Literary Terms: Drama Terminology

Set the stage for vocabulary success by learning this list of words related to drama.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. adaptation
    a written work that has been recast in a new form
  2. agitprop
    political propaganda communicated via art and literature
  3. antagonist
    someone who offers opposition
  4. aside
    a line spoken by an actor not intended for others on stage
  5. catharsis
    purging of emotional tensions
  6. chorus
    a body of dancers or singers who perform together
  7. comedy
    light and humorous drama with a happy ending
  8. conflict
    opposition in a work of fiction between characters or forces
  9. denouement
    the resolution of the main complication of a literary work
  10. deus ex machina
    an agent who appears unexpectedly to solve a difficulty
  11. dialogue
    the lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction
  12. dramatic irony
    when the audience understands something the characters don't
  13. dramaturgy
    the art of writing and producing plays
  14. ensemble
    a cast other than the principals
  15. entr'acte
    the interlude between two sections of a play
  16. farce
    a comedy characterized by broad satire
  17. foil
    a person or thing that serves to contrast with another
  18. genre
    a class of art having a characteristic form or technique
  19. hamartia
    the character flaw or error of a tragic hero
  20. hubris
    overbearing pride or presumption
  21. melodrama
    a story with characters behaving in an extreme emotional way
  22. monologue
    a dramatic speech by a single actor
  23. naturalistic
    representing what is real; not abstract or artificial
  24. pantomime
    a performance using gestures and movements without words
  25. peripeteia
    a sudden and unexpected reversal of fortune
  26. plot
    the story that is told, as in a novel, play, movie, etc.
  27. prologue
    an introductory section of a novel or other literary work
  28. proscenium
    the part of a stage between the curtain and the orchestra
  29. protagonist
    the principal character in a work of fiction
  30. scene
    a subdivision of an act of a play
  31. setting
    the context and environment in which something is situated
  32. soliloquy
    a dramatic speech giving the illusion of unspoken reflection
  33. tableau
    any dramatic scene
  34. thespian
    a theatrical performer
  35. tragedy
    drama exciting terror or pity
Created on Wed Dec 02 12:18:11 EST 2020 (updated Wed Dec 02 12:25:53 EST 2020)

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