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| the person or object that the play focuses on i.e. "Pippin". For drama, subject is always people. Chosen by the playwright. |
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| whom and what the playwright decides to focus on with the play. Whom the play is about (characters) and how we should view them (positive or neg). |
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| purpose/message of the play i.e. to entertain, explore human cond, or impart info. Maybe be concious or unconcious choice on the part of the playwright. |
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| the skeleton that provides inner strength to the play i.e. various stresses and strains like conflicts, limits, action, and dynamics all strategically placed in the script by the playwright to develop drama and purpose. |
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| arrangement of events or the selection and order of scenes in a play. Plot = to scheme or plan. Sequence of scenes or events in the drama. |
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| the motions, thoughts, and interactions that develop and defines the characters. Some form of action that defines each one. |
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| the collision or opposition of persons or forces in a drama that give rise to action. How characters respond to challenges and to other characters. |
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| closely related to conflict; the characters in the play are fiercely determined to achieve very different goals. |
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| the opposed forces of a play must also be evenly matched. |
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| starts the action and sets tone/style for all that follows. Sets action in motion. |
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| Obstactles and Complications |
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| outside forces that are introduced at an inopportune moment; just when a character succeeds or accomplishes one goal, something interupts the play. |
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| plays are built from one crisis, complications or obstacles, to another, when one is resolved, the action leads to antoher. |
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| the final and most significant crisis in the play. Final conflicts are usually resolved here. |
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| Climatic vs. Episodic Structure |
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| climatic = intensive | episodic = extensive. |
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| divulging details about events and history that have unfolded before the play, during the course of the play. |
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| applies to every play in climatic form; any plot device used to resolve a play at the end. |
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| parallel to the main plot of the play, this plot within a plot reinforces the play's main focus as well as the main plot. |
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| repetition or reenactment of some process or transaction that has acquired special meaning. |
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| conversations between characters. What drives action between characters and ultimately plot and purpose. |
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| Representative Characters |
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| characters that represent and embody the characteristics of an entire group. These characters are quintessential. |
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| not complete, three-dimensional characters. Everybodies. |
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| one aspect of a character that dominates them creating an unbalanced, often comic personality i.e. Fat Bastard is fat. |
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| in Greek drama, commented, through song and dance, on the action of the main plot and react to it. |
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| those who play small parts in overall action. Used to help move along the plot. |
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