Drama Flashcards
1
Q
Development of English Drama
A
- first public demonstrations: mystery plays during medieval times
- morality plays
- Renaissance: Shakespeare, Fletcher, Jonson, Marlowe
- -> comedies, tragedies, histories
- Restoration: 17-18th c - Restoration comedy
–> Aphra Behn,
notorious for its sexual explicitness, a quality encouraged by Charles II (1660–1685) personally and by the rakish aristocratic ethos of his court. - Victorian Era
- -> Theatre openly displayed and played dramas relating to social problems. Generally it was a period which brought prosperity to the middle class of England, and started to challenge the old hierarchical order of the country.
- -> Oscar Wilde (wit and paradoxes), John Millington Synge, George Bernhard Shaw (social problems such as education, religion, marriage, and class privileges)
- Modernist Drama: Shaw
- -> politically critical
- Post ‘45: Kitchen sink realism
- -> The term angry young men was often applied to members of this artistic movement. It used a style of social realism which depicts the domestic lives of the working class, to explore social issues and political issues.
- postmodern theatre
- -> Open endings, uncertainty, paradoxical, metatheatre
2
Q
How are The Tempest and Hamlet comparable?
What main theme do they share but where do they differ?
A
.
3
Q
What makes Hamlet a tragic hero?
A
Tragic flaw:
Stalling, not taking action
