The 19th century was the time what we called: realism developed in European theater. Um..to understand this though, we first need to look at the earlier form of drama known as well-made play, which basically was a pattern of constructing plays, plays that the beginning with some early 19th century’s comedy proved successfully commercially.

 

The dramatic device used here weren’t actually anything new, they have been around for centuries. But the formula for the well-made play required certain of these elements being included, in a particular order, and most importantly, that everything in the play be logically connected. In fact, some of these player writes would start by writing the end of a play. And the word “backward” toward the beginning, just to make sure each event led logically from what have been gone before. Ok, what are the necessary elements of a well-made play?

 

Well, the first is logical exposition. Exposition is whatever the background information you have to reveal to the audiences, so you’ll understand what is going on. Before this time, exposition might come from the actor simply giving speeches. Some might walk out on the stage and say: (lyric quotation).  And then tell all about the feuding family of Romeo and Juliet. But for the well-made plays, even the exposition had to be logical, believable. So, for example, there might have two savants, gossiping, as they are cleaning the house, and one says, oh, what a shame master’s son is still not married! And the other might mention the rumor about the mysterious gentleman who just moved into the town with the beautiful daughter. These comments are parts of the play’s logical exposition.

 

The next key element of well-made play is refered to as the inciting incident. After we had the background information, we need a key moment to get things moving, it really makes the audience interested in what happens to the characters we just heard about. So, for example, after two servants reveal all this background information, we meet the young man. Just as he firstly eyes on the beautiful young woman, then he immediately falls in love. This is the inciting incident, it sets off the plot of the play.

Now, the plots of a well-made play is usually driven by secrets. Things,  the audience know, but the characters often don’t know. So, for example, the audience learns through a letter or through someone else’s conversation. Who the mysterious gentleman is and why he left the town for many years before. But the young man doesn’t know about this. And the woman doesn’t understand the ancient connection between her family and his. Before the secrets are revealed to the main characters, the plot of the plays proceeds as series of the sort of the up and down moments. For example, the woman first appears not to even notice the young man, and it seems to him like the end of the world. But then he learned that she actually wants to meet him too, so the life is wonderful. Then he tries to talk with her, maybe her father gets furious for no apparent reason, so they cannot see each other. But just the young man almost lost all hopes, he finds out, well, you got the idea, the reversal the fortune continues, increasing the audience tension and excitement. Making them wonder if everything is going to come out OK or not.

 

Next comes in, element known as the obligatory scene. It’s a scene, a moment, in which all the secrets are revealed. In general, things turn out well for the hero and others we care about, a happy ending of some sort. This became so popular that the playwriters almost had to include it in every play, which is why is called the obligatory scene, And that’s followed by the final dramatic element, the denouement or resolution, when all the lucent have to be tied up in a logical way. Remember, the obligatory scene gives the audience emotional pleasure but the denouement offers the audience a logical conclusion. That’s the subtle distention that we need to try very hard to keep in mind.

 

So, as I said, the well-made play, this form of playwriting became the bases for realism in drama and for a lot of very popular 19th century plays. And also, a pattern we find in plots of the play in later plays and even the movie we see today.