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Structure of Shakespeare's plays

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Tutor: Kat

Summary

Structure of Shakespeare's plays

In a nutshell

When you read a Shakespeare play, you might notice that it is divided into different acts and scenes. In this summary, you will learn more about these acts and the structure of Shakespeare's dramas.

Structures of a play

Aristotle was one of the first to write about drama and describe its three segments: the beginning, the middle and the end. Over time dramas evolved and a playwright called Gustav Freytag developed the five-act structure. This is used today to analyse classic Shakespearean dramas.

Five-act structure

When reading a Shakespeare play, you may notice that most of his dramas have five acts. The number of scenes may vary, but there are always five acts. This is because the five-act structure breaks the play into sections, so it is easy for screenwriters or editors to work on. The structure is explained below.

act 1	The Exposition	This is the beginning of the play, where the setting is established, the characters are introduced and the conflict starts to develop.
acT 2	The Rising Action	Here the protagonist might encounter obstacles. The rising action leads the audience to the climax.
act 3	The Climax	This is the turning point of the play which has the highest amount of suspense.
act 4	The Falling Action	This is the opposite of the rising action. Here, the story is coming to an end. Any problems or unknown certainties are wrapped up.
act 5	The Resolution	This is the end or the final outcome of the drama. Sometimes at the end we learn the moral of the play or the writer might reveal their opinions or thoughts through the main character.

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Unit 1

Drama and performance

Unit 2

Introduction to Shakespeare

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