Theatrical Genres: From Tragedy to Drama & Ausias March's Legacy

Theatrical Structure: Acts and Scenes

Theatrical works are typically divided into acts (separated by an interval, usually three) and scenes (marked by the separate entrances and exits of characters).

Major Theatrical Genres

Tragedy: Origins and Characteristics

Tragedy, the oldest theatrical genre, originated in Classical Greece. It often revolved around the cult of the dead and depicted heroes who suffer, frequently written in verse.

• Topics: Serious, transcendental, and grand, treated with a high tone.
• Personalities: Heroes, kings, and gods.
• Action: Acts are dominated by strong passions.
• Denouement: Usually fatal, with characters often dying.

Notable tragedians include William Shakespeare, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Corneille, Racine, Schiller, and Goethe.

Comedy: Humor, Satire, and Happy Endings

Comedy also originated in Ancient Greece, serving as an antagonistic genre to tragedy. It features plain language and style, focusing on everyday situations.

• Characteristics: Often involves misunderstandings that evoke laughter, leading to a happy ending. Content is frequently satirical or burlesque.
• Topics: Daily life, presented with a humorous or satirical tone.
• Personalities: Explores human flaws and virtues.
• Denouement: Typically just and happy.

Drama: Modernity and Human Agency

Drama is a mixed genre that emerged as quite modern in the eighteenth century.

• Topics: The human figure is treated as serious and significant. It often explores the idea that humans can dominate and overcome their fate.
• Personalities: Focuses on human dimensions and characteristics.
• Denouement: Not necessarily fatal, but can be.

Ausias March: A Valencian Poetic Legacy

Biography and Poetic Themes

Ausias March (1397-1459) was born in Gandia, Valencia. He was the son of the knight and poet Pere March, from a wealthy bourgeois family. March participated in expeditions in the Mediterranean serving Alfonso the Magnanimous.

In Martorell, 1437, he married Helen, sister of Will Eisner, and was widowed two years later. He married again in 1443 with Joana Escorna. He did not have children with his wives, but did have children outside of marriage.

The majority of his poems were composed during his marriage to Joana Escorna and after her death. His poems were notably the first major works written in Catalan.

Love is one of the central themes of his poetry. He viewed women as companions with whom one could converse and discuss. March distinguished two kinds of love: sensual and spiritual. He believed human love was a mixture of both.

His poetry is grouped into four main cycles:

• Full of Wisdom
• Lily Among Thistles
• Oh Foolish Love
• Love, Love (often associated with four specific women)

He also composed Songs of Death (often reflecting on the passing of his second wife) and Spiritual Songs.