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Before Naturalism:

Before Naturalism:. Early 19 th century theatre. Romantic theatre. Radical idealism Spontaneity of feeling The individual The visionary imagination Schiller & Goethe. Romantic theatre. As it spreads across Europe, becoming widely popular, it becomes mechanical and cliched

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Before Naturalism:

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  1. Before Naturalism: Early 19th century theatre

  2. Romantic theatre • Radical idealism • Spontaneity of feeling • The individual • The visionary imagination • Schiller & Goethe

  3. Romantic theatre • As it spreads across Europe, becoming widely popular, it becomes mechanical and cliched • Britain and America, domestic drama or melodrama

  4. Melodrama: a formula for success • Strong emotions and unequivocal moral sentiment • Stereotype characters: hero, heroine, aged parent, faithful friend, villain. Stock company of actors • Simple plot lines • Emotional response expected / encouraged from audience • Virtue will always triumph, evil punished • Acting style: bold, confident gestures, stylised, rhetorical speech • Designed to appeal to emotions of audience and not their critical faculty

  5. The well-made play • Eugene Scribe 1791-1861. Writer of 374 plays. • La piece bienfaite: ‘the well-made play’ • Inflexible formula: • well-constructed plot, more important than social background of the characters • Focus on a leading character, hero or heroine with whom we empathise • Exposition • Complication • Reversal • Resolution / denouement

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