Understanding Drama

In David Rush Point of View 

Drama is a theatric performance. It presents the world’s perspective as Shakespeare looks the world itself is a stage and the people are mere characters who play different role. David Rush,  in A Student Guide to Play Analysis has talked nine different strategies to be discussed for the analysis of the drama.

i.       The concerned of the author: A reader should try his best to understand the concern of the world while going through his drama. One has to know about the subject or idea the author is interested. An author/dramatist can have three different subject matters: social subject, how social forces affect our life; individual mind, the subject of human psychology, and spiritual subject, religion, inner peace or spirit.

ii.    The point of view of the author: A reader of the drama should understand the author’s point of view. It presents where the author is placing the audience. The author can presents the audience subjective objective. The author can place subjective audience as insider and objective audience as outsider.

iii. Comprehension of the world: A reader has to understand the author how he understands the world. It denotes that how a dramatist understands the world with the character he presents. Generally he looks the world as a comprehensible.

iv.  Construction of the plot: A plot is important to understand a drama. A reader has to analyze the construction of the plot. There are two types of construction of the plot linear and nonlinear. A reader has to examine the construction of the plot in analysis of the drama.

v.     The texture of the character:  The texture of the character refers to selection of the characters in the play. A dramatist can use two types of the characters. They are realistic as we are or personified of the abstract components. A reader has to judge a drama based on its characters. S/he should look the characters based on these two perspectives.

vi.  Setting: it refers the place where the action of the drama occurs. A reader should examine the setting of the play. The setting of the play helps to understand its different perspectives. A dramatist can use typically two different setting: imitated real setting and distorted setting.

vii.      Language: Language is the element through which a play’s events are communicated; hearing the characters talk to each other lets the audience perceive and understand the play’s meaning. A dramatist can use vernacular language, slang, colloquialism, body language, even some irrational words. A reader needs to examine these linguistic components for the analysis of a drama.

viii.   Forms:  lt refers the functional representation through dialogue. It denotes how the relationship between people on the stage and audience/

ix.  Writers’ definition of the world: A reader has to inspect the writer’s definition of the world.

A reader need to examine these different terms to analyze a drama. When a reader looks at these terms and inspects the drama, he can easily explore all aspects of the drama.

Analysis for realistic drama or drama written in realism

Realism is a movement that begins in 19^th century as a shift against the exotic and poetic writing of romanticism. It depicts what an art is, it is.  These aspects can be seen if we analyze a drama written in realism.

In realistic drama, the concern of the author depicts the by the issues. Especially, a dramatist is anxious to expose the issues and concentrate on facts. He can be either issues driven or character driven. If he gives more important to the fact then he is an issue driven. On the other hand if he shows concern to the people of the issue is character driven. In realistic drama a dramatist only concern for the issues only.

          The point of the view of realist dramatist is always objective. The audiences are kept outside to events they are made to watch it. The realistic plays become more objective. In the same line, the realistic play, conveys the idea that the world is completely comprehensible. The characters and events in realistic plays strike us that we can understand it though it can be unfamiliar.

          The plots, in the realistic plays, follow the laws of cause and effect. It directs from the linear path. The plots move in a direct chronology from one event to another. The characters in the realistic plays are meant to be three-dimensional. They operate from psychological motives and instincts just like ours. The key elements that realistic characters have are: goal, the line of achievements; at stake, vulnerability, strategies, the plan to embark upon in order to accomplish goal.

          The realistic play has great importance in setting. It examines the world as a scientific phenomenon.   It looks at the immediate surroundings, the larger society outside the particular location- a real setting.  The language depicts the lives of the audience. It would be be colloquial, informal, filled with slang where appropriate, and to generally display the rhythms of average speech.

          The form of the realistic play is representational. The audiences are unattached observers of specific demonstration in progress. It can have the combination of both representational and presentational. The realist dramatists define the world is a place that obeys the natural laws of cause and effect. It is comprehensible and therefore able to be studied and controlled. It is a place of logic, order and rationality.