Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
MELODRAMA Introduction to Melodrama
ˈmɛləә(ʊ)drɑːməә/ According to Oxford Dictionary definitions, melodrama is a sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions. Melodrama can also mean a play interspersed with songs and orchestral music accompanying the action.
Aquatic Theatre, Sadler’s Wells: Early 19th century Interior of the theatre in 1810. One can see the waterfilled tank on the stage.
In Merriam-Webster, melodrama is defined as a work (as a movie or play) characterised by extravagant theatricality and by the predominance of plot and physical action over characterisation. It is
Melodrama. England. Britain.
1
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
the genre of dramatic literature constituted by such works.
Melodrama is underrated.
Because of the paucity of literary attainments that accompanied melodrama, this type of play has been uniformly neglected or else passed over with slight comments.
Problems?
Great variety of forms that melodrama assumed and the great number of methods employed, consciously or unconsciously, to disguise it, have rendered the discovery of entirely satisfactory criteria for its determination, difficult. The difficulty is constantly emphasised by the great number of definitions that have been constructed to designate it. No one clear cut standard of melodrama existed in the period under consideration, as no single type of
Figure 1.2 Theatre poster for Henry Pettitt and Augustus Harris’ melodrama Human Nature, Drury Lane Theatre, London 1885
melodrama exists today.
As stated by William (1919), he categorise melodrama into 4 types of play. 1. plays brought in from abroad. (e.g. “A Tale of Mystery”) 2. school of terror . (e.g. most of the plays of “Monk” Lewis, in such plays as “bertram” and the tragedies) 3. musical play, in which almost anything of a more or less romantic nature is treated to
“In England, after 1802, changes in spelling may be noted: melo-drama, melodrama, melodrame.
incidental music and songs, so as to enable the minor theatres to evade the law. 4. domestic in type although the passion or sentiments involved are so much exaggerated that they fall into the realm of melodrama.
Other types of melodrama includes: animals used (along with the Romantic concept of nature), equestrian dramas (horses, often on treadmills — forerunners of the modern Western), canine melodrama (like Lassie) , nautical melodrama (interest in the sea), disaster melodrama.
Mentioned by William (1919), (Dr Mason in his monograph, “Melodrama in France from the Revolution to the Beginning of the Romantic Drama, 1791 - 1830,”. When first introduced into France from Italy, the word was used as a synonym for opera in general; in 1781, at DeBois’ suggestion, it acquired meaning of scene lyric and during the Revolution began to be applied to pantomime with dialogue. After 1800, popular tragedy Melodrama. England. Britain.
2
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
“appeared in its definitive form under the name melodrama.” One can also say that it originated from England with the English word, that is borrowed. Melodrama dominated the American stage from 1850-1920.
Theatrical Conventions of the style of melodrama in Britain
Figure 1.3 Proscenium Stage
Staging The plays were performed on Thrust or Proscenium Arch stages. There was very elaborate staging including earthquakes and volcanoes on stage. A proscenium can be said that it’s a “window” that frames the play taking place on the stage. This type of stage, gives everyone in the audience a good view because the performers need only focus on one direction rather than continually moving around the stage to give a good view from all sides.
A proscenium theatre arrangement also simplifies the hiding and obscuring of objects from the audience’s view (sets, performers not currently performing, and theatre technology). Anything that is not meant to be seen is simply placed outside the “window” created by the proscenium arch, either in the wings or in the fly space above the stage.
Scene Design: The Box Set Eliminated the wing and drop sets, “box set” was developed, with 3 walls and perhaps a ceiling to represent interiors. It consists of flats hinged together to represent a room,
Melodrama. England. Britain.
3
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
with practical elements, such as doors and windows (realism). This “realism” also led to the levelling of the stage floor, stagehands moving scenery manually (through grooves or chariot-and-pole systems were still used), revolving stages, elevators, rolling platforms, ground rows, closed front curtain, acting upstage of the proscenium line (rather than on the apron), and the 4th wall convention was accepted more fully.
Drury Lane Theatre
Figure 1.4 Box Set The Whip, mansion interior, photograph, Drury Lane, London, September 1909. copyright Victoria & Albert Museum, London
In 1847 the Theatre was cleaned and redecorated to the designs of Frederick Gye, the Illustrated London News reported on the changes, and added a sketch of the auditorium (shown below), The fronts of the boxes, and of the lower gallery (to which the whole of the upper circle is now appropriated) are laced with a bold trellis of gilt moulding, upon which are suspended festoons of flowers, also gilt. On the dress circle, the festoons are looped through wreaths; and, on the other tiers, are smaller and simpler festoons, without the
Figure 1. 5 Drury Lane Theatre, Redecorated - Julien’s Promenade Concert, 1847 Melodrama. England. Britain.
4
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
wreaths. The coved, or outer circle of the ceiling, is broken in the centre by the upper gallery, which has an unsightly effect from the stage; but, on each side, are elliptically arched openings, with bold foliage, richly gilt, on the piers and above the arches; over these is a deep cooing of lattice, gilt; and next is the bordure - a bold wreath - inclosing the inner circle of the ceiling. This is painted to imitate a cloudless sky ; around the circle are jets of gas, and, from an aperture in the centre, hangs a vast chandelier of cut glass; the aperture is wreathed, and around it are six winged boys, bearing festoons of flowers, in effect supporting the lustre.
Stage Craft Staging innovations popularised through melodramatic production included: Scrolling backdrops and treadmills to simulate travel, photographic backdrops, mechanical scenery with moving parts. Sets built to re s e m b l e c ro s s - s e c t i o n e d buildings,
allowing
simultaneous action in different rooms. With the use of electric РК0РЕВТ1ЕЗ — С08Т1ШЕЗ.
IV lighting, which illuminated much
better, thereРЕ0РЕЕТ1Е8. was an increased АС Т I. Всене 1. need greater realism. —ЕоШпд Рт, е вscenic ОпайЪгат. Ъпккогп— реп Всеке 2.for 2
Figure 1.6 Advertising card for The Streets of London, Princess Theatre, coloured ink on paper, published by Concanen, Lee & Siebe, London, 1864. Museum no. S.252—1986. copyright Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Тот
Сапе, Тот Боо-^газз. тенюгапскгш Ъоок, &г ^а,соЪ. Всеке 3. — Си<1§е1 — СиШзз ап<1 ЪеН, апй ригае оТ шопеу Гог Найске*. Всеке 4.— ВНуег (Ы1аг Гог Сгоззйгее. В^огй ап<1 Всеке 5. — 2 §ипз ап(1 е^шршеп^8 й>г шагтез. ап<1
There is experimentation with colouringПке.light and changing ЪеН Гог ЬдеиЪ. 6. —
Вийе ЪоШез, оп Н Всеке light toа! Ъаск reflect different &гтз оп. *т сирз,levels АСТ Fireproofing II. times of day. сепЪге,
1,аЪ1е
Ъш>
апй
&пй вЬооЪ
12
—
Всек'е 1,- Ъоп^ Ъоок 1аг§е е^шршеп^;5 Тот
1аЪ1е
сеп!ге, оп И Ъще шкз^апй — репз —
— лугШп§ рарег Props can §ипз scenery and props, it made a wider range of stage effects\аж safe—тагтез. to use. а! агтз. йгтавйег be
А
14 ска1гз оп Си-Ыазз апс1ЪеН,
т
6
апс1
Ъоок. ^шМеп рарег Всеие 2. —^а1сЬ. апс! скат
— капйч?Нк explosions, made comical - enlarged. Many special effects were — used: fires, апй а ЬИ зеаТз, ап<1 а ЪиПеЪ оТ Азреп Ъгее, со1оге(1 *оЪассо Ъох, апс1 воше ЪэскеЪ капсГкегсЫе!" Тот ШШага. — — Р1аШгт оп е н еоуегей тп*к Ыаск Ъоок Тот ВоЕгга 3. В1апк рарег Тот Сгозз^гее. Рагзоп. 81о^ та*,ск 1"ог ОШсег. Цшоп 1аск ап(1 уеПоту Йа§ оп епсИезз Ипе оп Гогешазй.
