Exam 7: Dramatic Structure and Dramatic Characters

Do stock characters or characters with a single trait lack psychological depth?

As seen in some of Chekhov's plays it is possible to combine the climactic and the episodic forms.

The technical term for revelation of background material in a play is

Using a historical incident, suggest episodic and climactic plays that might be derived from the events. For instance, a playwright who wanted to write a climactic play based on the life of John F.Kennedy might focus on the Cuban missile crisis, and the way that the subject was treated would be influenced by the structure. What other parts of Kennedy's life might the playwright choose? If he or she wanted to write an episodic play of the same incident, how would it change? What could be shown more easily in an episodic structure? In a climactic structure?

Choose a modern well-made or climactic play (by Ibsen, Miller, or Hansberry, for instance) and draw a chart separating story and plot. Do the same for an episodic play (by Shakespeare or Brecht, for instance).

In a climactic drama, the plot begins early in the story.

Recall the Wicked Witch of the West from the classic film The Wizard of Oz. How does that character differ from the same character, Elphaba, from the Broadway musical Wicked? Which is an extraordinary character and which is a stock character. Explain why. How does the character in Wicked work to deconstruct stereotypes?

Describe a dramatic character that the spectator dislikes (e.g., Iago, Lady Macbeth, Severus Snape or Hannibal Lecter) and explain how the performer playing the part could be admired at the same time that the character is despised. Could we say that the more we dislike a villainous character, the more we are admiring a performance?

Discuss whether a particular theatre space, or a particular style of theatre, seems better suited to either of the dramatic structures. For instance, did the design of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre encourage him to write in the epic structure? Does realism and naturalism encourage the use of the climactic structure?

What kinds of stock characters do we find in modern theatre, movies, or television (for instance, in the spy action/thriller, the soap opera, and the detective story)?

Minor characters are

Another word that means "contrast in the connection of scenes" is

Look at the cast of characters in a Shakespearean play you have seen or read. Place each character in a category: major character; minor character; or a character in between-that is, a character with a clear personality but not a large role. Which characters are in opposition to one another? Which characters in the play dominate in the struggle? Is there a reversal of their fortunes? Now, do the same for a blockbuster film.

Human beings are all complex people, with many reasons for doing what they do. In real life, there are no stock characters or minor characters. Discuss why such characters are used in drama. Draw on the ideas of selectivity and point of view discussed in previous chapters.

Examine the periods in which certain structures have been dominant. Can you see anything in the society that would lead to a preference for such a form?

Which is not a characteristic of extraordinary characters?

Why might nonhuman characters, such as animals, be effective for certain plays? What sorts of personalities are typified by certain animals? Discuss these answers in terms of fairy tales, for instance, or Walt Disney or Pixar animation.

A tableaux structure begins with characters arranged in a visual stage picture and the action, frequently nonverbal, proceeds from that tableaux until the end of the scene.

A __________________ reinforces or runs parallel to the major plot in an episodic play.

Discuss and analyze the differences between stock characters and characters with a dominant trait. What is distinctive about the similarities between the two types of characters that allow us to think of them differently?