Differences between Classical and Renaissance Drama.

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1 Differences between Classical and Renaissance Drama

2 Urooj Zakir 161 Hira Hassan 166 BS-English 4 th

3 Drama A composition in prose or verse presented in dialogue a story involving conflict or contrast of character, especially one intended to be acted on the stage. It can be divided into Comedy, Satire and Tragedy.

4 Tragedy Tragedy is a form of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsis, or a "pain", for the audience.

5 Classical (Greek) Tragedy A play in which the protagonist, usually a person of importance and outstanding personal qualities, falls to disaster through the combination of a personal failing and circumstances with which he or she cannot deal. Examples: Prometheus Bound, Oedipus Rex, The Iliad, Antigone and many more. Playwrights: Sophocles Aeschylus

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7 Renaissance Tragedy It is the revival of Greek tragedy, with some distinct features such as death of the protagonist, the catharsis arouse feeling of fear and anxiety among audience and the hero lacks morality. Examples: Dr. Faustus, The Duchess of Malfi, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet Playwrights: William Shakespeare Cristopher Marlowe

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9 Features of Classical and Renaissance dramas in contrast with each other

10 1. Theatre

11 Theatre buildings were called a theatron. The theaters were large, open- air structures constructed on the slopes of hills. They consisted of three main elements: the orchestra, the skene, and the audience. Greek theatre

12 Renaissance theatre Circular buildings with three stories and raised stage platform. The people sat around the stage in galleries. All classes were represented in the audience. Actors would appear from background.

13 Flags on the top of theatre White flag represented a comedy to be performed. Black flag represented a tragedy being performed. Red flag represented that a history play was being played.

14 2. Costumes

15 Greek Costumes It consisted of a full-length or short tunic, a cloak and soft leather boots. Masks were generally made of linen. The mask covered the whole of the head, both in front and behind.

16 Renaissance costumes It consisted of stocking, pantalets, and under skirt, a stomacher, which was a filler for the deep neck of a dress. It was usually intricately embroidered. The gowns, depending on the station of the person being portrayed was made of coarse cotton to silk and velvet.

17 3. Structure of plot

18 Greek Drama plot 1.Prologue – the actors present the opening situation on stage 2.Parados – the entering song and dance of the chorus 3.Episodes – periods of more action by the actors 4.Stasima/Stasimon – choral ode or song commenting on the action 5.Exodus – the last action of the play

19 Renaissance drama plot Prologue: a speech at the opening of a play. Exposition: the background information needed to properly understand the story. Rising Action: it’s the introduction of the conflict. Climax: it is the highest point of tension in a storyline, often depicted by a confrontation between the protagonist and antagonist. It’s the most interesting part of story. Falling Action: tension from the story's central conflict decreases and the story moves toward its conclusion. Resolution: The resolution is the end of the story.

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21 4. Chorus

22 Greek Chorus The chorus in Classical Greek drama was a group of actors who described and commented upon the main action of a play with song, dance, and recitation lead by Chorages. Greek tragedy had its beginnings in choral performances, in which a group of 50 men danced and sang lyric hymns. The purpose of the Greek chorus was to provide background and summary information to the audience. The chorus appeared many times in the play according to the situation.

23 Renaissance Chorus The chorus reflected the ideal audience's view, alternatively isolated from the action while only commenting on it. The chorus addresses the audience in sonnet form. The chorus was not introduced frequently, as in Dr. Faustus it was introduced thrice.

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25 5. Characters

26 Greek tragedy characters The stories were mainly about the gods, kings, princes and elite class of the society. All the roles were played by men. The play was played by three actors: Protagonist: the main/ lead character, deuteragonist: the second character, triagonist: the third character All the characters showed total submissiveness to Gods and were abide by their fate. The protagonist learns the truth of the situation or comes to a realization about himself.

27 Renaissance play characters These were common people with common issues of humans, involving their free will and errors and presenting the psychological aspect of them. The characters were divided to main and minor characters. Both men and women performed the play. The soliloquy allows them to express their inmost thoughts and conflicts through language, think through difficult matters silently, in a verbally vague and fragmentary way.

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29 6. Hamartia

30 Hamartia Tragic flaw is a literary device that can be defined as a trait in a character leading to his downfall, and the character is often the hero of the literary piece. This trait could be the lack of self-knowledge, lack of judgment, and often it is hubris (pride). The tragic hero is never passive but struggles to resolve his tragic difficulty with an obsessive dedication, that he is guilty of hubris; presumption of being godlike.

31 7. Themes

32 Greek plays themes In a Greek tragedy, the plot revealed what happened to a person who went against the laws of the gods or who was too proud. This stems from the Greek belief that man was subject to the whims of the gods and fate. The root of Greek tragedy is that man can not avoid suffering. In nearly all tragedies, man’s biggest fault is excessive pride – a mistaken belief that he could somehow avoid fate or the will of the gods.

33 Renaissance play themes The focus from religion and God shifted to common human beings. The center was humanism; the destiny, the existence and the rules of man in the universe. During the Renaissance, drama became secularized. In a tragedy, the opposite state of affairs will ensue, with things going from good to bad for the protagonist. It focused on how man should act nobly and wisely. Other themes were art, science, virtue and rationalism.

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35 8. Catharsis

36 Catharsis in Greek plays The actor's catharsis, in turn, translates onto the audience who feels the same intense emotions as the actor, and ultimately leaves the theatre feeling washed and cleansed once the play is over. The feelings arouse among audience is the feeling of pity and fear.

37 Catharsis in Renaissance play The concept of catharsis is almost same as in Greek tragedy. Its aim is to build an emotional relation between the characters and the audience. In some cases, the audience will be left with a feeling of fear and a moral lesson rather than having pity with the character and feeling bad for him.

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39 9. Resolution

40 Ending of a Greek drama The Greek tragedies would end in a state where the audience have an emotional attachment and pity for the characters. These gave the audience the idea that they have to witness their fate, no matter how hard they try to escape it. It also left the audience amazed by the glory and sovereignty of the gods and the fact that humans are feeble.

41 Ending in a Renaissance play Renaissance playwrights had more insight into characters' feelings and motives, light and dark, right and wrong. They were able to make the audience learn from the drawbacks of the characters. The playwrights would evoke the feeling of doing good in life to prevent drastic consequences.

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43 10. Fate vs. Free will

44 Fate in Greek plays In the Greek tragedies, the protagonist was confined to meet his fate. In this respect, the role of oracles and predictions was important as these forecasted the end of the protagonist in some ways. We see a war between the protagonists’ will to escape the destiny and the actions of destiny to make them meet their destined fate.

45 Free will in Renaissance plays Renaissance plays had not a strong emphasis on the role of fate in the downfall of the protagonist. Rather, these were the actions of the protagonist which brought his downfall and lead him into destruction. The protagonist seemed to make their fate by himself.

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47 Conclusion Both Greek and renaissance dramas are different from each other in many ways yet both have their own ups an downs and both of these leave an impression on the audience; either to regulate their religious lives or to be of strong character. Both are still played and read by people around the globe.