Costumes
enerated on 2015-10-02 12:39 GMT / http://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t4gm93h8p ublic Domain / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd
drownings,earthquakes.
Costumes were made to reflect the class that the character was in: lower, middle, or upper. Often, one or more costume pieces reflected or accentuated a character’s personality.
Figure 1. 7 Costume of “Black-Eyed Susan” or “All in the Downs” play. A nautical and domestic drama in two Acts by Douglas Jerrold Melodrama. England. Britain.
СОВТИМЕВ.
ТУшлам.— В1ие 1аске1; апй
т^кНе *гот7зегз, ап<1 т7а181соа1;, вЪга^ каЪ, тгНЬ Ыпе Ъапс1. Сарташ Скоззткее. — А пата1 сарЪат'з ишГогт. ОгХатвкаш. — А Ъ1ие ^аскеЪ, папкееп ичшзегз, тгЫЪе ка*,
апй §агс1епег'8
Ъ1ие
аргоп.
Дасов Тчутсо. — Сггееп йго^зегз, зкогЪ §гееп соа1, апй шизЪсоаЪ, "ш1к ^ЫЪе Ъеауег каЪ. ; Абмгкаь. — Ап ас1пига1 8 иш&гт.
Выге Ретее.
^Ы*е
1
' У ВаПог 8 иге 88 е 8 . Веа^ееб апсТ ойкегз, ВаПогз. ) Ьгехттекакт Рше.— -^ауа1 ЫепйепапЪ'з шпГогш. Вакее аиб Натснет. — РеШсоаЪ йготузегв, 1аг§е Ъгош1 ^аскеЬз, Ъоо*з, апс1 каггу сарз. Рьононвнаее. — А сопп^гутап'з Лгезз. 0;1гп>.
ВоаежАЗЗ. — А Ъготуп соаЪ, Ъгеескез, апс1 тталзЪсоаЪ, тИЬ йкгее согпегес1 ка*,. — тгЫ{;е А Ъго^п ореп §0Т7П, Визак. реШсоа!;, ап<1 тивНп аргоп, -ягкк тукНе §1р8у ЪаЪ, Ыттес! ^Нк ртк.
Воььу Матеьотуек.
—А
соипЪгу §1гРз йгезз.
5
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
Stock Characters Hero who is moral, handsome
and manly. He acts on his intuition and is in-tune to
nature. And, while he believes in justice, he does not always follow the less-important rules of society. Although the hero is always noble and good, he is sometimes duped by the villain’s nefarious plans, plans that often include endangering the heroine in order to lure the hero into a
trap. But with luck and fortitude, the hero escapes his trap in order
to triumph over the villain.
Heroine
The heroine is a paragon of virtue: truthful, faithful, respectful of her parents;
her beauty reflects her purity and innocent heart and complete lack of pettiness. She is also beautiful and courageous, but likely needed saving.
Villain
typically sneers and behind the backs of his victims, he laughs a sinister laugh.
Although he is eloquent and well-dressed, the villain lacks integrity and is not above engaging in sadistic acts such as tying the heroine onto railroad tracks and attempting to throw her over a cliff. These character is often dishonest, greedy, vengeful and corrupt.
Villain’s accomplice who is usually rather idiotic and serves as comic relief.
Faithful servant
who helps the hero uncover needed information on the villain. This
character also serves a comic relief, but does not come off as idiotic.
Maid servant who is flirty, fun and loyal to the heroine.
There is a tidy structure or formula to melodrama: a villain p o s e s a t h re a t , t h e h e ro escapes the threat (or rescues the heroine) and there is a happy ending. In melodrama there is constructed a world of heightened emotion, stock characters and a hero who rights the disturbance to the balance of good and evil in a moral universe. Melodrama. England. Britain.
Figure 1.8 François Delsarte Acting Theory 6
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
Figure 1.8 François Delsarte Acting Theory
Gestures Melodramatic acting was partly inspired by baroque and Rococo styles, but it had its own simplified code of gestures and postures. In American melodrama (and later in silent film) these poses were often based on the system developed by François Delsarte (1811-1871). He was a French actor, opera singer, and teacher who believed that a character’s emotional state could be projected to the audience through a formal set of gestures, postures, and physical attitudes. His ideas on how a character’s emotional state could be projected to the audience was the foundation of the Delsarte system of Expression published in 1885 by Genevieve Stebbins (1857-1914). Much of the acting was based on stereotypical physical gestures and vocal patterns taught by him. Exaggerated body language was used so everyone knew how was happening. Amongst the audience, not everyone knew English language. It is believed actors could convey emotions and inner thoughts through specific, pre-established gestures and body movements. There was a scientific approach to acting, consistent with the scientific spirit of the age. 19th century actors communicated with exaggerated and emotional body and voice. The aim of performances was to express romantic, humanistic ideals. Actors trained to "deliver" text with codified vocal and physical techniques.
Oratorical Gestures Images of the Delsarte system of expression, popularized in the 1880s and found in the volume: The Popular Entertainer and Self-Instructor in Elocution.
Melodrama. England. Britain.
7
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
Figure 1. 9 Images of the Delsarte system of expression (Chicago: Conkey, 1898) [in the collection of the Binecke Library as part of a salesmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sample book, including Woodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Natural History for Children]
Melodrama. England. Britain.
8
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
Henry Siddons, who worked as an actor in London between 1801 and 1809, writes in his work Illustrations of Gesture and Action (1822), "the most eloquent parts of the visage are the eyes, the eyebrows, the forehead, the mouth, the nose; in short, the whole head, as well as the neck, the shoulders, the hands, and the feet: there is no change of posture which may not have its particular expression or indication" (21-22). Adapting Johann Jakob Engel's Treatise on Gesture and Theatrical Action in the German Language (1785), Siddons published two editions of Illustrations of Gesture and Action to direct actors in the art of gesture in the early 19th century.
Music Songs were sometimes written specifically for individual productions by songwriters looking for quick cash, but like the texts of melodrama, the music of melodrama relied heavily on recycling --- of classical music, folk songs and popular ballads. The types of music used to indicate particular moods and situations became heavily codified. Sheet music for songs from popular melodramas were widely printed and sold---but as with the sales of the plays themselves, the profits went to the printers, not the writers.
Characteristics of Melodrama Melodrama divided humanity into good and evil types. Melodrama fostered the belief that evil people would always conspire against the innocent. They were fundamentally bourgeois in orientation, although it sometimes embraced other values.
According to McWilliam (2000), urban space became an important moral symbol in melodramatic spectacle.Plots frequently involved the oppression of the poor by the rich which appealed to the audiences of the nineteenth century. Melodrama allows for the possibility that drama could be found in the lives of the common people.
Melodrama. England. Britain.
9
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
Some of the developers/proponents of Melodrama Dion Boucicault (1820-1890) ¥ Born Dionysus Lardner Boursiqout in Ireland
¥ Began his theatre career in the 1840s, working in London and on Paris’s “Boulevard of Crime.”
¥ Lived and worked in New York from 1854-1860 and from 1875 to 1890.
¥ The most famous English-language playwright in the world at the height of his career.
¥ Other big hits were the anti-slavery
Figure 1.9 Dion Boucicault (1820-1890)
melodrama The Octoroon (1859), and the Ireland-set melodramas The Colleen Bawn (1860) and The Shaughraun (1874).
¥ First in the U.S. to demand and receive royalties for performances of his plays.
Dion Boucicault was the master of sensational melodrama, and his Irish plays in particular, but also his exploitation of the human costs of the growth of the cities, British imperialism, and interracial strife, were successful across the English-speaking world. The strength of such pieces was their heightening deployment of all possible theatre systems, exploding the internalized tensions of modern life into actualization by highly expressive acting feats of physical performance—mime, disguise, fighting—in impressive settings. Sensation melodrama was modern life illuminated and expanded by new technologies of gaslight and hydraulics. He combined sentiment, wit, and local colour with sensational and spectacular endings.
Melodrama. England. Britain.
10
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (1761-1819) ¥
German dramatist and writer
¥
Master of stagecraft and theatrical effect
¥ Wrote over 200 plays that were highly popular, not only in Germany but throughout Europe.
