Melodrama
Melodrama has a long history going back to 18 th and 19 th century plays and through to movies, radio and television shows in the 20 th and 21 st centuries. In its basic form, melodrama is a way to show evil overcome by good through the process of fate. Characters never change their moral ground in a story as a clear distinction between benevolence and malevolence. The same dramatic conflict structure applies to modernday entertainment.
As with many terms, the word "melodrama" has Greek origins. The word melos in Greek means "music, " and drama refers to a deed, action or tragic play. Tragedy is the nearest cousin of a melodramatic work. The earliest uses of melodrama, however, go back to the stage in late-1700’s and early 1800’s Germany.
Beginning in the 18 h century, melodrama was a technique of combining spoken recitation with short pieces of accompanying music. In such works, music and spoken dialog typically alternated, although the music was sometimes also used to accompany pantomime. The first full melodrama was Jean. Jacques Rousseau's Pygmalion, the text of which was written in 1762 but was first staged in Lyon in 1770. The overture and an Andante were composed by Rousseau, but the bulk of the music was composed by Horace Coignet. Pygmalion is a monodrama, written for one actor. Some 30 other monodramas were produced in Germany in the fourth quarter of the 18 th century.
When two actors are involved the term duodrama may be used. Georg Benda was particularly successful with his duodramas Ariadne auf Naxos (1775) and Medea (1778). The sensational success of Benda's melodramas led Mozart to use two long melodramatic monologues in his opera Zaide (1780). Other later, and betterknown examples of the melodramatic style in operas are the grave-digging scene in Beethoven's Fidelio (1805) and the incantation scene in Weber's Der Freischütz (1821)
The German playwright August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue is considered the forefather of melodrama. His sensationalistic and emotional plots in his plays contained the first uses of what makes up this dramatic process. An example was in his play The Stranger, which used the device of a sympathetic woman committing adultery in a marriage.
It was in 19 th century France where melodramatic elements were taken to new heights. Playwright Rene Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt lived a melodramatic life and funneled his experiences into his successful plays. Many of his plays added new elements, such as orchestras and pyrotechnic effects, to add more dramatic and emotional layers. He left behind a textbook called Derniéres réfexions sur le mélodrame about how similar melodramatic works could be created.
Victorian stage melodrama The Victorian stage melodrama featured six stock characters: the hero, the villain, the heroine, an aged parent, a sidekick and a servant of the aged parent engaged in a sensational plot featuring themes of love and murder. Often the good but not very clever hero is duped by a scheming villain, who has eyes on the damsel in distress until fate intervenes at the end to ensure the triumph of good over evil.
The first English play to be called a melodrama or 'melodrame' was A Tale of Mystery (1802) by Thomas Holcroft. This was an example of the Gothic genre.
Other Gothic melodramas The Mil ler and h is Men ( 1 813) by Isaac Po cock
Woodsman's Hut (1814) by Samuel Arnold
The Broken Sword (1816) by William Dimond.
Supplanting the Gothic, the next popularsub-genre was the nautical melodrama, pioneered by Douglas. Jerrold in his Black-Eyed Susan (1829).
SOPHIA LINDEN (SUSAN) AND PHILIP RALPH (WILLIAM).
Other nautical melodramas included Jerrold's The Mutiny at the Nore (1830) and The Red Rover (1829) by Edward Fitzball (Rowell 1953).
Melodramas based on urban situations became popular in the mid-nineteenth century. These include The Streets of London (1864) by Dion Boucicault; and Lost in London (1867) by Watts Phillips
The sensation novels of the 1860 s and 1870 s were fertile material for melodramatic adaptations. A notable example of this genre is Lady Audley's Secret by Elizabeth Braddon adapted, in two different versions, by George Roberts and C. H. Hazlewood. The villain was always the central character in melodrama and crime was a favorite theme. This included dramatisations of the murderous careers of Burke and Hare, Sweeney Todd (first featured in The String of Pearls (1847) by George Dibdin Pitt), the murder of Maria Marten in the Red Barn and the bizarre exploits of Spring Heeled Jack. The misfortunes of a discharged prisoner is theme of the sensational The Ticket-of-Leave Man (1863) by Tom Taylor.
When movies became the popular form of entertainment in the 20 th century, melodramatic elements were used considerably. This included Pixérécourt’s earlier use of music to enhance emotional plots in a story. The silent era of the late 1910 s and 1920 s had to rely on facial expressions from actors to reflect plots of the era.
Early silent films, such as The Perils of Pauline had similar themes. Later, after silent films were superseded by the 'talkies', stage actor Tod Slaughter, at the age of 50, transferred to the screen the Victorian melodramas in which he had played villain in his earlier theatrical career. These films, which include Maria Marten or Murder in the Red. Barn (1935), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936) and Tom Taylor's The Ticket-of-Leave Man are a unique record of a bygone art-form. THE MAR MURD OCT TEN O ER OF OBE R M R 19 THE R ARIA 84. ED B ARN.
SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
The Ticket-of. Leave Man LY DIA ALI F CE OOTE EDW LEG (L ARD G) A YDIA SM S AY R. ATKINS AS JAMES DALTON s s r Mos e Melt Ge t a incen V orge
Radio and television used melodrama from their earliest days through the daytime soap opera. Many TV dramas during primetime hours used these elements, with the epitome being the popular crime dramas of the 1970 s and '80 s. The concept of a hero overcoming an evil person or force remained a consistent and popular structure on TV into the early 21 st century. In the early 21 st century, melodramas became less frequent in theatrical movies. Some infrequent movie examples of the 2000 s include Moulin Rouge from 2001 and Brokeback Mountain in 2005. Television melodramas in the 21 st century also were lessened, but only somewhat, and was indicated by the decline of the soap opera. Nevertheless, successful TV franchises such as Law & Order showed that the concept of the hero overcoming evil was still an important and cathartic genre, although more violence, frank dialogue and realistic situations became included to a greater extent.
Director Sidney Lumet said in a discussion of his 2007 film Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, "In a well-written drama, the story comes out of the characters. The characters in a well-written melodrama come out of the story. "