Drama and Romance Versus Gossip and Dragons

Madeline Huber

Lawson

English 1302- Period 7

18 April 2017

Drama and Romance versus Gossip and Dragons

        When most people here the term Romance the first thing that comes to mind is their favorite love story ending in happily ever after; and similar thoughts may come to mind when the word drama is mentioned. Both genres have an intricate origin and history behind them making them much more intriguing than the popular “chick flick” at the local cinema. Both genres, drama and romance, have evolved to fit society’s standards over the years and will continue to adapt to the ideals of the world. Drama and romance each have unique origin, characteristics, and themes making them remarkable additions to the literary realm.

        Drama is a specific genre of Literature that has various unique characteristics.  Pertaining to drama the majority may think that, “The term dramatic literature implies a contradiction in that literature originally meant something written and drama meant something performed” (“Dramatic Literature”). Actually drama in the form of a play is an extremely complex process of communication between author, audience, and actors. First, the author has to write exactly what he intends the audience to interpret, next the actors and directors must execute exactly the author’s vision. Furthermore, “Drama is one of the best literary forms through which dramatists can directly speak to their readers or audience as well as they can receive instant feedback of audience” (“Drama”). Within all of these detailed steps there is plenty of room for error when performing literature on stage making it not only an art, but also a challenge requiring many hands and physical elements to help bring it to life.

         Drama is a genre that is complex and has many different well-known sub-genres within itself. The most prevalent type of drama is comedy; comedy is a piece of work that is usually lighter in tone that uses unusual characters, charming circumstances, and witty remarks; therefore the author’s main goal of this specific type of drama is to make the audience laugh. Another type of drama is Tragedy; In Tragedy the main character usually has a catastrophic flaw that will soon lead to their defeat. Themes within Tragedy are usually catastrophic, death, and suffering. The next type is an over exaggerated form of drama known as melodrama. The main purpose of a melodrama is to directly appeal to the senses of the audience, and the characters are stereotypical, stagnant, and simple. The last type of drama that will be discussed is musical drama; musical drama follows a serious storyline but may involve slight humor. Through this type of drama actors tell the story through music, body language, and dialogue. These are just a few of the many types of drama that are listed above proving that drama is complex and is a great addition to the literary domain (“Drama”).

        Drama has a unique origin beginning in the fifth century in Athens, Greece. Drama was influenced by the traditions and rituals of the ancient Greek competitions in the spring and winter festivals.   According to researchers, “Drama started way back in the classical period and has flourished in various historical periods, including the Renaissance, the 18th century and Enlightenment, and the modern theater of the 20th century.” Entering into the sixteenth century, the scope and intricacy would soon be rivaled by Spain and England who began to develop private and public playhouses, a language that welcomed a new poetic creations, and the instigation of new professional acting companies.  It was within these two countries that the beginning of many sub-genres would come about. Specifically, in England all of these factors led to “Dramatists writing in an extraordinary range of dramatic genres, from native comedy and farce to Senecan tragedy, from didactic morality plays to popular chronicle plays and tragicomedies, all before the advent of Shakespeare” (“Dramatic Literature”).  The study of drama within all these countries is how the rituals of playwriting shaped both play and performance. The background of Drama is what makes the genre a remarkable addition to literature.

Similar to drama the genre, romance, has a complicated origin that has developed around Chivalry in France and Greece in the mid-12th century. In the mid-twelfth century the word romance meant, written in the Vernacular, and had been derived from the Latin word Romanice. Today the word has been reformed to our current definition being, “a medieval narrative composition or a love affair, or, again, a story about a love affair, generally one of a rather idyllic or idealized type, sometimes marked by strange or unexpected incidents and development.” The definition of romance is not one that is set in stone, because each generation perceives the definition of romance differently due to the expectations of society. The first romance stories were written by Greek writers in the 1st century BC, and the first popular romance story was Ninus. Additional writers of this century that developed the genre were Chariton, Xenophon of Ephesus, Heliodorus, and Achilles Tatius. The theme that each of these author’s followed is, “that of faithful lovers parted by accident or design and reunited only after numerous adventures.” This theme is still very common when looking at the development of today’s Romance in literature (“Romance”). The intricate foundation of romance is what developed it to be one of the favorite genres in today’s literature.