¥ Besides his plays, he wrote several historical works: his History of the German Empires.
Figure 2.0 August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue
¥ Two collections of Kotzebue's dramas were published during his lifetime: Schauspiele (5 vols., 1797); Neue Schauspiele (23 vols., 1798-1820).
His plays are based on sentimentality and a false standard of morals. Many of them come into the class of domestic drama. They are serious plays that, by making use of an undue amount of sentimentality or, by relying on some trick, change a tragic catastrophe to a happy ending.
E.g. “The Stranger”: The situation that is worked out from this fundamental problem is by no means the Kotzebue’s play, she is made a heroine, her crime is glossed over, and she is completely reconciled to her husband, just as she is about to part from him, by the appearance of the “long-motherless” children. “The Noble Lie”, a continuation of “The Stranger”, is also a domestic melodrama, as are mrs. Inchbald’s translations, produced as “Family Distress”, and “The Wise Man of the East”.
Douglas William Jerrold (1803-1857)
¥ Born in London January 3rd, 1803
¥ English playwright, journalist and writer, main contributor to the established Punch; or the London Charivari
¥ First success in the legitimate theatre was a domestic drama, The Rent Day at Drury Lane, 1832.
¥ He scored a huge success with a nautical Melodrama Black Eyed Susan, at Surrey Theatre, and was acted 400 times that year. ¥ He wrote numerous periodicals including Punch, the publication which associated with his name. Punch was a humorous and liberal publication Figure 2.1 Douglas William Jerrold where Jerrold’s liberal and radical perspective by Hugh Welch Diamond, albumen print, circa 1856 Melodrama. England. Britain.
11
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
was portrayed under the pseudonym ‘Q’.
Douglas wrote many farces and melodramas for the minor theatres from 1818 to 1832, working for a few months in 1828 as a much exploited house dramatist at the Coburg.
François Alexandre Nicolas Chéri Delsarte (1803-1857) He was a French singer who had lost his voice because of poor teaching practices. He began to study the relationship between physical behaviour, emotion, and language in order to formulate scientific principles of expression. He develop an acting style that attempted to connect the inner emotional experience of the actor with a systematised set of gestures and movements based upon his own observations of human interaction. He moves beyond the static systems of gestural actor training that were used in the 17th and 18th centuries by paying attention to the dynamics of motion. One hallmark of natural language is opposition. Actors had to decide: 1) the length of time of the gesture; 2) the stress and speed of the gesture; and 3) the direction of the gesture. each of which involves not two but a whole range of choices.
This “Delsarte” method became so popular that it was taught throughout the world, but particularly in America, by many teachers Figure 2.2 The Expression of the Emotions by Francois Delsarte.
who did not fully understand or communicate the emotional connections behind the gestures, and as a result the
method devolved into melodramatic posing, the kind in response to which Constantin Stanislavski would later develop his inner psychological methods.
Melodrama. England. Britain.
12
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
Philippe Jacques DeLoutherbourg (1740-1812) According to Theatre Arts Journal, he was a Franco-British painter who became known for his large naval works, and elaborate set designs for London theatres, and his invention of a mechanical theatre called the “Eidophuikkon”.
In 1771 he settled in London, where David Garrick paid him to design scenery costumes and oversee the stage machinery at the Drury Lane Theatre. Stage effects attracted the admiration not just of the general public, but also of artists, including Joshua Reynolds. He devised scenic effects such as green trees gradually became russet and the moon rose and lit the edges of passing clouds: illusions achieved through the use of coloured lantern slides and the ingenious lighting of transparencies.
Figure 2.3 Das Eidophusikon, das Wolkentheater „Eidophusikon“ im Altonaer Museum, Hamburg Forum Papier theatre galerie
Eidophusikon, meaning “image of nature” was a miniature mechanical theatre measuring six by eight feet, and described as displaying “Various Imitations of Natual Phenomena, represented by Moving Pictures”. He used Argand Lamps to light the stage and stained glass to change colours. He expanded the possibilities of this mode of staging through
Melodrama. England. Britain.
13
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
Figure 2.4 A view of Philip James de Loutherbourg’s Eidophusikon at I a man bowing to a woman, to figures seated on a bench in the foreground, watching a scene titled ‘Satan Arraying his Troops on the Banks of a Fiery Lake, with the Raising of the Palace of Pandemonium’ during a performance of Milton’s “Paradise Lost” on a stage labelled EIDOPHUSIKON in a cartouche above. c. 1782 Pen and grey ink and grey wash, with watercolour, The Trustees of the British Museum
the addition of ground rows masking the bottom of the flats and drops, better lighting, attention to the unity of design and other reforms.
Mentioned by Kornhaber, The Christmas Tale for the 1772-73 season—De Loutherbourg painted eight backdrops, including four highly detailed rural scenes akin to those that had won him accolades in Paris. But he endowed these frozen paintings with a sense of motion by literally breaking apart certain backdrops to allow the discovery of others, such as when “the rocks split open and discover the castle of Nigromant” or “the seraglio breaks to pieces, and discovers the whole palace in flames” or “the flames and ruins of the castle vanish away, and discover a fine moonlight scene.” To achieve these effects, De Loutherbourg employed a combination of Drury Lane’s newly introduced
Melodrama. England. Britain.
14
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
mechanical scene drops, which prevented interruptions from stage hands, and a new technique of painting scenery on gauze rather than cloth so that it would seem to disappear when lit from behind—what would come to be known in today’s terms as a scrim. Through these techniques, De Loutherbourg sought to impart on static paintings a sense of life and motion.
Audience of the day Although some audiences initially rejected melodrama as obvious and crude, the genre proved flexible and diverse enough to overcome most objections to it by the 1880s. As a working-class leisure culture becomes increasingly well-defined and distinct late in the 18th century, melodrama, which earlier made its appeals to diverse audiences, plays directly to the middle class and loses its position of prominence on the stage. Cutlers, joiners, saddlers, shoemakers, knife grinders, hairdressers, apprentices, clerks and labourers could afford the shilling for the gallery. There was a considerable working class-audience. Working class spectators, attending the theatre in increasing numbers after the 1820s, enjoyed plays like The Carpenter of Rouen (1837) that pitted plebeian avengers against decadent aristocrats. Audience response was very basic emotion appeals involve ‘arousal of pity and indignation at the wrongful opposition of good people and intense dislike for wicked oppressors”.
Figure 2.5 A Cheap Theatre, Sunday Night (p.17) by Edward G. Dalziel. Wood engraving. From Dicken’s “Two Views of a Cheap Theatr,” chapter four in The uncommercial Traveller. The bare, curtained stage, unlit, is occupied by a solitary presiding minister, reading the scripture at a rostrum, backed by a phalanx of "some thirty gentlemen, and two or three ladies" (17-18).
Melodrama. England. Britain.
15
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
The Early ninetieth-century audiences were not civilised and silent, but lively and rowdy, and reacted by weeping, cheering and hissing. At times, they fought each other and threw things on the stage, and gallery-goers were ‘never too inhibited to call out for what pleased them most’.1 Reactions were usually spontaneous, although plays were sometimes hissed off stage as part of a plan by rival players or managers, but reports of the audience show that their criticism of acting was quite sophisticated. A lack of inhibition in response is not indicate of an inability to appreciate good drama. Early melodrama aimed to appeal to a working class audience. Thus, the heroes and heroines were nearly always from the working class and the villains were aristocrats or the local squire. Melodramas pursued seriously by middle-class audiences as theatregoing became a fashionable pastime again in the 1870s. Audience interaction creates the maximum sense of empowerment. The people in the audience may be helpless at home but they can beat the bad guys at the show. Some say that the influx of working-class spectators into the 19th-century theatre, and their behaviour once there, drove away the more refined segment of the audience. Comments made by foreign visitors to the English theatre support this conclusion, noting that the vocal audience response to the action sometimes seemed crude and distracting. Melodrama validated the claim of ordinary people to a kind of aristocracy based on virtue and personal integrity rather than wealth and power. It took the lives of common people seriously and paid respect to their superior purity and wisdom. It held up ideals and promised rewards. Its moral parable struggled to reconcile social fears with the period’s confidence in absolute moral standards, man’s upward progress, and a benevolent providence that insured the triumph of the pure.
