The Origin of Melodrama and its Evolution - Coursework Example

Are tears always the product of powerlessness? Summary: This report traces back the origin of melodrama and sees its evolution over the many years. Melodrama is individually assessed as a genre separated from drama and tragedy, which are studied independently. This paper draws example from the works of Steve Neale and many others. Prominent critics, help this report arrive at the conclusion that the power of tears in melodrama is immense and what evokes this reaction from the viewers is examined. A variety of perceptions, opinions and techniques are studied as melodrama is understood in its truest essence and the reaction of onlookers is discussed in depth, with a critical analysis of the strength of tears in melodrama. Contents Page: Introduction Melodrama- the history of melodrama, differentiating melodrama and drama Music, Television and melodrama The evolution of melodrama Contemporary melodrama Tragedy The strength of tears in melodrama and tragedy with examples drawn from various sources conclusion Melodrama, a term that literally means “music drama” is a form of drama. The word derived from the Greek ‘melos’ which means song or music and play. It is basically branch of plays, films or any other creation which encompasses a plot and action and this is the main distinction between melodrama and drama. Also melodrama accommodates music to create an emotional response from its audience. Tragedies are also more serious and consist of a conflict with a power like God or the law etc. 1 Tragedies are inspired by and generally trace their origin back to the Greeks. The main difference between melodrama and tragedy is usually the ending. Tragedies have a set pattern in their endings, while melodramas end on a happy note, with mostly the set pattern of a villain, posing a threat to the lead character (hero) with the inevitable involvement of a heroine- the damsel in distress, who is ultimately saved by the hero. This is a usual melodrama that uses exaggerated emotions to accomplish the task of correcting the wrongs and evils of societies, thus giving importance to the moral aspect. Whilst in tragedy after the rejection of Aristotle’s proposal that true tragedy can only depict those with power and higher status no set definition exists in literature. Arthur Miller’s plays and the popularity of it, proves that tragedy of the ordinary people exists and can be depicted and even appreciated. Howard Barker argued for the rebirth, redefining of tragedy in modern theatre in his ‘Arguments for a theatre’. An example of modern, contemporary tragedy would be Henrik Ibsen’s ‘A doll’s house’ (1879). This is the story of the break up of a middle-class couple’s marriage and hence is more relevant to recent times. Modern tragedy is wider in its range of topics/issues the protagonist or central characters face. For example the concept of institutions, policies, world affairs etc are now imbibed into modern tragedy, while they were not of a particular consequence in the past. Theatre too is constantly progressing. During the epoch of silent films, reality was a great part of them. Melodrama was also adopted into the script and thus the two were merged almost to seem like one. Women were highly portrayed in such films. D.W. Griffith, who starred heroine Lillian Gish in many of his films, example, True Heart Susie (1919), broken blossoms (1919),Orphans of the Storm (1922) Hearts of the World (1918) Way Down East (1920) etc worked with this theme. Gish enacted a woman who was impregnated with an illegitimate child and abandoned. Maternal melodramas that were once were popular often worked in such themes where the eventual suffering hardship of a woman was an illegitimate child. These types of movies were popular ‘tearjerkers’ the kind that made the audience especially the female side of it weeps. These melodramas showed the woman suffer physically, emotionally, psychologically, and above all financially. It shows how other men exploit her seeing that she is on her own and how social pressures cause such women to turn to prostitution, abandon their child, go for an abortion, consider adoption or simply kill themselves. The sacrifice of the mother and her hardship was what audiences cried for, for many years. Some other examples of melodramas that have won Oscars. Best Actress Oscar-winning Helen Hayes (in her first film role) as a devoted, all-suffering heroine toward her child born out of wedlock (Robert Taylor), by becoming a street-walker in the early The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931) the emotional telling of Fannie Hursts story of a widowed mother (Claudette Colbert, Lana Turner) and a black maid (Louise Beavers, Juanita Moore) who both have problems with their love-starved and troubled daughters (Rochelle Hudson, Fredi Washington; Sandra Dee, Susan Kohner) - one of whom is light-skinned, in John Stahls restrained Imitation of Life (1934) and Douglas Sirks glamorized, ultra-emotional version Imitation of Life (1959) King Vidors Stella Dallas (1937) with a self-sacrificing, adoring, poverty-stricken mother Stella (Barbara Stanwyck) giving all for her daughter Laurel (Anne Shirley) in the films heart-breaking finale in the rain; also director Henry Kings popular silent soaper Stella Dallas (1925) starred Belle Bennett Edmund Gouldings soap opera That Certain Woman (1937) with Bette Davis as a sacrificial wife and mother after an annulled marriage to Henry Fonda (this was a remake of the silent film The Trespasser (1929), starring Gloria Swanson - in her first talkie)2 Melodramas exist in many of the television shows watched today. However their roots lead up to 19th century stage plays. In these plays, romantic, sensational plots and incidents were mixed with songs and orchestra music.3 Another distinction between tragedy and melodrama is that in melodrama, the hero is incorporated from the society whilst in tragedy he/she is secluded from it. Where he/she realises the social issues and arrives at a solution whilst in a detached state. American playwrights like Eugene O’Neill and Tennesse Williams plus Arthur Miller have all written successful tragic plays. Before the nineteenth century, in the early 1800’s melodramas were described as more romantic and supernatural. By the 1820’s they started focusing on settings and characters. 