Drama Terms R-Z

Question 1

Define REVERSAL or PERIPETEIA

Answer 1

the point at which the action of the plot TURNS in an unexpected direction for the protagonist- from failure to success OR opposite

Question 2

Define RISING ACTION

Answer 2

An event, conflict, or crisis that constitutes the part of a play’s plot leading up to the CLIMAX

Question 3

Define ROUND CHARACTERS

Answer 3

• a character depicted with such PSYCH DEPTH and detail that he seems like a REAL person
• contrasts with the FLAT character who serves a specific or minor lit function in a text, and who may be a STOCK character or simplified STEREOTYPE

Question 4

Define STATIC CHARACTER

Answer 4

• a character who does NOT change

Question 5

Define SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF

Answer 5

• coined by Coleridge (1817)
• means that we accept something as real or representing the real when it obviously is NOT

Question 6

Define STOCK CHARACTER

Answer 6

A recognisable character type found in most plays
i.e. stereotypical characters : miserly dad, the trickster servant, etc

Question 7

Define SUBPLOT

Answer 7

A subsidiary/ subordinate/ parallel plot that COEXISTS with the main plot

Question 8

Define THEATRE OF THE ABSURD

Answer 8

A type of drama that conveys a sense of life as DEVOID of MEANING & PURPOSE
- coined by critic Martin Esslin

Question 9

Define TRAGIC HERO

Answer 9

a PRIVILEGED, exalted character of HIGH REPUTE, who, by virtue of a TRAGIC FLAW &/or fate, suffers a FALL from a higher station in life into SUFFERING

Question 10

Define ‘THE UNITIES’

Answer 10

• aka “Unity of time, place, and action”
• limiting the time, place, and action of a play to a single spot and a single action over the period of a day (24 HOURS)