drama
The definition of a drama is a story or situation which usually presents some sort of conflict.
(noun)- An example of drama is Romeo and Juliet.
- An example of drama is a break-up caused by the boyfriend cheating with the girlfriend's best friend.
See drama in Webster's New World College Dictionary
noun
- a literary composition that tells a story, usually of human conflict, by means of dialogue and action, to be performed by actors; play; now often specif., any play that is not a comedy
- the art or profession of writing, acting in, or producing plays
- plays collectively: Elizabethan drama
- a series of events so interesting, vivid, etc. as to resemble those of a play
- the quality of being dramatic
Origin: LL < Gr, an action, drama < dran, to do < IE base *drā-, to work > Latvian darīt, to do
See drama in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun
- a. A prose or verse composition, especially one telling a serious story, that is intended for representation by actors impersonating the characters and performing the dialogue and action.b. A serious narrative work or program for television, radio, or the cinema.
- Theatrical plays of a particular kind or period: Elizabethan drama.
- The art or practice of writing or producing dramatic works.
- A situation or succession of events in real life having the dramatic progression or emotional effect characteristic of a play: the drama of the prisoner's escape and recapture.
- The quality or condition of being dramatic: a summit meeting full of drama.
Origin:
Origin: Late Latin drāma, drāmat-
Origin: , from Greek
Origin: , from drān, to do, perform
.See drama in Ologies
Drama
See also literature; performing.
anagnorisis
Classical Drama, recognition or discovery, as of a disguised character, one thought to be lost, or a critical fact.
(in ancient Greek choral odes) 1. the response made to a preceding strophe, while the chorus is moving from left to right.
2. the movement of the chorus. Cf. strophe. See also verse. —antistrophic, antistrophal, adj.
the climax of a play or other dramatic representation; that part preceding the catastrophe, where the action is at its height.
(in the Aristotelian concept of art, especially with reference to tragic drama) the purging of the emotions, traditionally said to be those of pity and fear. See also psychology.
choreodrama
a drama expressed in dance or with dance as an integral part of its content and form.
the theories, attitudes, and techniques of a group of Soviet writers of the 1920s who attempted to reconcile ideological beliefs with technical achievement, especially in stage design, where effects produced were geometrical and nonrepresentational. —constructivist, n., adj.
the final resolution of the plot, following the climax.
the device of resolving dramatic action by the introduction of an unexpected, improbable, or forced character or incident.
Greek Drama, the role that is second in importance to that of the protagonist, or main character.
dramalogue
a dramatic monologue.
the art of writing or producing plays. —dramaturge, dramaturgist, n.
duodrama
a play or drama for two characters or actors.
a dialogue for two people, especially as a complete dramatic performance or as part of one.
1. the final section of a literary work, often added by way of explanation, comment, etc.
2. a closing speech in a play, often delivered after the completion of the main action. —epilogistic, adj.
the main action of a drama, leading up to the catastrophe. Cf. protasis.
exode
1. Greek Drama, the catastrophe or conclusion of a play.
2. Roman Drama, a comical or satirical piece added at the end of a play.
the occupation of actors; playacting.
1. a sensational drama with events and emotions extravagantly expressed.
2. an opera or a stage play with songs and music, often of a romantic nature. —melodramatic, adj.
a drama written for one actor or character. —monodramatic, adj.
peripeteia, peripetia, peripety
Literature. a sudden change in the course of events, especially in dramatic works.
a photoplay or dramatic narrative illustrated with or related through photographs.
the principal character in the drama.
Classical Drama, the first part of a play, when the characters are introduced. Cf. epitasis. See also grammar; wisdom. —protatic, adj.
a speech in which a character reveals his thoughts to the audience but not to other characters in the play. —soliloquist, n.
the art or skill of producing or staging plays.
dialogue in single alternating lines, as found in ancient Greek drama. —stichomythic, adj.
that part of the ancient Greek choral odes sung by the chorus while moving from right to left. Cf. antistrophe. —strophic, adj.
Greek Drama, a series of four dramas, three of them tragedies and one a satyr-play; hence, any series of four related works, literary, dramatic, operatic, etc.
the art of the theater or of acting. —theatrical, n., adj.
theatromania
a mania for the theater.
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