The rhetorical language and visual appeal of nineteenth-century drama is not out of place in theatres with audience capacity of 3,000 or more, while a scene such as William’s court martial in Jerrold’s Black-Ey’d Susan, which takes a minute to read, actually lasted for ten minutes or more in performance, as the original musical score for the play clearly indicates. Melodrama enabled its audiences to negotiate change in a period of imperialism, industrial growth and socioeconomic instability, often through the use of contrast, humour and irony.
Figure 2.6 interior of Astley’s Amphitheatre
1
Donohue, Theatre in the Age of Kean, pp. 154 - 155.
Melodrama. England. Britain.
16
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
Key plays A Tale of Mystery (1802) by Thomas Holcroft It is the first English play to be called a melodrama. Translated by the radical playwright Thomas Holcroft from Pixerecourt Colina, ou l’infant du mystery (Paris 1800), and staged at Covent Garden in 1802. According to Moody and O’Quinn (2007), the set is a character and an archetypal Romantic one: a sublime landscape, a storm embodying the moral force of nature, steep paths, crags and narrow bridges. The villain acts with the scenery and delivers speeches of horror and repentance in dialogue with the sound effects and music. The play is dubbed a ‘melodrame’ because music does not accompany but actively participates in the scene, shaping the narrative and extending what the characters do and say as well as framing the audience’s responses.
Early French melodramas normally work upon a relatively straightforward if rather illogical dynamic
Figure 2.7 A Tale of Mystery, a Melodrame by Thomas Holcroft
between helpless, but invulnerable, good and dominant, but defeated, evil. According to Pisani (2014), Holcroft made many revisions to the plot, converting Pixerecourt’s three acts to two, simplifying the longer speeches, and shifting the emphasis from explanation to action. The mystery of the story hinges on why Francisco will not reveal his secret and the nature of the animosity between the two brothers. Holdroft’s modifications to Pixerecourt’s original encourage the audience, as Jane Moody notes in her analysis of this play, to perceive Romaldi not just as a criminal and cardboard villain but as a figure of pity.
Figure 2.8 “A Tale of Mystery” by Thomas Holcroft, 1802. One of the first English melo-drames. London: R. Phillips Melodrama. England. Britain.
17
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
Black Eyed Susan (1829) by Douglas William Jerrold Black-Eyed Susan; or, All in the Downs (1829) is a nautical melodrama which used a serious plot with comic subplots to examine the forces of good and evil; innocence and corruption; poverty and wealth. The story involved a sailor, returning to England from the Napoleonic Wars to find his wife tormented by her crooked uncle and the drunken captain of the hero’s ship. Attempting to save his wife results in a court-martial for attacking a senior officer. The play praised the patriotic British sailor and criticised the harsh rules of the Navy. Gilbert and Sullivan used elements of the story in their comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore (1878).
Figure 2.9 Black Eyed Susan An advertisement for Black Eyed Susan autographed by the actor who plays the main role of William, E.L Davnenport. University of Bristol Theatre Collection.
The play was Jerrold’s first big success, premiering on 26 January 1829 at the Surrey Theatre and running a new record of over 150 performances. Britain at the time was recovering from the fallout of the Neapoleanic Wars and was in the midst of a class war involving the Corn laws, and a reform movement, which resulted in the Reform Act
of 1832 aimed at reducing corruption. The play showed simultaneously at the Covent Garden Theatre for part of the original run, and soon after it closed at Surrey, it was revived at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, for a total run of over 300 nights.
According to Patterson (2007), the play established a model for 19th century melodrama, satisfying its audiences with its cliffhanger ending and its moral clarity: on the one hand the villainous Doggrass and Hatchet; on the other the noble William, the long-suffering Susan, and a number of minor characters, like the reformed bailiff Jacob Twig and the well-meaning of ineffectual Gnatbrain. Jerrold, himself a former midshipman, peppers the dialogue with nautical terms, offering the 1820s audience the additional frisson of feeling part of the glorious post-Trafalgar British navy.
Britain at that time was recovering from the fallout of the Napoleonic Wars, and was in the midst of a class war involving the Corn laws, and a reform movement, which resulted in the Reform Act of 1832 aiming at reducing corruption. Thus the people could resonate with the play.
Melodrama. England. Britain.
18
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
Uncle Tom Cabin (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe This is an anti-slavery novel where Stowe, a Connecticut-born teacher at the Hartford Female Seminary and an active abolitionist, featured the character of Uncle Tom, a longsuffering black slave around whom the stories of other characters revolve. The sentimental novel depicts the reality of slavery while also asserting that Christian love can overcome something as destructive as enslavement of fellow human beings. The book and the plays it inspired helped popularize a number of stereotypes about black people. These include the affectionate, dark-skinned "mammy"; the "pickaninny" stereotype of black children; and the "Uncle Tom", or dutiful, long-suffering servant faithful to his white master or mistress. In recent years, the negative associations with Uncle Tom's Cabin have, to an extent, overshadowed the historical impact of the book as a "vital antislavery tool.” It can also be examined for what it revealed about the political conditions of the country in 1850s and later. “It entered into the national consciousness (and conscience), catching the attention of almost everyone. A production of Uncle Tome’s Cabin was a presentation and a representation. It presented white actors in
Figure 3.0 Uncle Tom’s Cabin
blackface playing the roles of black people, as part of theatrical event. It also represented some of the conditions of slavery, including suffering of blacks and the immorality of a racist society.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin proved to be a major historical event, both
French’s text includes a Cast of Characters that identifies many of the actors who played in five different major productions of Aiken’s version of Uncle Tom’s Cabin between 1852 and 1858.
nationally and internationally, with several lines of political, social and ethical significance. As a dramatic and performance text, it offered representations of the world outside the theatres.
According to American Icons, Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin to promote the abolitionist cause, basing some of her novel on the testimony of an escaped slave.
According to Spark’s Notes, uncle Tom’s Cabin was written after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which made it illegal for anyone in the United States to offer aid or assistance to a runaway slave. Stowe explores the question of slavery in a fairly Melodrama. England. Britain.
19
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
mild setting, in which slaves and masters have seemingly positive relationships. Although Stowe wrote uncle Tom’s Cabin before the widespread growth of the women’s rights movement of the late 1800s, the text portrays women as morally conscientious, committed, and courageous — indeed, often as more morally conscientious, committed, and courageous than men.
Uncle Tom's Cabin struck a nerve and found a permanent place in American culture. Translated into more than sixty languages, it is known throughout the world. After a century and a half this classic anti-slavery novel remains an engaging and powerful work, read in college and high school courses dealing with literature, history, and issues of race and gender.
Examine how the style fits with the period, politic, and environment it was written for and its impact The Industrial Revolution in 1800’s saw a shift from rural to urban living. Scientific discoveries through observations led to machines. Some people became extremely rich, but most ended up very poor.
Queen Victoria's reign, from 1837 until her death in 1901, was a period of peace, prosperity and growth for Britain. The end of the era saw Britain established as a major industrial power with a global Empire, ruling over a quarter of the world's population.
The Victorian Age was characterised by rapid change and developments in nearly every sphere - from advances in medical, scientific and technological knowledge to changes in population growth and location. It was a complex and often contradictory time that saw great expansion of wealth, power, and culture.
During the 19th century Britain was transformed by the industrial revolution. In 1801, at the time of the first census, only about 20% of the population lived in towns. By 1851 the figure had risen to over 50%. By 1881 about two thirds of the population lived in towns. Furthermore in 1801 the majority of the population still worked in agriculture or related industries. Most goods were made by hand and very many craftsmen worked on their own with perhaps a labourer and an apprentice. By the late 19th century factories were common and most goods were made by machine.
Melodrama. England. Britain.
