Dramatic structure.html

Dramatic structure is the structure of the plot of a drama such as a play or screenplay. These have been analysed by many writers from Aristotle's Poetics to Gustav Freytag's analysis of ancient Greek and Shakespearean drama.

The medium influences the structure of a drama. Drama on television often creates narrative hooks at the expected time of commercial breaks in order to retain the interest of the viewer.¹

1 Freytag’s analysis
2 Criticism
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

Freytag’s analysis

Freytag's pyramid

According to Freytag, a drama is divided into five parts, or acts:

exposition
rising action
climax (or turning point)
falling action
dénouement (comedy) or catastrophe (tragedy)

A visual aid for Freytag’s analysis of dramatic structure is Freytag’s Pyramid.

Exposition

Main article: Exposition (plot device)

The exposition provides the background information needed to properly understand the story, such as the protagonist, the antagonist, the basic conflict, and the setting.

The exposition ends with the inciting moment, which is the incident that without there would be no story. The inciting moment sets the remainder of the story in motion beginning with the second act, the rising action.

Rising action

Main article: Rising action

During rising action, the basic conflict is complicated by the introduction of related secondary conflicts, including various obstacles that frustrate the protagonist’s attempt to reach their goal. Secondary conflicts can include adversaries of lesser importance than the story’s antagonist, who may work with the antagonist or separately, by and for themselves.

Climax (turning point)

Main article: Climax (narrative)

The third act is that of the climax, or turning point, which marks a change, for the better or the worse, in the protagonist’s affairs. If the story is a comedy, things will have gone badly for the protagonist up to this point; now, the tide, so to speak, will turn, and things will begin to go well for him or her. If the story is a tragedy, the opposite state of affairs will ensue, with things going from good to bad for the protagonist.

Falling action

Main article: Falling action

During the falling action, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. The falling action might contain a moment of final suspense, during which the final outcome of the conflict is in doubt.

Dénouement or catastrophe or Resolution

Main article: Dénouement

The comedy ends with a dénouement (a conclusion) in which the protagonist is better off than at the story’s outset. The tragedy ends with a catastrophe in which the protagonist is worse off than at the beginning of the narrative.

Although Freytag’s analysis of dramatic structure is based on five-act plays, it can be applied (sometimes in a modified manner) to short stories and novels as well.

Criticism

Freytag's analysis was intended to apply not to modern drama, but rather to ancient Greek and Shakespearean drama.

A specific exposition stage is criticized by Lajos Egri in The Art of Dramatic Writing. He states, “exposition itself is part of the whole play, and not simply a fixture to be used at the beginning and then discarded.” According to Egri, the actions of a character reveal who they are, and exposition should come about naturally. The beginning of the play should therefore begin with the initial conflict.

Contemporary dramas increasingly use the fall to increase the relative height of the climax and dramatic impact (melodrama). The protagonist reaches up but falls and succumbs to his doubts, fears, and limitations. Arguably, the negative climax occurs when he has an epiphany and encounters his greatest fear or loses something important. This loss gives him the courage to take on another obstacle. This confrontation becomes the classic climax.

References

^ Christina Myers-Shaffer (2000), How to Prepare for SAT II, pp. 96-7, ISBN 9780764107696, http://books.google.com/books?id=SmlGg5atSpwC

External links

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