Ritual and Ceremony in the Drama

Authors

Thomas B. Stroup, University of Kentucky

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, the first paragraph of the essay follows:

It is the simple argument of this paper that a playwright's use of ritual and ceremony in his plays often provides essential and convenient dramatic functions and just as often furnishes even more profound artistic values. Essentially mimetic, rites and ceremonies formalize events or occasions often repeated in human society, elevate them and set them apart, in other words, dramatize them. Hence their natural appeal to the dramatist as he looks about him for means to present his visualized art, the success of which presentation often requires something more than the unformalizied, casual, or unique happening.

Recommended Citation

Stroup, Thomas B. (1977) "Ritual and Ceremony in the Drama," Comparative Drama: Vol. 11: Iss. 2, Article 4.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/compdr/vol11/iss2/4