The first issue here is that classical drama was not uniform.

Greek tragedy and Old Comedy were

radically different from most modern dramas, while Greek New Comedy, Roman Comedy, and
some Roman tragedies were closer in style to modern drama. Of course, modern drama is also
tremendously varied, with some modern playwrights borrowing elements such as the chorus or
integration of singing and dancing into their staging.
Greek Tragedy and Old Comedy differ from much of modern drama by being written in verse.
Both genres have a limit of three actors, who play multiple roles. Actors wear masks and stylized
costumes (as they also do in Japanese Noh drama), and female roles are played by men as they
are in Shakespeare and most Elizabethan drama. The chorus sings and dances (as do choruses in
opera and musical theater). Classical drama was presented in amphitheaters, with a circular
orchestra and the audience seated in rows built into a hillside surrounding the performance area,
while recent (19th through 21st century) drama often uses proscenium stages. Ancient drama was
performed outdoors using natural light while contemporary drama is performed indoors using
artificial light.
Contra another answerer, while ancient tragedy had noble protagonists, Old and New Comedy
and Roman Comedy had protagonists from all classes, including poor farmers, shopkeepers,
soldiers, and slaves as well as wealthier protagonists. The "mixed" genre combining rustic
comedy with elevated tragedy, though, was mainly an early modern invention, although some of
Euripides' plays anticipate this.

Ask a question

there is a great difference between classical and modern drama.classical drama deals with the life of high socil class like kings and princes
where there is no reality in the story of the play.while the modern drama deals with ordinary people who really do such acts which the modern
drama presents.classical drama does not present real life.it presents such stories on which people donot believe.to prove this statememt we
would take the example of clasical play King Lear by Shakespear.in this play at the very first scene we see that a king foolishly decides to
divide his kingdom among his daughters by giving them a love test.according to the divison formalities he banishe his yonger daughter who
really loves him but can,t flatter him like her like other daughters.he also banishes his truted employee who intervenes to solve the problem.at
the end of the play we see that his daughters throw him out from his house.this play seems completely unrealistic because this cannot
possible in this real life. A king who is mentally and physically quick, who has been ruling over a country before eighty years cant do so,and
the daughter can,t banishes his father. in modern play there is complete realty.modern play presents real life.the example of real modern play
is of henrik ibsen play a doll,s house in which he presents housband.s wife,s relation.

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by Michael Stratford, Demand Media

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Tragedy can be classic or modern.

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Classical tragedy preserves the unities -- one timespan, one setting, one story -- as they originated in the Greek theater. It also
defines a tragic plot as one with a royal character losing, through his own pride, a mighty prize. Modern tragedy redefines the genre,
with ordinary protagonists, realistic timelines and settings, and multiple plots.
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Euripides' most enduring greek tragedy translated and analysed

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Unified Classic Tragedy

According to Aristotle's Poetics, the tragic playwright must create a unified work. The play's running time must be the exact
timespan of the tragedy, with no breaks or flashbacks; the setting must remain in one place. Most importantly, the action follows
one inevitable course, and the tragic hero must be royal or highborn. In addition, this hero desires a greater good, such as the
rescue or unification of his kingdom, and he places that prize at great risk with his own choices.

The Elements of a Tragic Fall

Aristotle further elaborates that the tragic hero must, by the play's end, lose everything he has gained through hubris -- blind pride
that defies the gods. In Sophocles' Oedipal cycle, Oedipus tries to discover his birth secret, while Creon refuses honorable burial to
Antigone's brother. Both heroes lose their kingdoms as a result. Shakespeare carries Greek-style hubris even further, as he has
Macbeth lose his soul, Lear his sanity and Hamlet his conscious identity, before robbing each character of his life and kingdom as
well.

A Critic Defines Modern Tragedy

Critic Pauline Kael, in reviewing the movie of Arthur Miller's "A View from the Bridge," gives an excellent definition of modern tragedy
when she notes that a tragic hero "must have greater aspirations, ambitions ... what does Eddie Carbone [the Miller tragic hero]
want? He wants his wife's niece." The modern tragedy is thus redefined: in modern tragedies, smaller men with smaller dreams act
through impulse, rather than hubris. The unities are ignored -- Miller's work spans weeks, with subplots -- although the characters'
ends are still tragic.

Modern Tragedy Adds Irony

Miller produced several modern tragedies about ordinary men with puny dreams and sorrowful finales; the most famous is "Death of
a Salesman." Another contemporary example is David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross," in which tragically small-minded salesmen
fight over crooked sales jobs. Modern tragedy therefore adds irony to Aristotle's mix, reducing once-heroic tragic figures to the size
of ordinary humanity.

Answered by The Community

Making the world better, one answer at a time.

classical drama is a drama that illustrates the life of nobility,it is of a serious magnitude and it has the three unities'time,place and plot'.A good
example of this is oedipus the king by sophocles.While modern drama has none of the above

Answered by The Community

Making the world better, one answer at a time.

there is a great difference between classical and modern drama.classical drama deals with the life of high socil class like kings and princes
where there is no reality in the story of the play.while the modern drama deals with ordinary people who really do such acts which the modern
drama presents.classical drama does not present real life.it presents such stories on which people donot believe.to prove this statememt we
would take the example of clasical play King Lear by Shakespear.in this play at the very first scene we see that a king foolishly decides to
divide his kingdom among his daughters by giving them a love test.according to the divison formalities he banishe his yonger daughter who
really loves him but can,t flatter him like her like other daughters.he also banishes his truted employee who intervenes to solve the problem.at
the end of the play we see that his daughters throw him out from his house.this play seems completely unrealistic because this cannot
possible in this real life. A king who is mentally and physically quick, who has been ruling over a country before eighty years cant do so,and
the daughter can,t banishes his father. in modern play there is complete realty.modern play presents real life.the example of real modern play
is of henrik ibsen play a doll,s house in which he presents housband.s wife,s relation.