1830’s saw a new phase of melodrama which made it more ‘gentlemanly’. 4 Pygmalion (1770) with pieces written by the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau popularised melodrama. Melodrama in the 18th century, shared no relationship between the actor and the background music. Some of the major types of melodrama are: 1. Animals melodramas: used along with the Romantic concept of nature 2. Equestrian dramas: horses, predecessor of the modern Western. 3. Canine melodramas: Lassie 4. Nautical melodramas: interest in the deep. 5. Disaster melodramas. End of 19th century, melodrama was related to a certain genre of salon entertainment which consisted of poetry, usually unsung, with an intense plot or structure acted out. This maybe the reason dramatic acting is associated with melodrama. Since its creation, melodrama was highly inspiration. The Victorians added ‘incidental music’, which was background music to their plays whilst the dialogues carried on. This is mostly associated with film. It can now be observed, in modern recording technology, that the revival of the practice of theatre is returning. John Williams’ score to Star Wars and Korngold’s in The Adventures of Robin Hood are prime examples of this revival.5 Melo-dramatic films can be explained as a subtype of drama films. Melodramatic films are informally known by womens pictures, weepies, tearjerkers, soap operas (or soapers), and more recently, chick flicks. However, not all melodramas evoke tears. Some can merely be pure heightened dramas. Melodramatic plots are often Stereotypically categorised as those that require a handkerchief. The commonality in all melodrama be it in books or movies is that of failed romance or family situations, illness, psychological and /or emotional hardship in the lead character’s everyday life. Victims, in melodramas are presented with incredible social pressures, death or other physical threats, repression of truth and the need to face their fears. The melodrama allows the character to work through their difficulties or overcome the problems with patience, endurance, sacrifice and goodness. Not to mention an inspiration and virtuous bravery based on making moral decisions which give the character their strength. Television shows these days may be creative in their plots and innovative in their techniques, style etc yet the element of melodrama blatantly exists in them. Whether there is a story about the life of a doctor, architect, engineer etc the story is incomplete without the character undergoing a shift in emotions. It is televisions most varied genre that boasts a variety of formats, settings and characters. Melodramas are also in the form of series, which contain either conflict or confusion in them. The central character/s portrays a continuing story line. Melodrama is now such a common element in television programmes etc that it is subdivided into three crucial categories. 1. Issues Melodrama: This is a form of melodrama that gives issues like current events, politics etc a hyped attention treating them dramatically to achieve an emotional response from the targeted audience/viewers. 2. Action melodrama: This is a genre of melodrama that is more relevant to action films, particularly those made in Hollywood. It contains heavy scenes like brawls, accidents, struggles, love scenes etc. 3. Informal use/ Slang: This is the casual use of the word melodrama to explain victim like behaviour or dramatic acting. Just the use of the word ‘melodramatic’ as a reaction to intense behaviour shows the word and the concept’s popularity and importance. Expressionism, a stylised form of cinema, intended to provoke powerful emotions from the audience, embodies melodrama and was a high popular style in the 1940s and 50s.6 Melodrama has often been accused of being exaggerated or unrealistic by its critics. In Linda Williams’ ‘Melodrama Revised’ melodrama is looked upon in another genre. Williams highlights the fact that melodramas expose to us the moral side of life through their emotions. They clearly make apparent the difference between right and wrong, thus endearing goodness to the onlooker. This according to Williams is the reason why melodrama is an integral part of our society.7 Linda Williams’s points to the fact that melodrama inevitably makes us sympathise with the victim, despise the villain and have faith in justice and truths ultimate victory. Williams also mentions that racial conflict, class struggle, gender inequality and ethnic confrontations--cannot always be dealt with rationally. The writer makes an interesting observation and concludes that when emotions are involved, it is easier to find answers. For example it is proposed that when poverty, desertion, social abandonment etc are imposed on a character, they turn to their good values for the ultimate solution which proves triumphant over the present tragedies the character is undergoing. This also engages the viewer and brings them into question over their own moral values and beliefs. So in a sense, to sum up Williams perception of the entire situation, melodrama plays a useful role to society and even in a sordid way caters to social service as it highlights the vices of society, turns to morals for solution and comes out with a successful method of dealing with a crisis. Peter Brooks in his “Melodramatic Imagination” presents forward the argument that melodrama traces back to endless historical movements