Using the play Riders to the Sea (Synge) as an example, discuss what elements and qualities make drama unique as a literary form. Support your ideas with textual evidence from Synges play. | English & Literature Questions & Answers

Drama, like many other forms of literature have as their core ability that ability to make us 'feel', to have some emotional response to the words, or in the case of the Riders to the Sea, to the play. In the play Riders to the Sea one of the characters, Maurya experiences a series of tragedies. The loss of her family is made more poingnant as a play because the audience can SEE what sorrow looks like. Likewise, a play, especially a tragedy, offers a cathartic release to the audience as well as the character. Her ability to overcome her grief and have hope for the future makes drama a unique literary form.

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