Classical drma

Category Archives: Classical Drama

Must-Prepare Topics For Classical Drama

By Shuaib Asghar on November 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

TRAGEDIES:OEDIPUS REX (429 BC) by SOPHOCLES (497 BC-406 BC)

1.

Dramatic Irony

2.

A Character Sketch Of Oedipus / Aristotelian Conception Of A Tragic Hero

3.

Causes Of Oedipus Fall

4.

Role Of Chorus

5.

A Comparison Between Hamlet And Oedipus Rex

6.

Salient Features Of Greek Tragedies / Sophocles As A Tragedy Writer

DOCTOR FAUSTUS (1604) by CRISTOPHER MARLOW (1564-1593)

1.

As A Morality Play

2.

Theme

3.

Tragic Conflict

4.

Role Of Chorus

5.

Concept Of Hell

6.

Renaissance Elements / Dr. Faustus As An Embodiment Of Renaissance Spirit

7.

An Evaluation Of Marlow As A Dramatist / Salient Features Of His Tragedies

HAMLET (1603) by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)

1.

As A Revenge Tragedy

2.

The Problem Of Delay / Irresolution / Procrastination

3.

Hamlets Madness

4.

Conflict

5.

A Character Sketch Of Hamlet / Aristotelian Conception Of A Tragic Hero

6.

Shakespeare As A Dramatist / Salient Features Of His Tragedies

COMEDIES:THE MERCHANT OF VENICE (1596) by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (15641616)

1.

Who Is The Hero?

2.

A Character Sketch Of Shylock / A True Representative Of Jewish Class

3.

A Character Sketch Of Portia / A Symbol Of Youth And Intelligence

4.

As A Romantic Comedy

5.

Improbabilities

6.

Shakespeare As A Comedy Writer / Salient Features Of His Comedies

THE WAY OF THE WORLD (1700) by WILLIAM CONGREVE (1670-1729)

1.

As A Comedy

2.

Double Standards Of Morality

3.

Characteristics Of Congreves Wit

4.

William Congreve As A Dramatist

THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL (1777) by RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
(1751-1816)

1.

The Plot

2.

As A Comedy Of Manners / Comedy Of Intrigues

3.

A Representation Of Aristocratic Class In England

4.

Sheridan As A Dramatist

5.

Chief Characteristics Of Comedy Of Manners

Modern drama

The essence of this paper is to list and discuss characteristics of modern period drama. These characteristics are realism,
naturalism and interaction between characters and the readers. They will be discussed along with Henrik Ibsen's 'Ghosts' and
Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Sales man'. Realism and naturalism are considered to be the cornerstones of modern drama as we know it
today. They are the major influencers of the modern drama. Henrik Ibsen is considered to be the founding father of these two movements. It
is crucial to note that characters in these two movements represent themselves as normal human beings and this aid to the readers to
interact and analyse the play to make their own judgements which is a feature of modern drama. Realism in literature was first developed in
France in the mid-nineteenth century. Realist writers sought to narrate their plays from an objective, unbiased perspective that simply and
clearly represented the factual elements of the play. They became masters at psychological characterization, detailed descriptions of
everyday life in realistic settings, and dialogue that captures the idioms of natural human speech. The realists endeavoured to accurately
represent contemporary culture and people from all walks of life. Ghosts capture the issues that concern us in everyday life. They are real
issues that concern us in the contemporary world. The fact that they are real and not shielded they led to the play being rejected when it was
first produced in1891.What Ibsen was saying was the truth which was took place in the society before 19th Century and was concealed. By
revealing issues such as sex, sexual transmitted infections, incest, and infidelity he hurt the society since such issues were not openly
discussed prior the 19th Century.

QUICK ANSWER

The modern drama is characterized by its unique subject matter like the romanticism of the poor, the strict depiction of real
life and the use of symbols, imagery and metaphors. Although modern drama evolved over time, its theme of using theater
to challenge and experiment upon social norms remained const

The first phase of modern drama began in the late 19th century with the rise of romanticism. Like other modernist plays,
romantic productions focused on the stories of those who inhabited the lower rungs of the social ladder. However, where
later modernist drama movements would attempt to portray these stories as truthfully as possible, romantic plays
exaggerated, dramatized, warped and romanticized the character's lives for the theater.
Realism was the second phase of modern drama. Realism used the same subject matter as romanticism. However, the two
movements differ in that realism did not attempt to romanticize its subjects lives. Realism theater sets, costumes and props,
were made to mirror their real-life counterparts. Realism strived to eliminate the distance between the audience and the
stage by making its productions mimic real life as close as possible.
Naturalism exhibits the same characteristics of realism. However, naturalist plays removed the dramatic elements of theater
in an effort to present a real-life moment of its subjects. Naturalist plays were therefore considered "slice of life" plays
because they rarely changed their settings, and the time span of the play mirrored the passing of time for the audience.

REALISM -- THE FIRST PHASE

The theoretical, technological, and social changes that affected the nineteenth-century
theatre led to an unprecedented outpouring of dramatic creativity across the continent
of Europe. Henrik Ibsen, generally considered the first modern playwright, wrote in
Norwegian; August Strindberg, Ibsen's rival and contemporary, wrote in Swedish.
Anton Chekhov, perhaps the most influential of early modern playwrights, wrote in
Russian. Despite the linguistic and cultural diversity of this disparate group of writers,
in the aggregate they forged a new theatrical world.

The Father of the Modern Drama: Henrik Ibsen