20
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
Politics According to the Proceedings of the O l d b a i l e y, t h e Metropolitan Board of Works was elected by the Common Council of the City and the vestries. Then, in January 1889 came t h e fi r s t d i r e c t elections for a new metropolis-wide body to
supervise
metropolitan administration â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the London County Council. But even after the creation of the LCC,
Figure 3.1 Wellington, Authur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769-1852 Lewis Walpole Library new acquisition: July, 2010
London's government remained haphazard and decentralised, with the old vestries and City of London continuing to function in parallel to the LCC, while the new body was granted only limited powers over other city-wide organisations. Fear that an elected LCC might result in a socialist majority fuelled the argument for keeping the Metropolitan Police under the authority of the Home Secretary.
While few took to the streets to demand the reform of local government, urban radicals played a significant role in the long-drawn-out campaigns for the extension of the franchise. During the 1790s a powerful political infrastructure had been created in the corresponding societies. This laid the foundations for later radicalism. By the 1820s, after the popular upheaval associated with the Queen Caroline AďŹ&#x20AC;air, and driven by economic dislocation, working- and middle-class Londoners became increasingly politicised. In the 1830s and 1840s there were mass meetings of reformers, most notably the Chartists. There was rioting in Hyde Park at the time of the Second Reform Act in 1867, a massive demonstration in the same park with a crowd estimated at 120,000, during votes on the third reform act in 1884, and turbulence in the late 1880s as political radicals sought to channel the anger of the unemployed and underemployed.
Melodrama. England. Britain.
21
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
According to Kam (2007), despite the repeated efforts at reform, electoral corruption persisted throughout the 19th century in Britain. The three Reform Acts passed in1832, 1868, and 1885 were hugely important in transforming Britain from a corrupt, clientelistic oligarchy into a modern democracy. The Acts are chiefly remembered for extending the franchise, but the redistribution of seats and redrawing of constituency boundaries that accompanied the Acts were equally critical to Britain’s democratic development. Three types of corruption prevailed in borough elections: bribery, treating and colourable employment. Bribery involved a direct payment in cash or kind to the voter, treating was the free provision of food and drink to voters, and colourable employment, the practice of engaging voters in nominal jobs.
Social Conditions Due to large numbers of people moving to the cities, there were not enough houses for all these people to live in. Low wages and high rents caused families to live in as small a space as possible. Sometimes whole families lived in one room.
Furthermore, typhus, typhoid, tuberculosis and cholera all existed in the cities of England. Cholera reached England for the first time in 1830, and there were further major epidemics 1832 and 1848. Overcrowding, housing of a low standard and poor quality water supplies all helped spread disease.
Houses were built very close together so there was little light or fresh air inside them. They did not have running water and people found it difficult to keep clean. House often suffered from damp due to their thin walls and roofs made out of cheap materials. Many households had to share a single outside toilet that was little more than a hole in the ground.
In the last decade of the nineteenth century London's population expanded to four million,
Figure 3.2 Poverty and squalor - Blue Gate Fields, 1872. Taken from London: A Pilgrimage by Blanchard Jerrold and Gustave Doré
which spurred a high demand for cheap housing. London slums arose initially as a result of rapid population growth and industrialisation. They became notorious for overcrowding, unsanitary and squalid living conditions. Most well-off Victorians were ignorant or pretended to be ignorant of the subhuman slum life, and many, who heard
Melodrama. England. Britain.
22
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
about it, believed that the slums were the outcome of laziness, sin and vice of the lower classes. However, a number of socially conscious writers, social investigators, moral reformers, preachers and journalists, who sought solution to this urban malady in the second half of the nineteenth century, argued convincingly that the growth of slums was caused by poverty, unemployment, social exclusion and homelessness.
Crime A website on Victorian’s crime and punishment describes the conditions in the early 1800’s. With the Industrial revolution at its height, new industries and technologies were transforming everyday life. For the owners of the new factories and businesses, the opportunities seemed endless, bringing new wealth and influence. However, for the workers in the factories and their families, life was often grim.
It was a time of rising crime and increasing squalor, as people packed into the slums of the ever expanding cities. In rural areas, changes to agricultural practices left many labourers without sufficient work to support their families. To feed their families, many turned to crime. Poaching was a common crime in rural areas and petty theft in urban areas. The crowded cities also provided opportunities for thieves to ply their trade. Even for those with work in the factories, the change from reasonable prosperity to poverty could be swift. It only took an outbreak of disease or an injury at work, to leave a family without the support of the main wage earner. Older children had to earn a living and help with household tasks.
Poverty Furthermore, many families were dependant on poor relief. The winters in the early 19th century were exceptionally bitter. In 1801, everything froze for 13 weeks and the number of families applying for support rose sharply. The settlement laws made it difficult for people to move around to find work, as they had to have a certificate from their parish agreeing to take them back if they became chargeable to the state. As more and more families required support from the parish, discontent with the poor law grew. The payment for the poor law came from taxes on property owners but, in reality, these were often Figure 3.3 In an East-End Gin Shop by Phil May, 1899 Walter Besant’s East London Melodrama. England. Britain.
23
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
passed on to the tenants that rented the properties, causing more hardship. However the poor law itself was about to change.
According to Tim Lambert, at the end of the 19th century more than 25% of the population of Britain was living at or below subsistence level. Surveys indicated that around 10% were very poor and could not afford even basic necessities such as enough nourishing food. Between 15% and 20% had just enough money to live on (provided they did not lose their job or have to take time off work through illness). If you had no income at all you had to enter the workhouse. The workhouses were feared and hated by the poor. They were meant to be as unpleasant as possible to deter poor people from asking the state for help. However during the late 19th century workhouses gradually became more humane.
Freedom Nearing the end of 18th century, French Revolution spurred the idea of democracy. There was a belief in natural law and universal order.
According to Zarzosa (2010), the philosophical systems and cosmologies that these strategies imply serve the purpose of imagining the self as free. These three dramatic modes have two more things in common: first the do not attempt to change the world directly; and, second, instead of fighting the agent of external pain, they attempt an internal transformation that would either minimise suffering or give it a rational sense. In other words, these modes constitute ways of warding off the world, and their inability to engage with the world ultimately accounts for their failure to ameliorate suffering. The failure of these modes equals the recognition that freedom might not be found in an unpolluted realm but rather in the empirical world its. As a result, instead of a world divided between a realm of bondage and a realm of rational or spiritual freedom, the world becomes populated by ideas that traverse both realms. In melodrama, we understand suffering not as a direct consequence of bondage but rather as a result of the ideas that regulate their lives. Thus melodrama attempts to change the world, setting off ideas against one another and hoping to find an idea that would eventually eradicate suffering altogether.
REALISM Realism was first recognized during the 1850s. Since in Darwin’s theories (1859), he believed that all forms of life have developed gradually from a common ancestry. Evolution of species was explained by “survival of the fittest”. This caused some implications that include: Heredity and environment are the primary causes for everything humans are or do.
Melodrama. England. Britain.
24
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
Thus, people cannot be held fully responsible for their actions since heredity and environment cannot be fully controlled. There was a constant want of progress, with a constant belief that change is needed, rather than fixity, or the norm.
Furthermore, with Sigmund Freud’s theories, it is believed that the basic human instincts are aggression and sexuality. Without intervention, humans would seek to satisfy own instincts with regard for others. There was a need for socialisation: rewards and punishments teach acceptable behaviour as it saw the development of a superego. Superego means an interior, subconscious censor or judge. People believed that the highest form of morality is truth. Playwrights wrote primarily about contemporary subjects and introduced topics such as unsavoury social conditions.
By 1850, there was importance in providing historical accuracy. Thus, realistic scenery and costumes had been used to provide spectacular or picturesque background. But Realism was based on the idea that environment shapes character. Setting was re-conceived of as an environmental factor and not merely a picturesque background. Each play’s scenic needs were therefore viewed as unique and particular expressions. The views of realists was grounded in the scientific outlook – the need to understand human behaviour in terms of natural cause and effect. Consequently, it is brought to a common understanding that truth can only be verified through the sense. Playwrights should only write about the society around them, and do so objectively. Thus it is evident that melodrama plays revolve around their social conditions and environment. Plays portrayed behaviour not previously staged or though of as fit for public presentation. There was a constant thought to challenge moral values and social norms. Many of Ibsen’s plays were denied production because they were thought to be immoral and corrupting.
