human nature: tragedy shows greatness of human nature and human freedom whereas comedy shows human weakness and human limitation. The norms of comedy are primarily social; the protagonist is always in a group or emphasizes commonness. A tragic hero possesses overpowering individuality - so that the play is often named after her/him (Antigone, Othello,Hamlet); the comic protagonist tends to be a type and the play is often named for the type (The Misanthrope, The Alchemist, The Brute). Comic plots do not exhibit the high degree of organic unity as tragic plots do. Plausibility is not usually the central characteristic (cause-effect progression) but coincidences, improbable disguises, mistaken identities make up the plot. The purpose of comedy is to make us laugh and at the same time, help to illuminate human nature and human weaknesses. comedies have a happy ending. melodrama has striven for some of the effects of tragedy - high emotional excitement, serious and often violent action - but with significant changes. Instead of noble heroes concerned with national themes, divine law, or social order, the heroes of melodrama are ordinary characters, often caught in the throes of love, lost identity, family crisis, or class conflict. Their predicaments may have fatal results, but good always triumphs over evil in the end. Actions speak louder than words, gestures count more than speeches, and music provides a universal language.

14Comedy: basic features (conventions, devices) and varieties; difference between comic & comedic.

Comedy -- is lighter drama in which the leading characters overcome the difficulties which temporarily torment them. Comedy is a humorous treatment of an otherwise dramatic, or serious subject-while the plot may have its characters doing silly or absurd things, it also allows moments of serious reflection and may even be said to teach a lesson..We usually laugh at someone because of comic characters and comic situations.Laughter expresses recognition of some absurdity in human behavior.(A Midsummer Night's Dream, comedy, the story is found altogether laughable)

Comedy:

happy ending

ends in marriage

real

likeable hero

shows man's limitations, eccentricity,peculiarity,oddity

mocks excess

wit and sophistication

exaggeration and caricature

incongruity of human behavior

hero has many weaknesses

ordinary mortal

man made ridiculous

society

many characters

people in groups

disagreements with parents

limited characterization

audience distanced by mockery and humor

audience feels amusement

we see others

we feel superior

we laugh at the folly of others

petty concerns

the world is absurd

quarreling ends in marriage

engaging amusement

Comic & comedic

Comic- Amusing; humorous (komediowy)

The comic devices used by playwrights of comedy are:

• wisecracks

• sarcasm

• MISTAKEN IDENTITY as an intended act of deception or as accidental. 

• COINCIDENCE

• SURPRISE AND INCONGRUITY A time-honored comic device is to set up the audience to expect one thing and then surprising them with the unexpected. At the heart of surprise as a comic device is incongruity, the discrepancy between what normally expected and what the comic author gives them. 

• HYPERBOLE (EXAGGERATION)

• NAMES The names of the important characters in this play are a significant name, that is, they have a meaning.  This meaning most often seems to have a connection with the roles these characters play in the drama. 

• VIOLENCE Violence as a comic device involves both verbal violence and representations of physical violence on-stage The humor is the result of the normal human tendency to mock what we fear.

• COMIC USES OF LANGUAGE

• BREAKING THE DRAMATIC ILLUSION Usually comic and tragic dramas pretend to be reality and the audience in order to enjoy the performance to the fullest must suspend disbelief by temporarily accepting it as reality. 

• DRUNKENNESS

COMIC CONVENTIONS:

• PROLOGUE The dramatic prologue in which an actor (sometimes a character in the play, sometimes not) introduces the play to the audience is a device used in both tragedy and comedy. 

• MONOLOGUE The monologue is a non-illusory device that allows characters to share with the audience their inner thoughts.  In addition, a monologue helps define the character and often engages the audience's sympathy for the character. 

• EAVESDROPPING Eavesdropping is a convention of comedy in which characters listen to the conversation of other characters without their knowledge.  One of the most frequent uses of eavesdropping in comedy is by sympathetic characters to obtain information that they can use to the detriment of the unsympathetic characters

15 The romantic actor / actress; the rising cultural status: discuss an example of your choice.

    David Garrick (born 19 February 1717 in Hereford - 20 January 1779 was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century. He appeared in a number of amateur theatricals

-He  promoted shakespeare's  idolatory. 

-Impressed by his portrayals of Richard III and a number of other roles, he was engaged for a season at the  Drury Lane Theater. 

-Garrick came up with a  new  idea of  acting  which was `communication of  passion' (communication between actor  and the audience-Garrick composed  very successful play called  `jubilee' 

-Garrick  popularized  Shakespeare. 

-As an actor, Garrick promoted realistic acting that departed from the bombastic style .His acting delighted many audiences and his direction of many of the top actors of the English stage influenced their styles as well. Furthermore, during his tenure as manager of Drury Lane, Garrick sought reform in production matters, that included scenery, costumes and even special effects. 

-Garrick's influence extended into the literary side of theatre as well. Critics are almost unanimous in saying he was not a good playwright, but his work in bringing Shakespeare to contemporary audiences is notable. In addition, he adapted many older plays in the repertoire that might have been forgotten. Indeed, while influencing the theatre towards a better standard he also gained a better reputation for theatre folk. This accomplishment led Samuel Johnson to remark that "his profession made him rich and he made his profession respectable." 

-Garrick sought reform in production matters, that included scenery, costumes and even special effects.  artificial lightening  was  developed and  visual aspect  of  the  performance  was  elaborated, scene painting  in the  background. Thanks  to Garrick the  job of  an actor/actress the  status of an actor increased and  improved. He  encouraged  the  idea of  calling  himself „ shakespeare's  priest' 

the best-known actors of the Romantic period not only helped shape the critical discourse on Shakespeare

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