13-Drama-Elements of Drama & Shaw-01

2013-3-28

Teaching Plan

（

The 13

th

Time, 2 Hours

）

I.

Title:

Elements of Drama

II.

III.

Aim: To introduce the elements of drama.

Emphases

：

(1)

Elements of Drama.

(2)

Pygmalion

.

IV.

Difficulties:

Pygmalion

V.

VI.

Type of the Class:

New Lesson Taught

Means of Teaching

：

Lectu

re

VII.

Teaching Process:

1.

What is drama?

1)

Drama or play is a story

in dialogue

performed

by actors on a stage before au audience.

2)

A

prose or verse composition

, especially one telling a serious story, that is intended for

representation by

actors

impersonating

扮演

the characters and performing the

dialogue

and

action

.

3)

It is a special kind of

fiction

, fiction

acted out

rather than

narrated

.

2.

Types of Drama

1)

Tragedy: In the

Poetics

, Aristotle described tragedy as

―

an imitation of an action that is

serious, complete in itself, and of a certain magnitude.

‖

2)

This

definition

suggests

that

tragedies

are

solemn

plays

concerned

with

grave

human

actions

and

their

consequences

.

The

action

of

a

tragedy

is

complete

—

it

possesses

a

beginning, a middle, and an end

. Else where in the

Poetics

, Aristotle notes that the incidents

of

a

tragedy

must

be

causally

connected.

The

events

have

to

be

logically

related,

one

growing

naturally out of another

, each

leading to the inevitable catastrophe

, usually the

downfall of the hero.

3)

Theories concerning causes of tragedy: a

flaw in the character of the hero

,

fate

,

coincidence

,

circumstances beyond the hero

’

s control

, an

error of judgment

committed by the hero.

4)

An essential element of the tragic hero

’

s experience is a

recognition

发现

/

认识

of what has

happened

to

him.

Frequently

this

takes

the

form

of

the

hero

discovering

something

previously unknown or something he knew but misconstrued(

误解

). According to Aristotle,

the tragic hero

’

s recognition (or

discovery

) is often allied with a

reversal

of his expectations.

期待的逆转

(Such an ironic reversal occurs in

Oedipus Rex

when the messenger

’

s speech

unsettles

推翻

rather than reassures Oedipus about who he is and what he has done.) Once

1

2013-3-28

the reversal and discovery occur, tragic plots

move swiftly to their conclusions

.

5)

Comedy:

Some

of

the

same

dramatic

elements

in

tragedy

occur

in

comedy

as

well.

Discovery

scenes and consequent

reversals

of fortune, for example, occur in both. So too do

misperceptions

and

errors of judgment

, exhibitions of

human weakness

and

failure

. But in

comedy the reversals and errors

lead not to calamity

,

but

to prosperity and happiness

.

6)

Two types of comedy:

satiric

and

romantic

.

Satiric comedy

exposes human folly, criticizes

human conduct, and aims to correct it. Ridiculing the weakness of human nature, satiric

comedy shows the low level to which human behavior can sink.

Romantic comedy

portrays

characters gently, even generously; its spirit is more tolerant and its tone more genial

亲切

.

Whatever adversities the heroes and heroines of romantic comedy must overcome, the tone

is typically devoid of rancor

怨恨

and bitterness. The humor of romantic comedy is more

sympathetic than corrective, and it intends more to entertain than instruct, to delight than

ridicule.

7)

When we read satiric comedies such as Shaw

’

s

Arms and the Man

, we should identify the

object of the dramatist

’

s criticism and determine why the behavior of certain characters is

objectionable. In reading romantic comedies, such as Shakespeare

’

s

A Midsummer Night

’

s

Dream,

we are invited to enjoy the

raveling and unraveling of plot

情节的纠缠和澄清

as

the protagonists are led to the inevitable happy ending.

3.

Elements of drama

1)

Plot

is the structure of a play

’

s action. Plot is

the order of the incidents

,

their arrangement

and form

. Traditional plot structure consists of an

exposition

, presentation of background

information necessary for the development of the plot;

rising action

, a set of conflicts and

crises;

climax

, the play

’

s most decisive crisis;

falling action

, a follow-up that moves toward

the play

’

s

resolution

or

denouement

(French for the untying of a knot).

2)

By the arrangement of incidents, a dramatist may create

suspense

, evoke

laughter

, cause

anxiety

, or elicit

surprise

. One of the main sources of pleasure in plot is surprise, whether

we are shown

something we didn

’

t expect

or whether we see

how

something will happen

when we may how

what

will happen. Frequently

surprise follows suspense

—

fulfilling our

need to find out what will happen as we wait for a resolution of a play

’

s action.

3)

Suspense

is

created

by

conflict

.

Drama

is

essentially

the

development

and

resolution

of

conflicts

.

4)

Character

:

If

plot

is

the

skeletal

framework

of

a

play,

character

is

its

vital

center.

Characters bring plays to life.

How they look

and what their appearance tells us about them;

what

they

say

and

what

their

manner

of

saying

expresses;

what

they

do

and

how

their

2

2013-3-28

actions reveal who they are and what they represent.

5)

Dram

’

s essence is

human relationships

, the things men and women say and do to each other.

Dramatic characters come together and affect each other, making things happen by coming

into conflict. It is in

conflict

that characters reveal themselves and advance the plot.

6)

Dialogue

(

language

): Ezra Pound once described drama as

―

persons

moving about

on a

stage

using words

‖—

in short, people

talking

. Though dialogue in plays typically has

three

major functions

—

to

advance the plot

, to

establish setting

(the time and place of the action),

and

to

reveal

character

,

its

most

important

and

consistent

function

is

the

revelation

of

character.

7)

Staging,

The spectacle a play presents in performance, its visual detail. This includes such

things as the positions of actors onstage (sometimes referred to as

block ing

舞台调度，演

员位置

), their nonverbal gestures and movements (also called

stage business

舞台做工

,

演

员动作

),

the

scenic

background,

the

props

小道具

and

costumes,

lighting,

and

sound

effects.

8)

The

Christmas

tree,

which

stands

throughout

Ibsen

’

s

A

Doll

House

,

is

an

ironic

visual

counterpart to the play

’

s unfolding action. More dramatic and more central to plot is the

handkerchief in

Othello.

Having its own history, which we learn when Desdemona wipes

Othello

’

s brow, the handkerchief becomes a crucial dramatic object, one that offers Othello

the

―

ocular proof

‖

视觉证据

he requires to condemn Desdemona as an adulterer.

9)

A

playwright’s

stage directions will sometimes help us see and hear things like these as we

read with the help of imagination.

10)

Theme:

From

plot

,

character

,

dialogue

and

staging

we derive a sense of the play

’

s

meaning

or

significance

. An abstraction of this meaning is its central idea or

theme.

It is often helpful

to try to express the theme of a play in a carefully worded sentence or two, but any summary

statement of a complex work of art is bound to

必定

limited and limiting.

11)

The play

’

s theme often appears as

ambiguous

, suggesting contradictory or opposite ideas

simultaneously with a resulting uncertainty and in definiteness about its meaning. Of course

there is the very good chance that a play will include

more than one theme

.

4.

Study George Bernard Shaw

’

s

Pygmalion

1)

Language

: Please find instances in the excerpt of humourous and witty remarks. Are there

any paradoxical statement?

2)

Theme

: Shaw once said,

―

My way of joking is to tell the truth; it is the funniest thing in the

world.

‖

What are the truths Shaw is trying to tell through his jokes in the play? (Or, what is

the underlying social satire of the play?)

3