| A | B |
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| catharsis | the purging of emotions or relieving of emotional tensions |
| exposition | the introductory section of a play in which characters, time, place, and situations are placed |
| pun | a play on words |
| stage left | term used to refer to the left of the stage from the actor's point of view |
| falling action | the series of events following the highest dramatic point. |
| melodrama | a play designed to arouse immediate and intense emotion by means of exaggeration and fast-moving action |
| protagonist | the hero or leading character with whom the audience sympathizes. The "good guy." |
| plot | the main story of the play; the series of situations and incidents through which the characters move, thereby telling a story. |
| dialogue | conversation between at least two characters |
| antagonist | character who opposes or conflicts with main character. |
| climax | the high point in the action of the play. |
| theme | the central, unifying idea of a play which underlies the plot, action, and dialogue |
| dramatic irony | the irony occurring when the implications of a situation, speech, etc, are understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play |
| tragedy | dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a great person destined through a flaw of character or conflict with some overpowering force, as fate or society, to downfall or destruction |
| stage right | this is used to refer to the right of the stage from the actor's point of view |
| crisis | a dramatic or emotional moment in a character's life; the turning point |
| rising action | a related series of incidents in a literary plot that build toward the point of greatest interest |
| soliloquy | a speech in which a character is alone on stage and expresses thoughts out loud |
| aside | words spoken by a character in a play and not intended to be heard by everyone |
| tragic hero | a literary character who makes an error in judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy |
