Reading an entertaining book, watching a picture or a performance in a theater, almost every person had to hear the word “melodrama” at least once. Despite the fact that it is often used in speech, not everyone knows what exactly this term means and how it differs from drama.
Melodrama: meaning of the word
This term is called the literary genre (subgenre of drama), the works of which are concentrated on demonstrating the feelings, emotional and spiritual experiences of characters in unusual circumstances for them. As a rule, in order to better reveal the inner world and the motives of the heroes' actions, the melodrama uses the opposition: love and hate, good and evil, honesty and deception. Often works of this type have a sad ending, but there are exceptions.
It is worth remembering that since melodrama is an intermediate genre, both elements of tragedy and comedy can be present in it.
Also, this genre is quite common in cinematography and theatrical art.
The story of the melodrama
The word melodrama means "dramatic song" in Greek. However, the term itself has nothing to do with Ancient Greece, since it appeared in the XVII century, and besides in Italy. At first it was used to designate one of the types of opera.
Over time, melodrama has evolved. This happened thanks to the efforts of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who ensured that works of this type were not sung, but read aloud, accompanied by dramatic music, in order to increase the impact on the audience.
The first musical melodrama was the work “Pygmalion”, the music of which was written by the then-famous composer O. Quagnier.
During the XVIII century. this genre has undergone major changes. At one time, the melodrama was very close to the comic opera, but gradually moved away from it. By the fifties of the XIX century. she spread more in the theater. And with the advent of the movie has become one of its most popular genres.
Melodrama in Russian literature
Fashion for this genre came to the Russian Empire quite soon after France. The first Russian literary melodrama is Karamzin’s sentimental novel “Poor Liza”.
Also, Lermontov's Masquerade can be attributed to this genre.
Ostrovsky's plays Talents and Fans, Guilty Without Guilt, and Late Love are considered classic melodramatic works.
In the second half of the XX century. The most famous melodrama plays belong to playwrights A. Arbuzov, A. Salynsky and A. Volodin.
Movie drama
As in literature and in cinematography, the first melodrama films began to be shot in France at the beginning of the 20th century. However, at that time they were more like detective stories or horror films, because they contained a lot of bloody scenes and an intriguing secret.
With the development of the cinema genre, melodramas began to be shot in most countries of the world (Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Germany, the USA and the Russian Empire). It is noteworthy that in Tsarist Russia, the most famous actress who starred in the melodrama tapes was Odessa citizen Vera Kholodnaya. The most popular melodrama with her participation is Silence, Sadness, Silence. The paintings “By the Fireplace”, “Life for Life” and the like were also successful.
In the next two decades, the melodrama did not lose its significance in the cinema, but, on the contrary, only strengthened its position. The most famous melodrama films of this period are “Lady Hamilton”, “Lady with Camellias” and “Blue Angel”.
In the 50-60s. Films of this genre in Europe and the USA are out of fashion. But in India, melodrama films during this period began to enjoy incredible popularity. It is worth noting that, in contrast to European and American cinema, where melodramatic stories often talked about love, social issues were raised in Indian paintings.
Starting from the second half of the 60s, melodrama again becomes popular all over the world and is so to this day. Classic films of this kind - “Your Name” (Japan), “Man and Woman” (France), “Cranes Are Flying” (USSR), “Love Story” (USA).
Distinctive features of melodrama
This genre of drama has a number of features.
- First of all, it is the exaggerated emotionality of the main characters, on which all attention is concentrated.
- The main task of works of this kind is to make readers (viewers) empathize with the characters. A melodrama appeals to emotions, not to the human mind.
- The finale of the classic work of this genre is tragic. However, in the XX century. with the light hand of Bertold Brecht, who made open ending popular in theater plays, this fashion spread to melodramas and became one of their distinguishing features. In recent years, melodramas are increasingly having a happy ending.
- Although such works sometimes raise the themes of social inequality or show an individual’s attempts to oppose society, a love story is at the center of classical modern melodrama.
Melodrama - Drama
Do not completely identify drama and melodrama. The latter is considered more superficial, designed mainly for a female audience.
Most often, the events of melodramatic works take place with unusual people (aristocrats, rich, famous characters of history) and are fanned with fabulousness and a halo of romance. At the same time, classical drama more often describes the fate of ordinary people, in which everyone is able to recognize themselves or their loved ones.
Also, the way the images of the main characters are distinguished by drama and melodrama. In the first, the characters are more realistic, and in the second - vice versa. The characters of the melodrama heroes are usually hypertrophied, they can easily be divided into good and bad. In a drama, it is often difficult to understand and characterize characters in a category, since their actions and feelings are extremely contradictory.
In melodramas, there are often elements of eroticism, while for drama this detail is optional, and if it is, it looks more dull.
For almost four hundred years of its existence, it experienced a lot of melodrama. This affected its features. Today, thanks to the development of cinema, melodrama is one of the most popular genres. Thousands of films-melodramas are shot every year for every taste, and today almost every inhabitant of the planet can find a work of this kind that will appeal to his heart.