and forces. Brooks talks about the rise of melodrama in Europe and focuses on France and Germany; finally he follows melodramas progress during the 18th century, a time of great revolutions. Brooks also makes apparent the fact that during the constant evolution of society, as time progresses, the ‘divine’ rights of the rulers to come lessen and slowly the social set up takes a different turn. The stable and absolute moral order set out by rulers of that time are challenged and ultimately redefined. Brooks then claims that the life of common people slowly became ‘desacrilized’. Meaning the sacrilegious part of it lost its place while the order of man (governments, orders, reforms etc) grew in importance. However this is what tragedy thrives on. The need for conflict between man and the higher power. This is what Brooks means by proposing that tragedy is timeless while melodrama is timely. The ‘desacrilization’ that Peter Brooks describes is what leads the ‘popular imagination of the popular audiences and readers away from the tragedy and toward the melodrama’. According to Peter Brooks "The end of the nightmare is an awakening brought about by confrontation and expulsion of the villain, the person in whom evil is seen to be concentrated, and a reaffirmation of the society of decent people" . The films of Douglas Sirk are most associated with melodramas and are a prime example of melodrama in modern movies. Steve Neale in his ‘melodrama and Tears’ argues that melodramas’ ability to generate sadness is fundamentally based in the relationship between the narrative point-of-view of the characters and the audience. To further strengthen his point, Steve Neale turns to Franco Moretti’s theory on moving literature. Franco Moretti’s theory aims at discovering how the material of the literature causes tears. Steve Neale’s proposes: [Moretti’s] thesis is that particularly moving moments in such stories are the product of a structure in which the point of view of one of the characters comes to coincide with the point of view of the reader as established by the narrative. A character’s mistaken perception, or lack of knowledge, is rectified in accordance with the reader’s prior understanding and judgment. 8 Hence the fact that the audience knows the outcome of a situation the central character is facing or is about to is what triggers the audience’s more sensitive side. An ‘unquestionable’ or ‘neutral’ point is established which is individualistic from the character’s. Sadness, which Moretti refers to as ‘agnition’ is simply when both the onlooker and the actor achieve/ arrive at what the onlooker knew but the character didn’t. However Moretti also makes the interesting and timeless observation that agnition is moving when it is too late for the central character to change the situation/circumstances. This agnition is a result of the expected tragic outcome that the audience can clearly see in the making. However audience are known to like happy endings. Therefore a tragic fate causes agnition as it surprises them and saddens them. Neale strengthens Moretti’s point giving it further wrinkles by adding that agnition can also be achieved when unexpected trouble, digression or a hindrance comes up during a movie with an inevitable happy ending. The longer the main character is away from getting to their targeted destination, the more upsetting it is for the viewer. Neale uses All That Heaven Allows by Sirk as his model example. Towards the end, the movie generates plenty of tears as the two lead characters Cary Scott and Ron Kirby who have suffered immensely, unite. However their whole experience carries the elements that make the viewers depressed. Steve Neale describes the situation as ‘an ending of delayed but successful agnition as both happy and sad’. This brings to one’s attention the fact that though the main characters agnition was not costly on them in terms of permanence yet, sadness is also an important product in melodrama besides tears. For instance, if the movie had an alternative ending, if ‘Ron had died from his fall, and Cary came to learn of his death after deciding to reunite with him once and for all.’ This is a directly reference to the situation Steve Neale refers to of a happy/sad mix. Moretti’s sadness refers to a situation of irreversibility, of permanence. Moretti’s situation is more ominous whilst Steve Neale’s is more flexible in nature. Moretti’s case is more painful and hence achieves greater sadness and tears- a highly powerful product that theatres, movies etc all based o tragedy or even melodrama aspire to achieve from the viewer. Steve Neale’s theory however is not free from criticism. Many argue that to suggest the audience is saddened by the fact that they knew something the character didn’t which ultimately has dooming results on the lead character is highly simplistic an argument. For instance many a times the audience may not see a situation in the making and may be surprised as they learn something with the character. However this still results in the viewer feeling sympathetically for the actor and crying. Also in other cases a viewer may not know something a character does. If the viewer does not know of the agnition, it cannot generate sadness in the viewer. 