山东农业大学精品课程《英美文学史》课件：unit 3.pptVIP

Unit 3 The Renaissance Genre of Literature :Drama/Play a. What is Drama? The word drama comes from the Greek verb dran, meaning “to perform.” When we speak drama, we mean a story in dialogue performed by actors, on on a stage, before an audience--- in other words, a play. We also use the term drama in a more general sense to refer to the literary genre that encompasses all written plays and to the profession of writing, producing, and performing plays. b. The Classifications of Drama Tragedy: A type of drama in which the characters experience reversals of fortune, usu. For the worse. In tragedy catastrophe and suffering await many of the characters, esp. the hero. Comedy: A type of drama in which the characters experience reversals of fortune, usu. For the better. In comedy things work out happily in the end. Tragicomedy: a type of play that contains elements of both tragedy and comedy. Tragic flaw: a weakness or limitation of character result in the fall of tragic hero. c. Aristotle on Tragedy Aristotle. Chapter VI. The Poetics. trans. Leon Golden. in Aristotles Poetics: A Translation and Commentary for Students of Literature. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice, 1968. definition of tragedy: ?Tragedy is, then, an imitation of a noble and complete action, having the proper magnitude; it employs language that has been artistically enhanced by each of the kinds of linguistic adornment, applied separately in the various parts of the play; it is presented in dramatic, not narrative form, and achieves through the representation of pitiable and fearful incidents, the catharsis of such pitiable and fearful incidents the definition further explained: I mean by language that has been artistically enhanced, that which is accompanied by rhythm and harmony and song; and by the phrase each of the kinds of linguistic adornment applied separately in various parts of the play, I mean that some parts are accomplished by meter alone and others, in turn, through song (11 G