1. BACKGROUND
1.1. MIDDLE AGES
1.1.1. Drama focused on: Religious themes Teaching moral lessons Retelling Bible stories
1.2. PLAYS
1.2.1. COMEDIES
1.2.1.1. Happy endings
1.2.2. TRAGEDIES
1.2.2.1. Sad endings, a lot of death and drama
1.3. New HISTORIES
1.3.1. Englands earlier Monarchs.
2. CHARACTERISTICS OF TRAGEDY
2.1. Humans are dommed to suffer
2.1.1. FAIL
2.1.2. DIE because of their FLAWS
2.1.3. DESTINY-FATE
2.2. THEME
2.2.1. Fate
2.2.2. Ambition
2.2.3. Death
2.2.4. Defeat
2.2.5. There may be more than one.
2.2.5.1. MACBETH
3. CHARACTERS
3.1. TRAGIC HERO (Protagonist)
3.1.1. Will die at the end of the story
3.1.2. TRAGIC FLAW
3.1.2.1. Fatal error in judgement
3.1.2.2. Weakness in character
3.1.3. Usually of a high rank or status in society.
3.2. ANTAGONIST
3.2.1. Opposing force that brings out the conflict.
3.2.2. Contributes to the hero´s downfall.
3.2.3. Another character, nature or society
3.3. FOIL
3.3.1. Created to give comic relief to the tragedy in which the story develops.
3.3.2. Sharply contrasts the personality and attitude with another character.
4. LITERARY DEVICES
4.1. METAPHORS
4.1.1. The snow is a white blanket.
4.2. SIMILE
4.2.1. Cute as a kitten
4.3. PERSONIFICATION
4.3.1. The stars danced playfully in the moonlit sky.
4.4. SYMBOL
4.4.1. In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”, the black bird stands for death and loss.
4.5. DRAMATIC IRONY
4.5.1. The audience know what is going to happen next, but the other character not.
4.6. FORESHADOWING
5. Plot
5.1. THE CONFLICT that is created to give the downfall of the hero.
5.2. Downfall is known as the catastrophe or tragic resolution.
6. Dramatic coventions
6.1. ACTS
6.1.1. Shakespeare´s plays were always 5
6.1.2. Acts divided into scenes
6.1.2.1. SCENE
6.1.2.1.1. Had a fixed setting
6.2. Written in dialogue
6.3. Stage directions are specified to indicate setting and how characters should behave.
6.4. Written in BLANK VERSE and IAMBIC PENTAMETER
6.5. MONOLOGUE
6.5.1. It is a long speech were the character expresses his emotions with other on stage
6.6. SOLILOQUY
6.6.1. It is a long speech were the character reveal his thoughts
6.7. ASIDE
6.7.1. The character goes to a side of the stage to speak about his thoughts without anyone in stage listening.