Point of View

The point of view of all of these plays is similar as an audience views them and so there are several conventions that are used to convey information to the audience. Most of the action in the plays occurs between characters that typically do not have full access to what is going on in the play as a whole. There is also a chorus that will engage in what is called a parabis or a direct address to the audience. In this part of the play, the chorus will address the audience from the point of view of the author.

Sometimes this part of the play will involve the chorus explain how great the author is or getting another jibe in at a political figure or rival playwright. Sometimes, the parabis will include a chastisement to the audience for not liking an earlier play by the...