Theatre Based on an article onlne, during Victoria’s reign the theatre continued to attract large audiences, but there was a significant increase in mass popular entertainment, in keeping with the changing mood of the times. Although Victorian social classes were very clearly defined, reflecting the sharp divisions that existed between rich and poor, a good deal of popular Victorian entertainment appealed to everyone regardless of their social position.
The rise of the middle class contributed greatly to the expansion of the theatre throughout the century. The growth of the mercantile class through trade meant that more people had social mobility. An improvement in life, both fiscally and economically, led to a more status-conscious society.
Melodrama. England. Britain.
25
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
According to Victorian Web, In British theatre history, playhouses and scripts targeted the working, lower-middle class, mainly focusing on the themes of daily urban life in London, and what was called the “entertainment industry of an urban industrial society” (Jackson 1). During a period of rapidly increasing urban population and modes of transportation, as well as the rise of successful competitors to the previously limited ‘legitimate’ stages, theatre was now becoming a central expression of popular culture. Attending these new theatres by the masses, “the physical and moral simplicities” (Dyos and Wolff 213). They were often illiterate and did not appreciate the refined tragedy/ comedy of the past century. Instead, they wanted “the colour, action, excitement, illusion, poetic justice, and moral satisfaction that constituted an escape from the dreary monotony and daily discomfort of lives spent mostly in the business of survival” (Dyos and Wolff 213). Instead, the audiences wanted “the colour, action, excitement, illusion, poetic justice, and moral satisfaction that constituted an escape from the dreary monotony and daily discomfort of lives spent mostly in the business of survival” (Dyos and Wolff 213).
Throughout most of Europe, plays had to be approved by a censor prior to performance for public audiences. Performances done by a group for its members only were considered private performances thus not subjected to censorship. In the late 1880s, a number of small independent theatres exploited this loophole. One of the playwrights is George Bernard Shaw. One of the independent theatres that emerged was The Moscow Art Theatre by playwright Anton Chekhov. He employed Stanislavsky’s system of acting.
Strict censorship was enforced on the London stage, where the only apparent consensus between many contending interests was that politics should never be allowed in drama. For example, Schiller’s The Robbers(1781) was banned; Europe-wide performances of Masaniello, about the rise and fall of a humble man, were suspected of contributing to the revolutions of 1830–1.
The “legitimate” theatres in London (e.g. Theatre Royal Drury Lane) saved themselves from financial ruin by putting their productions of the classics on double bills with melodramas. The unprecedented popularity of melodramas such as Black-Eyed Susan and The Poor of New York led theatres to adopt the now common practice of doing a long, continuous “run” of a single show. Boucicault invented the modern concept of the licensed touring production as a way to prevent writers and companies outside of New York from pirating his work. He was lobbying for the legal rights of playwrights, who received miserable pay in the American theatre, helped bring about the International Copyright Agreement of 1886, which gave playwrights control over the publication and production rights for their plays.
Melodrama. England. Britain.
26
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
“I write for those who cannot read.” Pixérécourt, French writer of melodrama in late 18th and early 19th centuries. As stated in the Victorian Web, Dickens described a visit to the Royal Victoria Theatre in his Household Words:
The Theatre was extremely full. The prices of admission were, to the boxes, a shilling; to the pit, sixpence; to the gallery, threepence. The gallery was of enormous dimensions (among the company, in the front row, we observed Mr. Whelks); and overflowing with occupants. It required no close observation of the attentive faces, rising one above another, to the very door in the roof, and squeezed and jammed in, regardless of all discomforts, even there, to impress a stranger with a sense of its being highly desirable to lose no possible chance of effecting any mental improvement in that great audience.
As wealth began to grow among the middle-class, attendance at the theatres increased, and owners began to drop their prices to profit from volume. The previous patent theatres (Drury Lane, Covent Garden and Haymarket) were not as populated by the lower classes because they were still too expensive, but with increased salaries, more were able to attend. Emigration also had an effect on “urban theatre as well as on urban economics, and two of the particular characteristics of Victorian melodrama were its idealisation of the village home and its denigration of London” (Dyos and Wolff 213). Economics and social transformations were both the subject matter and cause for the success of the new commercialised theatre.
Inflated salaries were paid to star performers on the stage and a great part of a theatre's income also had to be used to fund the spectacular kind of theatre (aquatic dramas, hippo-dramas, and so on) favoured by the theatre-going public of the period. Despite success with Melodrama Black Eyed Susan, Jerrold made no money.
Change in Theatrical Productions Nineteenth-century playwrights proved as eager as nineteenth-century novelists to emulate the camera, but major innovations in technology were required before photographically accurate scene pictures could be mounted on stage. By the early 1800s, theatres could be equipped with substantial backstage storage space and revolving turntables; no longer did plays have to be presented against a single generalized painted backdrop. Gas lights were introduced into some theatres in the 1820s and by mid-century, lighting effects could be overseen by a technician stationed at a central control board. Sunlight could become moonlight and summer turn into fall in
Melodrama. England. Britain.
27
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
the course of a single performance; specific geographical locales could be reproduced on stage and shifted with ease.
The previous patent theatres (Drury Lane, Covent Garden and Haymarket) were not as populated by the lower classes because they were still too expensive, but with increased salaries, more were able to attend. Emigration also had an effect on “urban theatre as well as on urban economics, and two of the particular characteristics of Victorian melodrama were its idealisation of the village home and its denigration of London” (Dyos and Wolff 213). Economics and social transformations were both the subject matter and cause for the success of the new commercialised theatre.
New technologies enhanced the mechanical sophistication of the means by which the appearance and sudden disappearance of supernatural beings could be effected on the stage from the vampire trap devised for J. R. Planche’s 1820 romantic melodrama The Vampire to the Corsican trap devised for Boucicault’s The Corsican Brothers in 1852 and the first theatrical use of Pepper’s Ghost (dependent on a sheet of plate glass and reflection) in Britannia melodramas in 1863, sensationally superseding the earlier impact of the phantasmagoria displays of the supernatural at the beginning of the century.
According to Brunch College digital collection, these resources were exploited in only a few extravagant productions. A famous early treatment of Schiller's Maid of Orleans recreated the French countryside and churches of Joan's childhood, most spectacularly in a coronation scene that had hundreds of actors and musicians on stage in full view of the audience. A London production in the l850s of Sardanapalus, written by Lord Byron, the English Romantic poet, actually set up on the stage a replica of an ancient Babylonian palace that seemed to be consumed by fire at every performance, thanks to intricate scenic construction and lighting devices.In other words, the stage in the midnineteenth century was capable of providing audiences with the large-scale panoramas that we associate with historical films. The embrace of limits that had fuelled the imagination of earlier dramatists had been eclipsed by a fascination for decorative effect. This era of extravagant staging is notable as well for a new emphasis on the actor as celebrity, for star performers quickly learned to exploit the sophisticated lighting boards by commanding spotlights to follow their every movement onstage. Offstage, actors hired railroad cars and crossed Europe and America in hugely publicised personal tours. Stage image and star power drew so much attention that an entirely new theatrical professional, the director, emerged. The director's job was to coordinate the performances of self-absorbed actors and to oversee every detail of the expensive and complicated productions audiences increasingly demanded.
Melodrama. England. Britain.
28
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
Boulevard Theatre Mid-nineteenth century Europe luxuriated in the profits of industrial progress; not only in France, but also in England, new ruling classes based on wealth rather than intellect or inheritance wielded power. The theatre, always a barometer of social change, celebrated its achievements, and monied audiences gloried in a style of drama that catered to their tastes.
In place of myth and history, of tragic heroes and nationalist firebrands, Boulevard dramatists and other playwrights of the mid-nineteenth century focused on comfortable middle-class lives. Drama in the pre-Romantic era had begun to extend the range of subjects to include sympathetic portraits of humble and ordinary people. In the conservative middle of the century, however, melodrama concentrated on the upper middle-class world of privilege funded by money and power rather than birth. The nouveaux riches were both envied and disdained by the old aristocrats, who responded with a heightened snobbery and avoided the gathering places where the new elite went to amuse themselves.
