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    This document provides guidance on how to analyze a play. It recommends examining the title, reading the entire play, and studying the ending to understand the overall meaning and purpose. Key elements to analyze include the plot, characters, dialogue, themes, setting, and how language and stylistic elements are used to convey meaning. The analysis should provide an interpretation of the play rather than just a summary.

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    HOW TO READ A PLAY

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    This document provides guidance on how to analyze a play. It recommends examining the title, reading the entire play, and studying the ending to understand the overall meaning and purpose. Key elements to analyze include the plot, characters, dialogue, themes, setting, and how language and stylistic elements are used to convey meaning. The analysis should provide an interpretation of the play rather than just a summary.

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    166 views1 page

    How To Read A Play

    Uploaded by

    E A
    This document provides guidance on how to analyze a play. It recommends examining the title, reading the entire play, and studying the ending to understand the overall meaning and purpose. Key elements to analyze include the plot, characters, dialogue, themes, setting, and how language and stylistic elements are used to convey meaning. The analysis should provide an interpretation of the play rather than just a summary.

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    HOW TO READ A PLAY

    Overview

    Drama tends to differ from other literary works by its reliance upon dialogue and characters. An analysis of a play
    is not a summary. An analysis requires an interpretation (explication) by the reader. An analysis may focus upon a
    single element of a play (plot, character, dialogue, etc.). An explication (or interpretation) of a work may
    concentrate on a specific part of the play (line-by-line or word-by-word). An explication entails not only what the
    work means, but how it accomplishes the author’s purpose.

    The General Process

    1. Examine the title: Is it indicative of a conflict or a human condition? Is it symbolic of something else? Is it
    sarcastic, satiric, humorous, or serious? Is it descriptive? Why do you think the author chose it?
    2. Read the play: Are there any indications of the meaning? What is the topic? The setting? The voice (the
    speaker)? Is there a historical or cultural link?
    3. Study the ending: Where has the play taken you?
    4. Examine the play by parts: Are the acts or scenes symbolic? Is there a purpose for breaking the acts or
    scenes at specific points?
    5. Determine the tone: What is the author’s attitude toward the subject of the play?

    Analysing Drama

    Approach a play by looking for clues. The following questions might help you discover a playwright’s purpose and
    how he or she attempts to convey meaning. When writing your paper, you may concentrate on only one of these
    “clues” or several of them. The first clue (theme), however, is usually the most critical.
    Read the play several times before starting your analysis. A slow, careful reading of the work is essential.

    1. What is the theme? What is the author trying to say? What is the play about? What is the significance of
    the play? How is the theme revealed through the characters? The plot? The dialogue? The acts or scenes?
    2. What happens? Are conflicts introduced? Resolved? Is the play tragic? Humorous? Insightful? Is the
    conflict external (man vs. man) or internal (man in conflict with self)?
    3. Who are the characters? Who is the protagonist? Antagonist? How do the characters relate to one
    another? What is their function within the plot? What are the “points of view” or perspectives of the
    characters? A perspective might be social, intellectual, political, or even physical.

    4. What is the setting? What is the time and place? How do they relate to the theme?

    5. Are there any key statements? Are there any critical lines expressed by the characters that indicate the theme
    or provide clues to personalities?

    6. How does language contribute to the meaning? Dialogue drives any play. How does the author use speech to
    develop the characters? Advance the plot? What kind of words are used? Are there words with double meanings?
    Are characters revealed by their dialects or jargon?

    7. Does the play refer to other literary works? For example, is there a Biblical reference?

    8. Is there a historical, ideological, or cultural aspect? Does the play relate to a world event, period of time, or
    particular aspect of culture (race, status, gender, class)? Does the play reflect any aspect of human condition or
    experience (love, hate, orderliness of the universe, etc.)?

    9. What qualities or emotions does the play evoke? How does it make you feel? Happy? Sad?

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