ACTING THEORY AS POETICS OF DRAMA - Brunel University London

ACTING THEORY AS POETICS OF DRAMA A STUDY OF THE EMERGENCE OF THE CONCEPT OF `MOTIVATED

ACTION' IN PLAYWRITING THEORY By

Guilherme Abel Ferreira de Mendon?a

A thesis submitted in fulfilment for the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) at Brunel University

April 2012

Abstract

Playwriting theory has, from its beginning, been concerned with the search for the essential nature of dramatic writing. Early playwriting treatises (poetics) defined the essential aspects of drama as being the plot (creation of sequences of fictional events), the moral character of its heroes, the idea of enactment, or the rhetorical and lyrical qualities of the text. These categories were kept through later treatises with different emphasis being put on each category.

An understanding of drama as a sequence of fictional events (plot) has been central in acting theory. Modern theories and techniques centred on Stanislavsky's ideas rely heavily on rehearsal methods that carefully establish the sequence of actions of the characters in a play as a result of psychological motivations. This method was described by Stanislavsky in An Actor's Work on a Role, published in 1938, and is known as the Method of Physical Actions.

This thesis reassesses the definition of playwriting as consisting essentially in the creation of a plot populated by suitable characters. Rather than discussing playwriting theory in isolation it attempts a bridge between acting theory and playwriting theory by using the Method of Physical Actions as an equivalent to plot. Acting theory is thus considered as a theoretical justification for the centrality of plot.

The method used is hermeneutic -- a systematic interpretation of poetics, unveiling in almost an archaeological manner the relevance of the essential definitions of drama, such as character, source, genre, and language to the concept of plot.

The chronological path of development of dramatic theories is shown to be gradual: from the strict obedience to the narrative line imposed by the mythic sources, in classical treatises; through to an interest in the lyrical expression of the predicament of specific characters, in neoclassical theory; to an awareness of specific social types in the eighteenth century; and, finally, to the conception of the plot as a product of the mental life of individual characters in modern theory.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ...............................................................................................................................2

TABLE OF CONTENTS . .....................................................................................................3

List of figures and diagrams .........................................................................................5

Notation . ..............................................................................................................................6

Note on referencing . ........................................................................................................7

Acknowledgements .........................................................................................................8

AUTHOR'S DECLARATION. .......................................................................................... 1 0

Introduction . ................................................................................................................... 1 1

Chapter one: subject . .................................................................................................... 1 7 Introduction to problem ......................................................................................................1 7

Chapter two: motivated actions in acting theory ............................................... 2 4 The Method of Physical Actions . ........................................................................................2 4

Chapter three: approach . ............................................................................................ 3 7 Methodology. ............................................................................................................................3 7 Claim, hypothesis, question ................................................................................................4 5 Choice of texts and approach. .............................................................................................4 5

Chapter four: classical poetics -- foundations . ................................................... 4 9 Aristotle's Poetics ...................................................................................................................4 9

Chapter five: classical poetics -- pleasure and instruction . ........................... 7 8 Horace's Ars Poetica. ..............................................................................................................7 8

Chapter six: transition poetics . ................................................................................. 8 9 Lope de Vega's El Arte Nuevo de Hacer Comedias en Este Tiempo. ..........................8 9

Chapter seven: reassessment of methodology . ................................................ 100 Methodology -- schools of thought ............................................................................... 1 00 Methodology -- action and character. .......................................................................... 1 03

Chapter eight: the neoclassical poetics . .............................................................. 106

D'Aubignac's The Whole Art of the Stage and Corneille's Les Trois Discours sur le

Po?me Dramatique . ............................................................................................................. 1 06

Chapter nine: eighteenth century poetics. ......................................................... 151 Diderot's Entretien sur le Fils Naturel and De la Poesie Dramatique . ................. 1 51

Chapter ten: nineteenth century poetics. ........................................................... 171

Freytag's Technique of the Drama: An Exposition of Dramatic Composition and

Art ............................................................................................................................................. 1 71

Chapter eleven: conclusion . .................................................................................... 200 The historical overview. .................................................................................................... 2 00

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Claim, hypothesis, question ............................................................................................. 2 05 Theory of literature, dramaturgy, poetics and acting theory. .............................. 2 07 Contribution to knowledge . ............................................................................................. 2 13 Continuing research ........................................................................................................... 2 14 Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 218 Appendix 1 -- chronological description of poetic treatises presented in schematic form. ........................................................................................................... 239 Appendix 2 -- the search for Aristotle . ............................................................... 251

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List of figures and diagrams Diagram 1 -- intersection of Method of Physical Actions and poetics -------------- 38 Figure 1 -- Freytag's Pyramid (Freytag, 1896, p.115) ------------------------------- 189 Diagram 2 -- field of theory of literature ----------------------------------------------- 208 Diagram 3 -- intersection of theory of literature, poetics and poetics of drama--- 208 Diagram 4 -- intersection of dramaturgy and poetics --------------------------------- 209 Diagram 5 -- intersection of theory of literature, poetics and dramaturgy --------- 210 Diagram 6 -- field of acting theory ------------------------------------------------------ 210 Diagram 7 -- intersection of theory of literature, poetics, dramaturgy and acting theory --------------------------- 211 Diagram 8 -- fields in acting theory ----------------------------------------------------- 212 Diagram 9 -- revised intersection of theory of literature, poetics acting theory and dramaturgy ---------------------------- 212

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