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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 3 page paper explores the concept of melodrama, and why both “Dr. Faustus,” a drama by Christopher Marlowe, and “Candida,” a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, can be considered melodramas. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_HVmlodrm.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
and Candida by George Bernard Shaw. Discussion When we think of melodrama today, the picture that comes to mind is of a mustached villain tying the heroine to the railroad
tracks. This is actually fairly accurate, because melodrama is more interested in dealing with "types" than in creating characters with psychological depth and emotional reality. The word "melodrama" comes from
"music drama," where each character had a "signature tune" and music was "used to increase emotions" (19th Century melodrama, 2004). The world in which these dramas took place was a
very simple moral universe: people were good or bad, black or white, with no shades of gray (19th century melodrama, 2004). The villain was clear from the beginning, and he
posed a threat to the hero and heroine who had to escape to enjoy their happy ending (19th century melodrama, 2004). The plays were relatively short, usually 2-5 acts but
hardly ever five acts long; that seems to be reserved for Shakespeare or "serious" drama (19th century melodrama, 2004). music was used to increase emotions or to signify characters
(signature music). Finally, the plays were full of special effects: "fires, explosions, drownings, earthquakes" (19th century melodrama, 2004). Dr. Faustus is Christopher Marlowes retelling of the Faust legend; the story
of the man who sells his soul to the devil in return for success and love in this world. The story itself is old, and the characters are stereotypes. Faustus
is a scholar, the devil is the tempter, and other characters play roles of friends and so on. Faustus has an unhealthy quest for knowledge and wants to know everything,
even those things man shouldnt know-that are the province of God. This is a very old idea; that there are things "man was not meant to know" and its been
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