Comedy, Drama and Tragedy

Paper Summary:

The paper describes the basic form of the Elizabethan play that is modeled after the Greek structure. The paper looks at Greek tragedies and comedies and considers Gustav Freytag's classic analysis of Greek and Elizabethan plays. The paper includes a diagram of Freytag's triangle as an appendix.

From the Paper:

""Fiction," says Jean Anouilh, gives life its form." Shakespeare derived his Comedy of Errors from Plautus' Menaechmi and many of Shakespeare's dramas are retellings of the ancient fictions of Greek myths, both tragedies and comedies. The basic form of the Elizabethan play (indeed, most plays written in successive periods, up until contemporary theater and film) is modeled after the Greek structure. One may recognize the structure still being used in theater and much narrative literature today. Utilization of this basic structure allows the story to flow naturally, allows the audience to recognize the reality and truth of life in the story, and to anticipate and yearn to find the moral or the message that resides in its heart."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bradbrook, Murel Clara, The Growth and Structure of Elizabethan Comedy. University of California Press, 1956.
• Burkert, W. Greek Tragedy and Sacrificial Ritual. Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 7 (1966): 87-121.
• Englert, Walter. Ancient Greek Theater. Reed Library. Retrieved May 18, 2007 from http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110tech/Theater.html.
• McKee, Robert. Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting. New York, NY: Harper. 1997.
• McManus, Barbara. Tools for Analyzing Prose Fiction. 1998. <http://www.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/tools.html>.

More papers on Comedy, Drama and Tragedy:

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• Essay # 71666 : "Tragedy and Comedy "
• Analytical Essay # 127947 : "Ruminations on Tragedy and Comedy"

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