
Definitions of
Melodrama on the Web:

- A play characterized by
stereotypical characters, exaggerated emotions, and simplistic conflict.
www.northern.edu/benkertl/drama_dictionary.html
- plays with elaborate but
oversimplified plots, flat characters, excessive sentiment, and happy
endings
wps.ablongman.com/wps/media/objects/130/133428/glossary.html
- a film or literary work marked by
"good guys" vs. "bad guys," unexpected plot twists, surprise endings, action
and suspense. Examples: Most horror movies and detective thrillers.
www.depaul.edu/~dsimpson/awtech/lexicon.html
- Originally a term for musical
theatre, by the nineteenth century this became the designation of a
suspenseful, plot-oriented drama featuring all-good heroes, all-bad
villains, simplistic dialogue, soaring moral conclusions, and bravura
acting.
highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0767430077/student_view0/glossary.html
- Exciting, emotional story. Often
unsubtle and romantic.
www.fisicx.com/quickreference/art/literature_glossary.html
- the dramatic genre characterized
by an emphasis on plot over characterization; typically, characters are
defined as heroes or villains, conflicts are defined along moral lines, and
the resolution rewards the good and punishes the wicked. Spectacle and
action are important to the melodramatic effect.
filmplus.org/thr/dic4.html
- n. a play in which there are so
much violence, feelings and exaggerations that it does not seem to be true.
station05.qc.ca/csrs/bouscol/anglais/book_report/glossary3.html
- A play which suspends the audience
through action and tension but contains the conventional "happy ending."
www.bucks.edu/tutor/literms.html
- is a rigidly conventionalized
genre of popular drama, theatrical rather than literary in appeal,
characterized by rapid and exciting physical action, sharply contrasted and
simplified characters, and colorful alternations of violence, pathos, and
humor. The central situation in melodrama--victimization of helpless
innocence by powerful evil forces--gives rise to four basic characters: the
hero and the heroine, a comic ally who assists them, and the villain against
whom they are pitted. ...
www.pitt.edu/~gillis/dance/glossary.html
- an extravagant comedy in which
action is more salient than characterization
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
- A melodrama in a more neutral and
technical sense of the term is a play, film, or other work in which plot and
action are emphasised in comparison to the more character-driven emphasis
within a drama. Melodramas can be distinguished from tragedy by the fact
that it is open to having a happy ending.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melodrama