26 considered the centurys most brilliant and innovative theatrical treatment of the
contemporary gay world.
2.1.3 The Genres
Drama as well as theatre is traditionally divided into genres or types to categorize them based on its main characteristics that may differentiate one genre
to another. The major genres of the drama as cited by G.B Tennyson in his book An Introduction to Drama 1967:59 are: Tragedy, Comedy, Melodrama, and
Farce.
2.1.3.1 Tragedy
The oldest genre of the drama as explained in many books of literature is tragedy. Tragedy is that a play that ends with the death of main character Peck
and Coyle, Literary Terms and Criticism, 1984:96; and also refers to a form of a drama that presents a man of a certain nobility who is attempting to achieve his
highest aspirations but who, confronted by forces stronger than his greatest capacities, fails in his struggle Goldstone, Context of the Drama, 1968:96
The word “tragedy” comes from Greek word “tragos” which is translated to “goat”. The original meaning of tragedy may come from the mystery plays of
the cult of Dionysus, which centered on the God being killed and his body ripped to pieces, and with a goat or other animal as a proxy for the bloodshed.
There are three types of tragedy, they are as follow:
1. Greek Classical Tragedy
Greek classical tragedy is the earliest tragedy or in a largest sense is the earliest drama’s manuscript which has been discovered. The
definition of the Greek tragedy is drawn from the extant plays of
Universitas Sumatera Utara
27 Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Greek classical tragedy reflects the
belief that all men are fated to suffer; that the greatest man suffer greatly; that suffering is exacted by the gods from men whose faults, errors or
ignorance require retributive justice; and that the depiction of man’s errors and manifestation of divine justice in drama ameliorate the state of man
Goldstone, 1968:10
2. Elizabethan Tragedy
Elizabethan tragedy refers to the tragedies of Marlowe, Webster, and Shakespeare, incorporate the principal characteristics of Greek
tragedy. Nevertheless, since the plays of these dramatists are the product of a vastly different culture, as well as of a different stage tradition, they
are striking differences. The chorus has all but disappeared; the unities of time, place, and action are disregarded; the classical restraints requiring
the off-stage enactment of violence and passions are dismissed.Goldstone, 1968:10 Still, according to Goldstone, the most important thing of
Elizabethan tragedy is that this sub-genre expresses the Christian idea that suffering is conducive redemption, that out of disorder caused by the
existence of some evil force, order can be restored after the protagonist has properly expiated either his own crimes associated with his mortal state,
and that the death of the protagonist brings him to a state either of grace or of damnation.
3. Modern Tragedy
Modern tragedy may refer to the works of such playwrights as Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg, Eugene O’neill and Arthur Miller. The
Universitas Sumatera Utara
28 hero in modern tragedy has been diminished in stature by the fact that he
no longer transgresses against divine law as in Greek tragedy, nor does he defy outrageous fortune and his corporeal enemies as in Elizabethan
tragedy. Instead, the protagonist of modern tragedy, denizen of an infinite universe, achieves meaning in protest against his insignificance, bravely
insisting that his existence has a meaning at least for himself. Goldstone, 1968:10-11
2.1.3.2 Comedy
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