English-Drama Flashcards
Dialogue
Spoken interaction between two or more characters.
Plot
The artful arrangement of incidents in a story, with each incident building on the next in a series of causes and effects.
Protagonist
The main figure (or principal actor) in a work of literature.
Antagonist
A character in conflict with the protagonist
Conflict
The central problem in a story.
Deus ex Machina
Intervention of forces extraneous to the story
Conflict is resolved by unforeseen and far fetched means.
Soliloquy
A monologue delivered by a character in a play who is alone onstage.
When a character reveals his/her thoughts to the audience.
Aside
In drama, a remark made by an actor to the audience, which the other characters do not hear. This convention is sometimes discernable in fiction writing, when the narrator breaks the flow to make a remark directly to the reader.
Hamartia
A tragic flaw or weakness in a tragic character that leads to his or her downfall.
Hubris
A type of hamartia.
Excessive arrogance or pride. Usually was the hero’s tragic flaw leading to downfall.
Foil
A character who contrasts with the central character, often with the purpose of emphasizing some trait in the central character.
For example, a cruel sister emphasizes the other sister’s kindness.
Dramatic Irony
A situation in which an author or narrator lets the reader know more about a situation than a character does.
Reader knows more about a situation than the character does.
Peripeteia (reversal)
An element of Greek tragedy. Occurs when an action has the opposite result of what was intended.
In tragedy, this occurs at a turning point for the hero and signals his downfall.
Anagnorisis (recognition)
In tragedy, a change from ignorance to knowledge, producing love or hate between the persons destined by the poet for good or bad fortune.
Catharsis (purgation)
The purging of emotions which the audience experiences as a result of the powerful climax of a classical tragedy.
The sense of relief and renewal experienced through art.