Hypertext Webster Gateway: "melodrama"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Drama \Dra"ma\ (?; 277), n. [L. drama, Gr. ?, fr. ? to do, act;
cf. Lith. daryti.]
1. A composition, in prose or poetry, accommodated to action,
and intended to exhibit a picture of human life, or to
depict a series of grave or humorous actions of more than
ordinary interest, tending toward some striking result. It
is commonly designed to be spoken and represented by
actors on the stage.

A divine pastoral drama in the Song of Solomon.
--Milton.

2. A series of real events invested with a dramatic unity and
interest. ``The drama of war.'' --Thackeray.

Westward the course of empire takes its way; The
four first acts already past, A fifth shall close
the drama with the day; Time's noblest offspring is
the last. --Berkeley.

The drama and contrivances of God's providence.
--Sharp.

3. Dramatic composition and the literature pertaining to or
illustrating it; dramatic literature.

Note: The principal species of the drama are {tragedy} and
{comedy}; inferior species are {tragi-comedy},
{melodrama}, {operas}, {burlettas}, and {farces}.

{The romantic drama}, the kind of drama whose aim is to
present a tale or history in scenes, and whose plays (like
those of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and others) are stories
told in dialogue by actors on the stage. --J. A. Symonds.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Melodrama \Mel`o*dra"ma\, n. [F. m['e]lodrame, fr. Gr. ? song +
? drama.]
Formerly, a kind of drama having a musical accompaniment to
intensify the effect of certain scenes. Now, a drama
abounding in romantic sentiment and agonizing situations,
with a musical accompaniment only in parts which are
especially thrilling or pathetic. In opera, a passage in
which the orchestra plays a somewhat descriptive
accompaniment, while the actor speaks; as, the melodrama in
the gravedigging scene of Beethoven's ``Fidelio''.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

melodrama
n : an extravagant comedy in which action is more salient than
characterization


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