What is drama?

 Specific mode of fiction represented in performance.

 The word "theater" comes from the Greek
word theatron . The Greek "- tron " loosely translates
as "an instrument for", while thea-
"  " means "viewing."
Thus literally, theatron
a   is a place or instrument for
viewing purposes—i.e., a theater.
 Term has come from Greek word ‘action’.
 Classical Greek drama derived from verb ‘to do’ or
‘to act’.
 Origin of drama rooted in the religious
predisposition of mankind
Origin of Drama
 Art of drama western form of literature
 Originated from Greeks
 It traces its origin in Egypt back into 3200 BC.
 Ritual dramas in Egypt performed at seasonal
festivals in the honour of God- Osiris, Isis and
Horus.
 Many scholars trace the origin of drama-
 ‘Wordless actions’.
Ritual dramas- Egypt
 ‘ The Triumph of Horus’- performed during the
festival of Victory of Edfou.
GOD Osiris, isis and Horus
Ceramic Anubis Mask
Wordless actions as drama
 Ritual dances – a form of drama
 Performance by dancers, masks players,
 Performances during the traditional festivals
and ceremonies
 Athens (city in Greece) –ancient hymns called
dithyrambs’ were sung in honour of the God
‘Dionysus’.(God of wine, pleasure, fertility of
Earth
 Participants dress up in costumes and masks
 Series of public festivals ‘City Dionysia’
Masks Greek Festivals
The ancient Greek Theatre at
Epidauros
Evolution of English Drama
 The religious rituals commemorate the
resurrection of Jesus Christ- English drama
born in Churches.
 In order to make people familiar with the Bible-
incidents from the life of Christ, the Bishops of
the Church
 began to dramatize stories, episodes from
Bible.
Evolution of English Drama

 13th ,14th centuries plays –describing Christ’s

life, Saints life called as Morality and Miracle
plays.
 At the end of the 15th century morality play
took birth sign of growth of drama in England.
 Plays were didactic and religious in nature.

 The Somonyng of Everyman (1490)

 Sackville and ThomasNorton’sGorboduc

(1561) first English tragedy
Evolution of English Drama
 Nicholas Udall’sRalph Roister Doister (1566)
first comedy.
 The Elizabethan drama reached its climax with
the works of Shakespeare and Marlowe.
William Shakespeare and
Christopher Marlowe
William Shakespeare
 Shakespeare Marlowe theory by critics
 Christopher Marlowe (also known as Kit
Marlowe) both are same personality.
 Marlowe changed name as Shakespeare to
save himself from punishment of murder
 Marlowe reappeared as Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
(1564-1616)
 Such personality understood the subconscious
of the human mind
 Called as a psychologist
 Works are still contemporary- all characters
still exists in the present world in our society.
Drama of Elizabethan Age
 Establishment of ‘The Theatre’ (1576) increase
of competition in the sphere of drama
 The need of ‘novelty’ arise.
 Managers of drama searching such people –
old plays mix the new matter- making
something more good, adorable
Drama of Elizabethan Age
 Thomas Killigrew (7 February 1612 – 19 March
1683) was an English dramatist and theatre
manager. He was a witty, dissolute
figure at the court of King  Charles II Of
England.
 Removed tragedy part replacing with
comedy to make people laugh
Claracilla  and The Prisoners ,(1636)
 The Parson’s Wedding (1637)
University Wits
 Term was not used in their lifetime but later on
coined by George Saintsbury (19th century
journalist author)
 A group of Bohemian writers associated with the
Oxford/Cambridge University
 Absorbed the renaissance spirit ,synthesized
vigour of the native tradition and imbued the
refined Classicism
 Known as ‘The Seven Stars of the Cosmos’.
 Made Elizabethan drama more popular with the
Renaissance Humanism and pride of patriotism
University Wits
 Wrote classical plays , courtly comedies,
farces, chronicle plays and melodramas
 Imparted thrills, action, sensation, humour as
well as lot of music.
 Paved the way for Shakespeare and other
dramatists of coming ages.
 Were source for Shakespeare’s works.
University Wits
 George Peele-25 July 1556 – buried 9
November 1596
 Oxford Scholar first writer of History plays

 Member of Lord Admiral’s Company

 Plays lot of poetic beauty

 The Battle of Alcazar,The Arranigment of Paris

–source for Shakespeare’s King John
 Edward I

 The Old Wives Tale- satire on Romantic drama

 The Hunting of Cupid

University Wits
 John Lyly - 1553 or 1554 – November 1606
Euphues /The Anatomy of Wit (1578) –derived
from Greek –graceful witty’
 Adopted from Roger Ascham’sThe
Schoolmaster.
 well known for its euphuism style of English
prose- employing a deliberate excess of literary
devices such as Antithesis, Alliteration,
Repetitions, Rhetorical Questions etc.
University Wits
 John Lyly-Euphues and His England (1580)
 Allegorical play-Midas (comedy) (1592)

 Allegorical pastoral comedy-Love’s

Metamorphosis (1601)
 Endymion (1591)

 Woman in Moon (1595) only play blank verse

University Wits
 Thomas Lodge (1558-1625)
 The Wounds of Civil War (1594)

Rosalynde or, Euphues' Golden Legacie (1590)

prose romance source for Shakespeare’sAs
You Like It (1599)
A LookingGlass for London and England (1594)
University Wits
 From Cambridge-
 Robert Greene (1558-1592)
 first Shakespeare critic
 He called Shakespeare as
 ‘an upstart crow beautified with our feathers’.
 The History of Orlando Furioso’ based on Ludovico
Ariosto’sOrlando Furioso
 Virginia Woolf’s works are influenced by this play.
 A Maiden’s Dream- dedicated to Elizabeth Harten
 The Scottish History of James IV, Alphonsus
 Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay - considered as a
document of Elizabethan life.
University Wits
 Thomas Nash (1567-1601)
 Unfortunate Traveler/Life of Jack Milton

 Protagonist Jack Milton- first picaresque hero

meets three historical persons
 Erasmus, Henry Howard and Thomas More
University Wits
 Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)
 Father of University Wits

 Tamberlaine the Great (1591)

 Doctor Faustus /The Tragical History of Life

and Death of Dr. Faustus
 Jew Of Malta