First published in 1970, this book explores drama as literature and provides critical overviews of different aspects of drama and the dramatic. It first asks what a play is, before going on to examine dramatic language, action and tension, dramatic irony, characters and drama's relationship with modern criticism and the novel.

This book will be a valuable resource to those studying drama and English literature.

General Editor's Preface; Preface; 1. Drama, Theatre and Reality 2. Language and Situation 3. Action and Tension 4. Dramatic Irony 5. Character and Idea 6. 'Presentment': Modern Criticism and the Dramatic 7. Drama and the Novel; Note A: Decorum; Note B: Destiny; Note C: Action, Plot and Structure; Note D: Hazlitt and Keats; Note E: Collaboration; Bibliography; Index