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| willingness to suspend one's critical faculties and believe the unbelievable; sacrifice realism for the sake of the play |
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| story that is written to be acted for an audience |
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| amusing and ends well (happy ending) |
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| the central character meets an unhappy or disastrous end |
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| uses historical events/characters to directly or indirectly deliver the message |
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| discusses social, economic, or political problems by means of a play |
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| when comedy involves ridiculous or hilarious complications without regard for human values |
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| comedy which wittily portrays fashionable life |
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| extremely emotional play which often deals with unrealistic circumstances; its chief motive is to entertain |
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| a person, or anything presented as a person, in a literary work |
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| a character in a play who sets off the main character or other characters by comparision |
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| tragic character (tragic hero) |
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| central character of a tragedy, usually of high birth or position, who creates his own death or downfall |
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| a character trait that causes a weakness or limitation for the character, resulting in the downfall of the tragic hero |
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| a conversation between characters |
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| lines whispered to the audience or to another character on stage (not meant to be heard by all the characters on stage) |
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| a long, uninterrupted speech by one character in the presence of other characters |
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| a single character on stage thinking out loud; a way of letting the audience know what is in the character's mind |
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1. Exposition
2. Complications
3. Climax
4. Resolution (Denoument) |
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| Presents main characters and their conflicts/Introduces the basic situation |
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| Situations that prevent or deter the main character from achieving his/her goal |
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| The moment of highest intensity; the turning point in the plot; when events develop either for or against the main character and a crucial decision must be made |
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| The moment of highest intensity; the turning point in the plot; when events develop either for or against the main character and a crucial decision must be made |
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| The moment of highest intensity; the turning point in the plot; when events develop either for or against the main character and a crucial decision must be made |
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| The confict is resolved; the story is brought to a close |
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| a playwright's descriptive or interpretive comments that provide readers (and actors) with information about the dialogue, setting, and action of the play |
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| scenery and staging of a dramatic production (background, lighting, props, etc.) |
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| one of the main divisions of a play |
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| a division within an act; no change of locale or abrupt shift of time |
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| a hint or clue of things to come in the plot; indicates danger; creates suspense |
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| internal and external; dramatic conflicts are usually resolved through speech by the characters rather than sensationaled physical action |
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| result of an action is the reverse of what the actor or audience expected |
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| the audience knows something that the characters in the drama do not |
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| contrast between the literal meaning of what is said and what is meant |
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Playwrights want audiences to care about the characters.
Playwrights show how an event develops (not just what happened).
Audience involvement is very important; suspension of disbelief is crucial to enjoyment and understanding. |
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