Plot

Objectives for this lesson:

Students will examine:

Aristotle's Six Parts of a Tragedy and how they relate to the drama today

The elements of plot

Types of plots

Some devices of plot

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Aristotle's Six Parts of a Tragedy (click here for a slide presentation about the six parts of a play -- with sound -- requires a relatively fast connection and an internet sound plug-in installed -- give it a try...)

1. Plot

2. Character

3. Thought (theme, idea)

4. Diction (Language)

5. Music (sound)

6. Spectacle

 

1. Plot -- the arrangement of the parts--
"the arrangement of events or the selection and order of scenes in a play. (155)"

Click for PLOT Handout

Elements of Plot:

Rising Action

1. Exposition

Go to the Oedipus plot sheet to see an example of a brilliantly-constructed plot (which is the play Aristotle based his ideas on).

2. Conflict
-- the clash of opposing forces:
man vs. self, vs. man, vs. environment, vs. natural forces, vs. group, vs. God, or group vs. group.

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3. Climax -- the point at which one or the other of the forces is favored; the point at which events must turn in one direction or another. Not necessarily the "high point"

Falling Action

4. Resolution / Denouement -- whatever comes after the climax.

 

Three Types of Plots Climactic, Episodic, Non-sequitur

(From Edwin Wilson, The Theater Experience, 7th edition, 292) General characteristics:
[W/G discuss these distinctions in some detail and they include their own chart ...]

Climactic	Episodic	Non-sequitur
Late point of attack (background info comes primarily from exposition Short span of time (Oedipus -- only the time of the play -- Ghosts, Phaedra)	Early point of attack (in Shakespeare's plays, we need to know very little that has happened before the play begins--most of what is important happens during the play itself)	Theatre of the Absurd -- not a unified school or theory Beckett, Ionesco
Limited number of long segments (Greek -- 5 episodes separated by choral odes) Neoclassical -- 5 acts Now -- 2 acts	Longer period of time sometimes years (Lear, Caucasian Chalk Circle, R&J, Hamlet) Many short, fragmented scenes-- tries to grasp various facets of man	Inconsistency, meaninglessness (absurdity) form and content both express absurdity
Restricted locale -- usually one room or place	May range over entire city or many countries (Othello--from Cyprus to Venice)	verbal nonsense
Limited number of characters -- 6 - 8	Many characters -- dozens in Shakespeare's plays	Existential characters -- have little background, no clear causes for actions
Causal structure -- linear -- few subplots or counter plots	Many threads of action parallel plots, comic relief, subplots, etc. juxtaposed scenes	Non-traditional structure
Action is causal	Not necessarily causal complicated web of causes	Causality minimized
Compressed	Expansion	Chaos

 

These two (climactic and episodic) can be combined: (Restoration, Chekhov, Death of a Salesman).

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Other Dramatic Structures:

Ritual
Patterns
Serial
Avante-Garde and Experimental
Segments and Tableaux

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Important terms:

exposition, conflict, climax, resolution / denouement

rising action, falling action

antecedent action, point-of-attack

inciting (or initiating) incident

peripetia, deus ex machina

 

To take a short study quiz, click here...

Next Section: The Character in the play.