9 The other criticism Steve Neale faces for his theory is that there is not always a similarity between the point of view of the viewer and that of the character or its maker. The desired reaction is not always achieved. Other times the onlooker is unaware of the bad outcome or of what the bad outcomes implications can be for the central character in the long run. Due to factors such as these, critics remain unconvinced. They find Steve Neale’s argument about agnition being the result of sadness sin films to being inadequate, insufficient and only half-heartedly understanding the entire situation. Neale’s stance of the viewer knowing the outcome of a situation before the actor does is a direct contradiction of Stella Dallas in which, the lead character, Stella knows of her sacrifice before the viewer senses it. To understand sadness in movies one should turn to the example of Life of Oharu by Mizoguchi. Life of Oharu is a melodrama which is in the form of episodes. It is a tale with the characteristics of a melodrama. There exists in it heightened emotions, a family scenario, a domestic environment etc. the story follow Oharu, from an imperial family who follows in love with a man much below her station. In every episode we see Oharu undergo a shift in stature from ‘an imperial daughter, to a royal concubine, to a high-class courtesan, to a servant for a local magistrate, to a shop girl, to a potential nun, to a woman on the run with a thief, to a prostitute, to a beggar.’10 This film is not in conciliation with the agnition structure described by Neale. In Life of Oharu the viewer is aware of what Oharu knows as well. Through the film the audience only knows at certain times about the development prior to Oharu’s knowledge. Other times the viewer will learn something that Oharu learns momentarily. Here are a few instances from the movie that directly clash with Steve Neale’s agnition. ‘When the imperial guards come into the hotel early in the film, and catch Oharu and her forbidden love Katsunoke, we see them before she does. We see the merchant Hishiya, who recognizes Oharu as a Shimabara courtesan, before Oharu enters the room. Oharu’s mother visits her near the end of the film after Oharu collapses in the temple. We see her mother approach the house while Oharu is still inside.’ In the movie there are two moments of when the viewer knows about an impending doom Oharu will face which she later on learns of. Agnition sometimes may cause to the sadness, like the phase when Oharu’s father begins to raise great debts and she learns of it only after her exile. Hence Neale’s theory is somewhat disproved by such examples but Moretti’s suggestion, may be relevant. Many argue Steve Neale’s ‘Melodrama and tears’ has misunderstood and misrepresented the message of Moretti. Moretti to others has not presented any information on the character’s point of view and simply talks about the situation being obvious to the audience. Moretti’s version claims that “‘moving’ sentence modifies the point of view that had directed our reading, organizing its expectations and judgments…” this simply means that the audience has a forecast based on which they have expectations. Expecting what they think will happen to be fulfilled. When this isn’t fulfilled the clash comes that leads to a certain reaction. Returning back to the example of Oharu, in the last episode heightened emotions is at their peak. Oharu is almost rejected by her son as he wishes to live at the Matsudaira estate. Life of Oharu is a film, which depicts great suffering, anguish and pain. In the end the central character, Oharu ultimately down to the level of an elderly beggar. Hence, it can be argued that melodrama a wide encompassing aspect of film, television, books etc is a product that is constantly redefined by the time and reinterpreted to translate into the language of the popular medium. It was once a musical finally made its way onto theatre and is now present in our lives in television and movies. Melodrama aims at acquiring the sympathy, sadness of the viewers and in it tears are a powerful emotion aspired for from onlookers. The success of melodramas can be assessed from the fact that since its first stages of creation during the time of the Greeks till now, authors, dramatists, producers, directors, playwrights have all experimented with this theme. Almost any novel is incomplete without a conflict and melodrama has a series of successful films, plays and books to its credit. Melodrama has grown over the years, taken on new form and meaning but has never strayed from its roots. The basic storyline remains the same. Yet the melodrama is always portrayed differently by the director/writer. Melodrama has been recognised as a separate genre by universities and institutions that now acknowledge its worth and contribution to society. Melodramas are not a product of powerlessness but a proof of success. Melodramas have reshaped the dynamics of theatre and can even be accredited with giving birth to it. Besides this melodrama, which played with the concept of drama and dance put together may be responsible for background music so necessary to build hype in modern movies. Some musicals are still created in the spirit of true melodrama while others are a hanged version of it. The Indian industry, Bollywood stills follows this old format. In movies made in Bollywood the conflict is usually between people from two conflicting social classes or between lovers or their parents. There is background music and often the actors appear to be singing, very similar to how it was enacted in theatres in the 19th century. Certain western musicals are also churned out every once in a while that contain the essence of melodrama however; melodrama as mentioned exists more in television and is popular with some directors and certain subtypes of film. Critics often wrongly, loosely label every type of movie to be melodrama because of its lack of fixed definition and vague understanding by commoners. Yet melodrama is an all encompassing commodity. It cannot be fixedly categorised. Bibliography: "Wikipedia" Wikipedia free encyclopedia. “MBC” Museum of Broadcast Communications “NVC” North Virginia Community College "Wikipedia" Wikipedia free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melodrama “Glossary: screen online” british film institute http://www.screenonline.org.uk/education/glossary.html http://www.hnet.org/~filmhis/reviews/29_12/book/refiguring_american_genres.htm http://www.16-9.dk/2004-04/side11_inenglish.htm Word Count: 3,764 Read More