MEANING AND TYPES OF DRAMATIC GENRE

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Comedy

We use the words ‘comedy’ and comic to describe something that is funny in our everyday lives. These include a joke, or a fantastic story that is full of nonsense, or an absurd appearance that makes us giggle, smile or laugh. Comedy is not inherent in things or people but the way things/people are perceived. Comedy is a deliberate presentation of events/experiences drawn from real life but not the same with real life. We should therefore not expect dramatic comedy to be the same as real life.

Generally, the plays have good endings or resolutions, so when a play ends happily, we refer to it as comedy. In most comedies, the principal characters begin in a state of opposition either to one another or to their world or both. By the end of the play, their opposition is replaced by harmony. Aristotle in his “Poetics” insisted that in tragedy men are shown “better than they are”, while in comedy “worse than they are”.

For him it is an artistic imitation of men of inferior moral bent, not in every way but only in so far as their shortcomings are ludicrous. These short comings cause no pain. In the classical period there was no mixture of genres Horace maintains that tragic characters must be noble while comic characters are ignoble and of lower birth and foolish. Moliere believed that his audience could learn from the dramatization of ridiculous and universal types.

Comedy therefore teaches through laughter. Philip Sidney, in “Arts Poetica”, sees it as an imitation of common errors of life which is presented in the most ridiculous and scornful manner so that the spectator is anxious to avoid such errors himself. It should aim at being delightful though not necessarily by provoking laughter. Ben Jonson also believes that laughter does not really help to achieve the aims of comedy but may subvert those aims. He draws his theme from human errors and follies.

He insists that the playwright should attempt to improve moral life and arouse gentle affections. John Dryden insists that comedy should portray the eccentricity of character while Northrop Frye says that lightness of touch is the hallmark of comedy.

We recognize comedy through its style, characterization, diction and other elements of style. The purpose of comedy is to delight, to teach and to entertain the audience through the presentation of characters, situations and ideas in a ridiculous manner. This helps to keep man close to sanity, balance and to remind him of human frailties. It helps to keep him humble and mindful of what he is rather than what he might wish himself to be.

Modern scholars believe that the purpose of comedy is to correct vices therefore should not exclude any class. Satire is an important instrument in comedy because nothing reforms majority of men like the portrayal of their faults. It is easy for people to endure being made fun of. Many people may have no objection to being considered wicked but are not willing to be considered ridiculous. The audience is thus expected to learn from the stupidity of the characters and try to avoid such pitfalls because nobody likes to be made an object of ridicule.

Generally speaking, comedy adopts a different approach from that of serious drama. It presents the incongruity in people and situations. In doing this, the playwright suspends the natural laws; for instance, a man falls flat on the floor but does not really hurt himself. Comedy is usually presented as a moral satire used to attack vices like greed, hypocrisy, lust, laziness, or ignorance. The aim is to correct social ills, social injustice or to ridicule a particular human fault or social imbalance. It thrives on exaggeration of situation and character to show mankind worse than it really is.

Since drama is a conscious and deliberate presentation of events/experience based mostly on real life but not the same with real life, one should, therefore, not expect comedy to be the same with real life. We recognize comedy, through its style, characterization and dialogue. In both real life and drama, comedy should indicate a kind of pleasure which finds physical expression in laughter or smile.

Melodrama

The word melodrama is coined from melo (music) and dran (drama). It is, therefore, a play that utilizes music extensively. But the utilization of music is not the only factor in melodrama, what really makes it melodrama is its portrayal of the protagonist and the antagonist. The protagonist suffers a lot but triumphs in the end while the antagonist suffers. So, melodrama can be defined as a play that has serious action caused by a villain and a destruction of the villain which brings about a happy resolution in the play. The hero is usually involved in very dangerous circumstances but is rescued or he disentangles himself at the last possible moment. The rescuer is usually a benevolent character who identifies himself with the good role of the protagonist. An ideal melodrama, therefore, must have a protagonist and an antagonist. The protagonist always fights the antagonist who is usually poised to destroy goodness. In the end, the characters are easily identified by the audience.

The protagonist is admired and the antagonist is hated. It is this identification by the audience that provides the grounds for poetic justice because the antagonist loses in the end. This explains why some critics insist that melodrama is an honest dramatic form. According to them, it is the only form of drama that expresses the truth of human condition as they are perceived most of the time. This is a condition where vice is condemned and virtue applauded or where the bad man is punished and the good man rewarded. Like tragedy, melodrama deals with characters in critical situations. The main difference is in the point of view. Outwardly, it tries to create the illusion of real people at genuine risk or in jeopardy but the playwright manipulates the play in such a way that it ends with a reprieve or a rescue, a reform or a triumph for the protagonist. There is always an escape from danger in the plot line. In melodrama, there is always serious excitement, suspense and thrills for the audience.

The plot is built on tension and great excitement but this is transitory and lends no substantial significance to the action of the play. The plot therefore contains stories with colourful but brave characters. It creates opportunities for strong sensational scenes, powerful emotions, and strong characters that struggle against deadly odds. Sometimes they are trapped in precarious situations but they must hold on until there is help ultimately.

The melodramatic hero is usually a one-dimensional figure who pursues a goal in a straightforward manner. The opposition comes from the world around him. He does not always think well before taking an action. Consequently, he gets involved in entanglements or dangerous situations which a more rational person might avoid. The characters are usually simple in mind and heart and are conditioned or influenced by their backgrounds and environment. Melodrama contains most of the serious conflicts and crises of daily life. In melodrama, we are resigned as we realize that our failures are not our fault but caused by others and our victories are as a result of help from other people. It is a serious play because most of the time, they rely on strong story lines but lacks the essential magnitude in character and the action is usually over exaggerated.

Characteristics of Melodrama

  • It looks at human beings as a whole. People are expected to interact and help one another in the society. This explains why the protagonist is usually assisted or aided by someone for him to triumph or succeed.
  • It sees human beings as encountering and enduring outer conflicts and not inner ones in a  generally hostile and wicked world.
  • These human conflicts end in victory. Melodramatic characters either win or lose. However, in the spirit of poetic justice, the  otagonist usually wins despite the difficulties he encounters in the course of the action to show that good triumphs over evil.
  • There is an over simplification of human experiences which are usually exaggerated in such a way that the main thesis of the play is made transparent.
  • It treats a serious subject matter in a serious manner, though exaggerated.

Comparison between Melodrama and Tragedy

  • Melodrama is usually episodic and contains elements of charm ormagic. It, therefore, lacks the honesty of tragedy.
  • In tragedy, the tragic hero commits an error of judgment whichleads to his downfall. In melodrama, the hero faces overwhelming problems but despite his sufferings, he triumphs in the end.
  • While tragedy evokes fear and pity, melodrama arouses suspense,pathos, terror and sometimes hatred. In tragedy, there is genuine pity and fear as the audience empathies with the hero. Pity in melodrama borders on sentimentality and emotion and when fear is portrayed, it is usually superficial. Pity and fear in tragedy are honest and lead to catharsis (purgation of emotions).
  • There is recognition for the hero in tragedy but in melodrama, the protagonist wins or triumphs always.
  • Tragedy confronts good and evil with unblinking honesty, while melodrama escapes from life. Tragedy considers eternal spiritual problems and ideals but melodrama deals with the transitory material/physical issues or problems.
  • Tragedy is known as a serious dramatic genre but the seriousness in melodrama is only a pretense to create theatrical effects for the audience.

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