In 19th century Melodrama was the primary theatrical form in Europe. The word "melodrama" comes from "Melos", Greek word for song. It originating in 18th century - used with a short piece of music contrast or associated with spoken drama. By the end of 19th century form, this merged into a salon entertainment. Often in melodrama, the dialogues were in the form of poetry rather than everyday language. It mostly involved 2 to 5 acts and almost never went over 5. Moreover, it contained limited characters which included a hero/heroine, a villain, an old man/woman and a comic man/woman.

The play was full of sharp emotion when the good-in-nature-but-not-too-clever hero or heroine is being trick or threat by a villain and was leaded to miserable distress yet finally be able to escapes or being rescued. Always in a melodrama the play provided a perfect resolution and closed with a happy ending. Their characters all appears to be very simple and plain, with one dimensional of good or......

Join Now to view the rest of this term paper!
Members: Login to view this research paper.

Title: The Nature Of Theatre In Europe In The 19th Century
Approximate Word Count: 627
Approximate Pages: 3 (250 words per double-spaced page)

With the Term Papers Lab Membership Pass, you get instant access to every essay on this site, including this essay on The Nature Of Theatre In Europe In The 19th Century, for as long as you remain a member.

Other essays sites charge almost $100 for a single term paper. At Term Papers Lab, you can get instant access to over 100,000 research papers for as little as $29.95!