Proscenium Stage With proscenium arch, the heavy curtain, and the darkened auditorium, it segregated performers from audiences resulting in the public's shift of attention from stage action to social interplay. Modern theatre directors have sought to restore the spectators' vital role in two diametrically opposed ways, either by disregarding the barrier separating audiences from actors or by insisting on it. Dramatic realists treat the space before the stage as the so-called fourth wall, with audiences in eďŹ&#x20AC;ect spying on the activities of their neighbours for the night, the actors appearing before them in essentially realistic settings. Other playwrights emphasise the gap between theatrical illusion and everyday reality. The early modern dramatists forced complacent and self-absorbed theatregoers to recognise the dilemmas of their own lives in the staged plays performed before them; the later modern dramatists force theatregoers to take account of the distance between them and the actors in front of them. In each phase of modern drama, however, the playwright strives to make theatrical experience integral to the life of the viewer and not simply a pleasant entertainment.
Audiences Audiences were more informed of theatrical conventions and many could appreciate theatre plays as an art form. Mentioned in McWilliam (2000), The ninetieth-century audience was more sophisticated than its reputation would suggest, able to laugh at the absurd plots and yet feel thrilled by them at the same time. The appeal of melodrama was determined by moral certainty of the society, which led to its downfall as the form never overcame the resistance to moral ambiguity or relativism. McWilliam also points Melodrama. England. Britain.
29
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
out that, tracing melodramatic discourse enables historians to examine the ways in which moral absolutes ranged through the culture. With its expressions of conflict and excess, melodrama shaped culture.
Different classes were segregated: financially by the cost of the tickets; and physically by the requirement to use separate entrances and exits and circulation routes. The rich entered via illuminated entrances, with grand staircases and rich carpets: the cheaper seats via smaller side or rear entrances, with less grand staircases and public areas. Also, the benched pit in front of the stage was replaced by more comfortable seats and carpeted aisles for the rich. The cheaper seats were now restricted to the rear stalls behind a wooden barrier, known as the ‘pit’, and the balcony or gallery. The purpose was to bring respectability to theatre-going and make it more socially acceptable for the middle classes.
Melodrama Today Melodrama’s influence went beyond the stage, affecting novelists throughout the period —Dickens, Wilkie Collins, and even Henry James. It was a direct influence on the silent screen, and its techniques persist today in film, television, fiction, and theatre. Sir Henry Irving (1830’s-1905) became the first actor to be knighted for his achievements in 1895. Melodrama can also be found in older and modern day film. One example is Charlie Chaplin, who used melodrama techniques to communicate. Another example is the British TV series ‘Mr. Bean’.
Why does it still resonant with people till today?
Melodrama is ubiquitous on television: it is evident, for example, in a long series of TV movies about diseases or domestic violence, or the large number of hour-long television programs about lawyers, police officers, or physicians. They can be found in Hong Kong serial dramas, Korean dramas and sitcoms and Indian Bollywood.
According to Bruce McConanchie, he states, there are three examples of stories that make good melodrama, a popular dramatic form during many historical eras that continues to terrify, reassure, and propagandise audiences today. Melodrama allows spectators to imaginatively experience an evil force outside of themselves. Consequently, melodrama dramatises social morality, which helps us to negotiate problems such as political power, economic justice, and racial inequality. It may also point audiences beyond their present circumstances to transcendental sources of good and evil. People enjoyed certain types of melodramas because their performances represent their hopes, fears, and beliefs about social morality. These enjoyable feelings
Melodrama. England. Britain.
30
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
and ideas - present in both the content and form of any theatrical performance - are shaped by social and historical experience.
Melodrama. England. Britain.
31
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
Bibliography Black-Eyed Susan; Theatre. (2007, September 12). Times [London, England], p. 14. Online Website. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE %7CA168580448&v=2.1&u=nie&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=609bf6efc6c05e8d894d93b 40105e6db
Bratton, J.(2003). melodrama. In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 16 Oct. 2015, from http://www.oxfordreference.com/ view/10.1093/acref/9780198601746.001.0001/acref-9780198601746-e-2582.
Chance, A. (2010). Victorian London Theater: Dickens on the Right to Amusement for the Working Class. Retrieved October 20, 2015. http://www.victorianweb.org/mt/ chance.html.
CHAPTER 9 - MODERN DRAMA, Nineteenth-Century Theatre: Toward the Modern Drama. (n.d.). Newman Library digital collections online. Retrieved October 20. 2015, from http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/library/alumni/online_exhibits/digital/2000/c_n_c/ c_09_modern_drama/19th_cent_theatre.htm
Crabtree, S. (2012, November 20). Dion Boucicault Collections. Retrieved October 20. 2015, from http://www.kent.ac.uk/library/specialcollections/theatre/boucicault/ biography.html.
Dye, W. S. (1919). A Study of Melodrama in England from 1800 to 1840... Nittany Printing and Publishing Company.
Emsley, C., Hitchcock, T. & Shoemaker R. "London History - London, 1800-1913", Old Bailey Proceedings Online. Retrieved October 20. 2015, from https:// www.oldbaileyonline.org/static/London-life19th.jsp#culture-politics.
Frank, M. (2013). At the Intersections of Mode, Genre, and Media: A Dossier of Essays on Melodrama. Criticism, 55(4), 535-545. Retrieved October 20. 2015, from http:// www.jstor.org/stable/10.13110/criticism.55.4.0535.
Hughes, C. (2005). The Bells Resource Guide-Modern Melodrama By Carrie Hughes. McCarter Theatre Centre Online. Retrieved October 19. 2015, from https:// www.mccarter.org/Education/The-Bells/7.htm.
Impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Slavery, and the Civil War. (n.d.). Online Website. Retrieved October 25. 2015, from https://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/utc/impact.shtml.
Melodrama. England. Britain.
32
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
Jerrold, D. W. (1856). Black-eyed Susan; or, "All in the downs". A nautical and domestic ... Jerrold, Douglas William, 1803-1857. Online website. Retrieved October 20, 2015. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011202589.
Kam, C. (2007). Four Lessons about Corruption from Victorian Britain. Retrieved October 25. 2015, from http://ostromworkshop.indiana.edu/colloquia/materials/papers/ kam_paper.pdf
Kornhaber, D. (n.d.). Regarding the Eidophusikon: Spectacle, Scenography, and Culture in Eighteenth Century England. Online Website. Retrieved October 19, 2015. http:// taj.tau.ac.il/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17:regarding-theeidophusikon-spectacle-scenography-and-culture-in-eighteenth-centuryengland&catid=2.
Lambert, T. (n.d.). DAILY LIFE IN THE 19TH CENTURY. Retrieved October 21. 2015, from http://www.localhistories.org/19thcent.html.
Leaver, K. (1999). Victorian Melodrama and the Performance of Poverty. Victorian Literature and Culture, 27(02), 443-456. Retrieved October 21. 2015, from http:// journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract? fromPage=online&aid=47921&fileId=S1060150399272051.
Ledger, S. (2004). Douglas Jerrold: A Life (1803-1857). Victorian Studies, 46(2), 353+. Retrieved October 21. 2015, from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE %7CA121458122&v=2.1&u=nie&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=072ec8e8ae64ebd934b3e7 be682a0b19.
Leonard, R. S. (2014) Luxury and corruption: a literary and cultural study, 1800-1875. Online PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London. Retrieved October 20, 2015. http:// bbktheses.da.ulcc.ac.uk/86/1/cp_Rachel_Leonard_final_thesis_June_2014.pdf.
Marsella, S. C., Carnicke, S. M., Gratch, J., Okhmatovskaia, A., & Rizzo, A. (2006, January). An exploration of delsarteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s structural acting system. In Intelligent Virtual Agents (pp. 80-92). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. http://people.ict.usc.edu/~marsella/ publications/Delsarte_CameraReady.
McWilliam, R. (2000). Melodrama and the Historians. Radical History Review, 2000(78), 57-84. Retrieved October 20, 2015, from http://rhr.dukejournals.org/content/ 2000/78/57.citation
Moody, J., & O'Quinn, D. (2007). The Cambridge Companion to British Theatre, 1730-1830. Google Books. Retrieved October 20. 2015, from https:// Melodrama. England. Britain.
