E/TH 301 Dramatic Lit

Analyzing a playRiders
to the Sea

Remember that a Plot is:

The selection and arrangement of incidents on the
stage
ALSO remember that the Playwright chooses how to
structure the story

Tartuffe
The Seafarer

 The next few slides will take

you through some of the plot
structures that we see in
dramatic literature, and will
help you to differentiate
between them

Climactic Plot StructureFreytags Pyramid

[Climactic Structure ]
The Climax:
The major crisis; reversals; discoveries

Rising Action
complications
Inciting Incident
The spark
Forces in
balance

Exposition:
The back-story

Falling Action

Denouement
Resolution

Return to
balance

Other Aspects of the Climactic Structure

One storyline, one climax,

one location
Small cast
Short period of time
(remember unity of time/place)

Misery

Typically used by Sophocles

and Ancient Greeks

Janeman

BUT, there are other

options!
Climactic plots
are not the only
option for a
playwright.

Doubt

Episodic Structure
Multiple storylines, subplots,
climaxes
Merry
Wives of
Windsor

Larger cast
Longer time span
Multiple locations
Used by Shakespeare and
many others including

Henry IV: Part 1

Examples of episodic
plots
Many TV shows
(most, really)
Game of Thrones
Lost
Glee

And, of course,
many many plays:
Nearly all of
Shakespeare

Many movies:
Love Actually
Avengers

Think of episodic plots as containing several climactic plot

Circular plots
Sometimes called
Static plots
Characters start
and return
to/remain in the
same situations.

The BEST example

of this is Samuel
Becketts Waiting
for Godot

Waiting for Godot

on plots
Many
contemporary
plays mess
around with all
of these
structures,
changing and
shifting them as
playwrights see
fit.
Terminus

The Protagonist
Another CRUCIAL step in analyzing a play
is the identification of the PROTAGONIST
I need to be VERY clear that a protagonist
IS NOT defined as:
The good guy
The title character

Though either (or both) of these thigs can

be true, it is not the DEFINITION of
protagonistin Shakespeares Othello, the
protagonist is Iago. Iago is NOT the title
character, and is DECIDEDLY the bad guy
in the play!
Instead, Iago fits the following definition
which you WILL see on an exam.

Protagonist
The person whose will
(objective)
drives the action of the play

Antagonist
The person who
opposes the will of
the protagonist

So
WHO IS THE PROTAGONIST in Riders
to the Sea? What is their
OBJECTIVE?
WHAT IS THE PLOT STRUCTURE OF
RIDERS TO THE SEA?
Climactic? Episodic? Other?

Climactic Plot Structure

[Climactic Structure ]
The Climax:
The major crisis; reversals; discoveries

Rising Action
complications
Inciting Incident
The spark
Forces in
balance

Exposition:
The back-story

Falling Action

Denouement
Resolution

Return to
balance