The scene above is a classic example of melodrama – the situation is so extreme and tragic for the main character that the audience can`t help but feel his great sadness, making it a jolt of tears. Then, against all odds, almost all of the tragedy is reversed and the best possible outcome occurs, giving the reader a whole new set of emotions. In literature and theatre, a melodrama (/ˈmel·əˌdrɑ·mə/) is a work with exaggerated and sensational events and characters. It is highly emotional and focuses on exciting but exaggerated situations designed to stimulate the emotional reactions of the audience. Strong characterization is not a characteristic of melodrama; Instead, characters are assigned stereotypical or simple roles, often in „right versus wrong” situations. The genre gave life to the widely used melodramatic term, which is used to describe something too dramatic or emotional. For example, if your girlfriend is crying hysterically because she broke her new sunglasses, you`ll probably tell her she`s „melodramatic.” Valmond lived in everything, almost too alive, because at first the extravagance of his mind touched him with melodrama. Another example of melodrama from the film would be It`s a Wonderful Life. In this film, we see the dramatic story of George Bailey, who feels that his loved ones would be better off without him. Through the advice of an angel, he learns that this is not the case and accepts life`s trials and difficulties. Another example of melodrama is Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.

In this young adult series, a teenage girl moves to a new city and falls in love with a teenage vampire. The characters find themselves in dramatic situations such as teenage love and battles with evil, and readers remain in emotional tension throughout the series. Early silent films like Pauline`s Perils had similar themes. Later, after silent films were replaced by talkies, stage actor Tod Slaughter transferred to the screen at the age of 50 the Victorian melodramas in which he had played a villain in his previous theatrical career. These films, which include Maria Marten or Murder in the Red Barn (1935), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936) and The Ticket of Leave Man (1937), are a unique testament to a bygone art form. The play can be pure comedy, comedy-drama, tragedy, even farce or melodrama. The next popular subgenre to supplant the Gothic was nautical melodrama, developed by Douglas Jerrold in his Black-eyed Susan (1829). Other nautical melodramas include Jerrold`s The Mutiny at the Nore (1830) and Edward Fitzball`s The Red Rover (1829) (Rowell 1953).

[18] Melodramas based on urban situations became popular in the mid-nineteenth century, including Dion Boucicault`s The Streets of London (1864); and Watts Phillips` Lost in London (1867), while prison melodrama, temperance melodrama and imperialist melodrama also appeared – the latter typically with the three categories of the „good” native, the brave but wicked native, and the traitor. [22] The first English play to be called melodrama or „melodrama” was Thomas Holcroft`s A Tale of Mystery (1802). It was an example of the Gothic genre, an earlier theatrical example being Matthew Gregory Lewis` The Castle Spectre (1797). Other gothic melodramas include Isaac Pocock`s The Miller and his Men (1813), Samuel Arnold`s The Woodsman`s Hut (1814), and William Dimond`s The Broken Sword (1816). Further letters patent were eventually granted to a theatre in several other English cities. Other theatres presented dramas set to music and, borrowing the French term, called them melodramas to circumvent the restriction. The Theatre Act of 1843 finally allowed all theatres to perform. [12] At the end of the 19th century, the term melodrama was almost exclusively limited to a particular genre of salon entertainment: more or less rhythmic words (often poetry) – not sung, sometimes more or less staged, at least with a dramatic structure or plot – synchronized with the accompaniment of music (usually the piano). It was considered a genre for authors and composers of lesser format (probably also why practically no realization of the genre is yet recalled).

Probably also the moment when the connotation of cheap overacting was first associated with the term. As a mixture of narration and chamber music, it was eclipsed almost overnight by a single composition: Schoenberg`s Pierrot Lunaire (1912), where singing was used instead of rhythmically spoken words and which took a freer and more imaginative course with regard to the prerogative of action. The Lotus and the Tempest turns out to be a great scary melodrama with elements of the camp interpreted in fragmentary reverie. The relationship between melodrama and realism is complex. The protagonists of melodramatic works can be ordinary (and therefore realistic) people involved in extraordinary events or very exaggerated and unrealistic characters. In terms of high emotions and dramatic rhetoric, melodrama represents a „victory over repression.” [5] Late Victorian and Edwardian melodrama combined a deliberate focus on realism in sets and props with „anti-realism” in character and plot. The melodrama of this period aimed for „credible precision in the depiction of incredible and extraordinary scenes.” [6] The writer Wilkie Collins is known for his attention to detail (e.g. legal matters) in his works, no matter how sensational the plot. Melodramas were usually 10,000 to 20,000 words.

[7] In the meantime, after two years of inconclusive elections and political melodrama, many Israelis will welcome a return to some sense of normalcy. The vast majority of operas are melodramas. Emotional tensions are both communicated and amplified by the appropriate music. Most plots involve characters overcoming or succumbing to larger-than-life events such as war, betrayal, monumental love, murder, revenge, childish discord, or similar grandiose events. Most characters are drawn in a simplified form with clear distinctions between virtuous and evil, and character development and the subtlety of situations are sacrificed. Events are organized to best match the character`s traits to demonstrate their emotional impact on the character and others. Classical melodrama is less common than it was on television and in movies in the Western world. However, in other regions, especially in Asia and Hispanic countries, it is still very popular. Melodrama is one of the main genres (along with romance, comedy and fantasy) used in Latin American television series (telenovelas), especially in Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil, and in Asian television series, in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, Pakistan, Thailand, India, in Turkey and (in a fusion of Hispanic and Asian cultures) in the Philippines.

The diaspora expat communities in these countries offer viewers a global market. In this melodrama, the circumstances are told in detail, and a few hesitant verses conclude the sad tale. Other later and better known examples of the melodramatic style in operas are the gravedigger scene in Beethoven`s Fidelio (1805) and the incantation scene in Weber`s Der Freischütz (1821). [10] [11] Most of the cinematic melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s, known as „Weepies” or „Tearjerkers,” were adaptations of women`s literature, such as romance novels and historical novels. [8] Melodramas focus on women`s subjectivity and perspective and female desire; Due to the Hays Code, however, this desire could not be explicitly shown on screen from the 1930s to the late 1960s, so female desire is endorized. [8] In summary, melodrama is a genre that never fails to achieve its main goal of eliciting a strong emotional response from the audience.