INTRODUCTION
In the last article, we discussed a very important dramatic technique characterization. In this article we will discuss other techniques that are employed by the dramatist in creating his imaginative world. They include Foreshadowing, planting, deus ex machine, play-within-the play and setting.
Foreshadowing
In drama, Foreshadowing refers to actions, words, events, incidents or other things in a play that predict a future occurrence in the play. Sometimes it contributes to the mood and general atmosphere of the play. Hamlet provides a very good example for us. We encounter a ghost at the beginning of the play. Its appearance creates an atmosphere of fear. It is an ominous sign of an impending evil or devilish act. It shows that everything is not normal in the society. This evil act is revealed later in the dialogue between the Ghost and Hamlet in Act I Scene v:
GHOST: I am your father’s spirit… If you did ever your dear father love-
HAMLET: O God!
GHOST: Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.
HAMLET: Murder!
This encounter foreshadows other unnatural deaths in the play.
Planting
In drama, one of the techniques that is used to present the action of the play is planting. It is the use of certain props to give more information about some characters, the environment or situations. If for instance you are watching a home video, and a particular scene opens in the room where a character is lying on a bed with a wheelchair beside the bed, you will conclude immediately that the person on the bed cannot walk. It might not be that person on the bed that is paralyzed but the presence of the wheel chair indicates that there is a paraplegic character in the play. Thus that wheelchair is planted and without any explanation you are able to get more information about the play. planting device. In planting, representatives of certain issues/places/things are used to create an impression or point to an idea that will be exposed as the events of the play unfolds.
Also in Arms and the Man, the ‘revolver on the ottoman’ gives a clue to Louka that the fugitive might be in Raina’s room.
Deus ex Machina
Deus ex machina in Latin means “a god from the machine”. In Greek theater, it “describes the technique used by some playwrights to end their plays with a god who was lowered to the stage by a mechanical apparatus and, by his judgment and commands, solved the problems of the human characters. The phrase is “now used for any forced and improbable device – a telltale birthmark, an unexpected inheritance, the discovery of a lost will or letter – by which a hard-pressed author makes shift to resolve his plot” (Abrams 39). It therefore originated from Greek drama and, in effect, when it is used in a play it means that the gods have come on stage to save a situation. It refers to an unexpected power, event or someone that saves a situation that seemed hopeless. This technique enables the playwright to unravel some secrets, or resolve certain issues that seem to be beyond human capabilities. This ‘god’ from the machine, in most cases, rescues the protagonist from an impossible situation or enlightens him on how to resolve an issue at the last minute. This causes a resolution of the plot by the use of an improbable coincidence.
In Oedipus Rex, the arrival of the shepherd is seen as deux ex machina. Before his arrival, the Blind Seer has accused King Oedipus of being the murderer of King Lauis. If the Shepherd does not come, the issue will have remained unresolved because King Oedipus has accused Creon of conniving with the Seer to accuse him of being a murderer. The Shepherd arrives at this point and unravels the mystery of the King’s parenthood. The servant corroborates the story and it becomes clear that King Oedipus actually killed his father and married his mother.
Play-within-the Play
As the name suggests, a play-within-the –play is a play that is created in another play. Usually it is a complete play with a beginning, middle and an end. It has its own theme which in many cases is related to the theme of the main play. It is created for a particular purpose. A very good example of the play-within the-play is The Mousetrap in Hamlet. Shakespeare uses the technique to confirm the claim made by the ghost. The play is summarized in the “dumb show” presented before the Mousetrap in Act III Scene ii.
The trumpets sound. A dumb show follows. Enter a King and a Queen very lovingly, the Queen embracing him and he her. She kneels and makes a show of protestation unto him. He takes her up, and reclines his head upon her neck. He lies down upon a bank of flowers . She, seeing him asleep, leaves him.
Anon comes another man, takes off his crown, Kisses it, pours poison in the sleeper’ ears, and leaves him. The Queen returns, finds the king dead, and makes passionate action. The Poisoner with some … comes in again and seems to condole with her. The dead body is carried away. The Poisoner woos the Queen with gifts. She seems harsh awhile, but in the end accepts his love.
Exeunt.
As the play progresses, the king becomes uncomfortable and leaves before it ends. It becomes evident from his reaction to the subject of the play that he is guilty. Hamlet therefore becomes convinced that his uncle killed his father. On his own part his uncle realizes that Hamlet is aware of his crime so becomes desperate in trying to eliminate him. Each of them plans how to deal with the other person and their plans culminate in their deaths at the end of the play.
Setting
Setting is the location of a play. It is the time and place when and where the action of the play takes place. Setting is very important in a play because it helps us to appreciate the background of the play. Also in productions it helps the designers to design appropriate locale, atmosphere, and costume for the play. You can identify the setting through the names of characters. When you read The Marriage of Anansewa or The Lion and the Jewel, you would know immediately through the names of the characters that the former is set in Ghana and the latter in Nigeria. Some playwrights use known landmarks through dialogue or in stage direction. Ola Rotimi uses landmarks a lot. Try to read his Our Husbsnd has Gone Mad Again and through these landmarks you will know that the play is set in Lagos. Shakespeare uses known landmarks. Have you read Hamlet? In Arms and the Man it is more obvious as the playwright uses real life experiences to show that the play is set in Bulgaria. Can you identify its setting through the known landmarks? There are different types of setting.
