Page 26 - DENG403_BRITISH_DRAMA

British Drama

Notes Introduction

Literary terms are words used in, and having specific meaning in discussion, review, criticism and
classification of literary works such as stories, poetry, drama, and essays. In 19th century a wave of
writing on social issues has emerged. The driving force behind this wave is the exploration of social
problems, like alcoholism or prostitution. A new term—problem play was given to such writings. It
deals with contentious social issues through debates between the characters on stage, who typically
represent conflicting points of view within a realistic social context. In most cases tragedy springs
from the individual’s conflict with the laws, values, traditions, and representatives of society.
Another term kitchen sink drama was also enacted for the dramas related to family tensions with
realistic conflict between husband and wife, parent and child, between siblings and with the wider
community. The family may also pull together in unity against outer forces that range from the
rent-collector to rival families.
Various British novelists and playwrights who emerged in the 1950s and expressed scorn and
disaffection with the established sociopolitical order of their country. Their impatience and
resentment were especially aroused by what they perceived as the hypocrisy and mediocrity of the
upper and middle classes. They were a new breed of intellectuals who were mostly of working class
or of lower middle-class origin. They shared an outspoken irreverence for the British class system
and their writings frequently expressed raw anger and frustration as the postwar reforms failed to
meet exalted aspirations for genuine change.
These words are used frequently for the purposes described above come to be recognized as literary
terms. Here in this unit we will explain these terms—problem play, kitchen sink drama, and angry
young man. More emphasis will be given on their critical analysis.

2.1 Problem Play

The problem play is a form of drama that emerged during the 19th century as part of the wider
movement of realism in the arts. It deals with contentious social issues through debates between
the characters on stage, who typically represent conflicting points of view within a realistic social
context.
The critic F. S. Boas adapted the term to characterise certain plays by Shakespeare that he considered
to have characteristics similar to Ibsen’s 19th-century problem plays. Boas’s term caught on, and
Measure for Measure, The Merchant of Venice, Timon of Athens, Troilus and Cressida, and All’s
Well That Ends Well are still referred to as “Shakespeare’s problem plays”.

The term problem play is used more broadly and retrospectively to describe pre-19th-
century, tragicomic dramas that do not fit easily into the classical generic distinction between
comedy and tragedy.

While social debates in drama were nothing new, the problem play of the 19th century was
distinguished by its intent to confront the spectator with the dilemmas experienced by the characters.
The earliest forms of the problem play are to be found in the work of French writers such as Alexandre
Dumas, fils, who dealt with the subject of prostitution in The Lady of the Camellias (1852). Other
French playwrights followed suit with dramas about a range of social issues, sometimes approaching
the subject in a moralistic, sometimes in a sentimental manner.
The most important exponent of the problem play, however, was the Norwegian writer Henrik
Ibsen, whose work combined penetrating characterisation with emphasis on typical social issues,

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