Drama

Drama is an art form with an exceptionally long provenance, dating to the early years of the Western tradition, in which actors portray the acts or lives of real or fictional persons in a manner meant to display the moral quandaries faced by the characters in the performance, and the difficult scenarios they face. In this sense, drama is an overarching genre of performance art.

Although the art form may have originated before this date, the birth of drama is most often associated with Greek civilization, and playwrights such as Euripides. The most famous avatar of the English-language tradition of drama is, of course, William Shakespeare, whose skill with the language, combined with his enduring treatment of basic themes of human emotion, have won him universal acclaim. His masterworks include Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and Macbeth.

Drama was traditionally divided into two forms: Comedy and Tragedy, representing the two extremes of the genre.

See also[edit]

• Famous American writers