You re so awesome! I don t believe I have read a single thing like that before.
Thank you, I’ve recently been looking for info about this
topic for ages and yours is the greatest I have found out till now.
However, what about the conclusion? Are you certain about the
source?
Nurturing individual passions and hobbies enhances personal fulfillment within a relationship.
What’s up, this weekend is good designed for me, as this point in time i am reading
this fantastic informative piece of writing here
at my home.
It is in point of fact a nice and useful piece of info. I am glad that you just shared this helpful
information with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
Way cool! Some extremely valid points! I appreciate you penning this post plus the rest of the site is really good.
Yes! Finally something about Understanding male pattern baldness.
Hey there, You’ve done a great job. I will certainly digg it and personally recommend to my friends.
I am sure they will be benefited from this website.
I was able to find good information from your articles.
I am actually grateful to the holder of this
site who has shared this impressive post at at this place.
bookmarked!!, I love your website!
hello!,I really like your writing very so much! proportion we keep
up a correspondence more approximately your article on AOL?
I require an expert on this house to solve my problem. Maybe that is you!
Looking forward to see you.
As the admin of this website is working, no doubt very rapidly it will be
well-known, due to its quality contents.
Thank you for great article. Hello Administ .
Your style is unique in comparison to other people I’ve
read stuff from. Many thanks for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I
will just book mark this web site.
If some one needs expert view on the topic of running
a blog after that i advise him/her to visit this web
site, Keep up the good work.
Hello there, You’ve done an excellent job. I will definitely
digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I am sure
they will be benefited from this website.
I every time used to study article in news papers but now as I am a
user of net thus from now I am using net for content, thanks to web.
Hi there, I want to subscribe for this blog to obtain most recent updates,
thus where can i do it please assist.
Excellent weblog right here! Also your site rather a lot up fast!
What web host are you the use of? Can I get your associate link
for your host? I wish my website loaded up as fast as yours lol
Very nice write-up. I absolutely love this website. Stick with it!
Amazing! Its in fact remarkable article, I have got much clear idea concerning from this paragraph.
Good post. I learn something new and challenging on websites
I stumbleupon everyday. It will always be
exciting to read content from other authors and practice a little something from other sites.
Hey there! I’ve been reading your weblog for a long time now and finally got
the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from New Caney Tx!
Just wanted to mention keep up the excellent job!
It’s very easy to find out any topic on web as compared to
books, as I found this post at this web page.
Right here is the perfect blog for anyone who wishes
to find out about this topic. You understand so much its almost
hard to argue with you (not that I really would want to…HaHa).
You certainly put a fresh spin on a subject that’s been discussed for
a long time. Excellent stuff, just wonderful!
What a stuff of un-ambiguity and preserveness of
precious knowledge on the topic of unpredicted emotions.
If some one needs expert view regarding blogging after that i propose him/her to
pay a quick visit this web site, Keep up the good work.
Hi there, I enjoy reading through your article
post. I wanted to write a little comment to support you.
Hello, i think that i saw you visited my blog thus i
came to “return the favor”.I am attempting to find things
to enhance my website!I suppose its ok to use some of your ideas!!
Pretty great post. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and wished
to say that I’ve truly loved surfing around your
weblog posts. After all I’ll be subscribing
in your rss feed and I hope you write once more soon!
Thank you for sharing your info. I really appreciate your efforts and I am waiting
for your further post thanks once again.
I’m not sure why but this web site is loading incredibly slow for me.
Is anyone else having this issue or is it a problem on my end?
I’ll check back later and see if the problem still exists.
Please let me know if you’re looking for a article writer for your
weblog. You have some really good articles and I think I would
be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off,
I’d absolutely love to write some content for your blog in exchange for
a link back to mine. Please blast me an e-mail
if interested. Many thanks!
*LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM*
♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️
♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️
*NO MORE EXCUSES*
1. I don’t have money
2. I can’t talk to people
3. I don’t do stuff like this
4. I’m too Busy
Your excuses may be legit but they won’t improve your Life.
• *LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM is Fully Registered with CAC. WHICH IS COOPERATE AFFAIR COMMISSION( For those Who Think LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT is Not Registered)*
*LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM is a platform network that deal with investing of money just within 45mins you will get back your money double*
CONTACT:- +2349036369810
*LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM PACKAGE’S*
*N20,000====N40,000*
*N30, 000====N60,000*
*N50,000====N100,000*
*N100,000====N200,000*
*N200,000 ====N400,000*
*N400,000====N800,000*
*==============*
*I know you are skeptical about this because of the negative experience a lot of issues as regards scamming in the global world. I assure you 101% that you won’t lose your money this is because I know the risk of this profit oriented business and I know how to avoid them using my trading skills and signals to make only wins and no losses.*
*Are u a worker?*
♊ *Are u a student looking for your school fees? Are u a woman looking for money to pay your children school fees?*
♊ *Are u jobless and u need where u can make source of income?*
♊ *LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM is here for you! With a little amount u can earn and make more more source of income without any problems*
♊ *LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM is a platform network that deal with investing of money just within 45mins you will get back your money double*
*Thank you for your time you can click on the link below to get started, please only serious minded People are expected to message the administrator.*…
CONTACT NAME Mrs. ELIZABETH TINA
CONTACT:- 09036369810.