33
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
books.google.com.sg/books?id=ycbX7a3cCngC&pg=PA119&lpg=PA119&dq=a+tale+of +mystery+thomas+holcroft +melodrama&source=bl&ots=K5o4uujgIa&sig=xYEnSvXy0bQXpjw7T0X34O6CsMM&hl= en&sa=X&ved=0CBoQ6AEwADgKahUKEwiMxeGLwd3IAhWmXaYKHVlRCO8#v=onepag e&q=a%20tale%20of%20mystery%20thomas%20holcroft%20melodrama&f=false
Mulhallen, J. (2010). Chapter One: The Theatrical Context – the Georgian Theatre in England. Online Open Book Publishers. Retrieved October 19, 2015. http:// books.openedition.org/obp/762.
Newey, K. (1997). Melodrama and Metatheatre: Theatricality in the Nineteenth Century Theatre. Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, 11(2), 85-100. Retrieved October 21. 2015, from https://journals.ku.edu/index.php/jdtc/article/viewArticle/1959.
Patterson, M. (2007). The Oxford Guide to Plays. Google Books. Oxford University Press. Retrieved October 21. 2015, from https://books.google.com.sg/books? id=b4DWqYckDDEC&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq=black+eyed+susan+melodrama +significance&source=bl&ots=euV8U3neqs&sig=DijzrKFbg1wcv1lqWEOUEm-0qf0&hl=e n&sa=X&ved=0CEUQ6AEwCGoVChMI17qJuM7dyAIVhpOUCh1yVgt1#v=onepage&q=bl ack%20eyed%20susan%20melodrama%20significance&f=false
Pearson, R. E. (n.d.). (1992). The Transformation of Performance Style in the Griffith Biograph Films. Retrieved October 20, 2015. http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/ view?docId=ft5t1nb3jp&chunk.id=d0e608&toc.id=d0e608&brand=ucpress.
Slater, M.(2003). Jerrold, Douglas. In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 16 Oct. 2015, from http:// www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198601746.001.0001/ acref-9780198601746-e-1959.
V. Pisani, M. (2014). Music for the Melodramatic Theatre in Nineteenth-Century London and New York. Google Books. Retrieved October 21, 2015. https:// books.google.com.sg/books?id=iXqiAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA57&lpg=PA57&dq=a+tale+of +mystery+thomas+holcroft +melodrama&source=bl&ots=LBBxp1kJzL&sig=zPEyHZbK0AL2YoYXdjAy1joNMYg&hl= en&sa=X&ved=0CB4Q6AEwATgKahUKEwiMxeGLwd3IAhWmXaYKHVlRCO8#v=onepag e&q=a%20tale%20of%20mystery%20thomas%20holcroft%20melodrama&f=false
Victorian invention and legislation - History of theatres - Exploring Theatres - Resources - The Theatres Trust. (n.d.). Theatre Trust Online. Retrieved October 22. 2015, from
Melodrama. England. Britain.
34
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
http://www.theatrestrust.org.uk/resources/exploring-theatres/history-of-theatres/ victorian-invention-and-legislation
Warner, C. (1896). A Library of the World's Best Literature - Ancient and Modern Vol.XXI (Forty-Five Volumes); JeďŹ&#x20AC;erson-Kinglake. Google Books. Retrieved October 20, 2015. https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=oeCwvvKTrcC&pg=PA8257&lpg=PA8257&dq=black-eyed+susan+;+douglas +jerrold&source=bl&ots=qZ5FZurKNF&sig=ewXqy1sIQroSFKvgbdMyJSpxk0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAjgUahUKEwi96sXn88PIA hXMno4KHVLxDnc#v=onepage&q&f=true.
Zarzosa, A. (2010). Melodrama and the Modes of the World. Discourse, 32(2), 236-255. Retrieved October 20. 2015, from http://muse.jhu.edu/login? auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/discourse/v032/32.2.zarzosa.html.
Zarrilli, P., McConachie, B., Williams, G., & Sorgenfrei, C. (2010). Theatre histories: An introduction (Second ed.). New York: Routledge.
Melodrama. England. Britain.
35
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
Images Figure 1.1: Sadler. (1813). Aquatic Theatre, Sadler’s Wells, Retrieved from https:// janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/aquatic-theatre-sadlers-wells-early-19thcentury/.
Figure 1.2: Theatre poster for Human Nature. [Colour Lithograph]. (1885). Retrieved from http://www.vam.ac.uk/users/node/14286
Figure 1.3: Sir Christopher Wren. Theatre royal – Westminster London (1674). Retrieved from https://cassstudio6.wordpress.com/forms-of-stage/types/
Figure 1.4: The Whip, mansion interior [photograph]. (1909). Retrieved from http:// www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/0-9/19th-century-theatre/
Figure 1.5: Drury Lane Theatre, Redecorated - Julien’s Promenade Concert (1847). Retrieved from http://jmcdrama.weebly.com/103externaltheatreform.html
Figure 1.6: Advertising card for The Streets of London, Princess Theatre [Advertising card]. Retrieved from http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/0-9/19th-century-theatre/
Figure 1.7: Black-eyed Susan; or, "All in the downs". A nautical and domestic drama, in two acts (book). Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/blackeyedsusanor00jerr.
Figure 1.8: Francois Delsarte. (1885). Delsarte Exercises from Delsarte System of Expression. (image) Retrieved from http://www3.northern.edu/wild/th100/CHAPT6.HTM
Figure 1.9: Francois Delsarte. (1898). Delsarte system of expression in volume: The Popular Entertainer and Self-Instructor in Elocution. [images]. Retrieved from http:// beinecke.library.yale.edu/about/blogs/room-26-cabinet-curiosities/2008/04/11/ oratorical-gestures
Figure 2.0: Frederick Waddy. (1873) Dion Boucicault, author and actor. [image]. Retrieved from https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/ Cartoon_portraits_and_biographical_sketches_of_men_of_the_day/Dion_Boucicault.
Figure 2.1: Kotzebue, August von [image]. Retrieved from http://entsyklopeedia.ee/ artikkel/kotzebue_august_friedrich_ferdinand_von1.
Figure 2.2: Francois Delsarte. The Expression of The Emotions. [image]. Retrieved from http://www.ngataonga.org.nz/blog/film/ticket-to-hollywood-screen-test-competition/
Figure 2.3 Das Eidophusikon, das Wolkentheater „Eidophusikon“ im Altonaer Museum, Hamburg. [photograph]. Retrieved from http://www.papiertheater.eu/eidophusikon.htm
Melodrama. England. Britain.
36
Fam Hui Yuen
26 October 2015
Figure 2.4: A view of Philip james de Loutherbourg’s Eidophusikon. (1782) [painting]. Retrieved from http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/ collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx? assetId=12290001&objectId=748338&partId=1.
Figure 2.5: Edward G. Dalziel. (Artist). A Cheap Theatre, Sunday Night. [image]. Retrieved from http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/dalziel/33.html
Figure 2.6: Interior of Astley’s Amphitheatre. [image]. Retrieved from http:// www.victorianlondon.org/entertainment2/astleys3.gif
Figure 2.7: A Tale of Mystery (1802). [image]. Retrieved from http://www.unz.org/Pub/ HolcroftThomas-1802
Figure 2.8: A Tale of Mystery (1802). [image]. Retrieved from http://www.unz.org/Pub/ HolcroftThomas-1802
Figure 2.9: Black Eyed Susan. [advertisement]. Retrieved from http:// 19thcenturyacts.com/ISO/mediaDB.
Figure 3.0: Uncle Tom’s Cabin. [image]. Retrieved from http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/ onstage/scripts/aikenhp.html.
Figure 3.1: Arthur Wellesley. Retrieved from https://lewiswalpole.wordpress.com/ 2010/07/30/the-political-pyramid-of-our-glorious-constitution/.
Figure 3.2 : Blanchard Jerrold & Gustave Dore. (artists). (1872). Poverty and squator – Blue Gate Fields. Retrieved from http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/stories/ the_industrial_town/06.ST.02/?scene=3
Figure 3.3: Phil May (artist). (1899). In an East-End Gin-Shop. http:// www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/may/4.html
Melodrama. England. Britain.
37