Final answer:
The script provides character revelation, descriptions of action, and composition of thought in a drama, enabled through dialogue and stage directions which are crucial to its performance. Dramas rely on the script's narrative structure and character interaction to reveal plot and character backgrounds, with character development being secondary to the actions within the plot.
Step-by-step explanation:
Character revelation, descriptions of action, and composition of thought in a drama are mainly provided through the play's script. The dialogue and stage directions contained within articulate not only what characters will say but often how they will move within the space of the performance. This scripted language is crucial to a successful production as it outlines the backbone of the play's narrative structure.
Whether in the form of a tragedy, comedy, history, or romance, all dramas typically follow the structure of acts and scenes with line numbers to guide the performance. The script indicates not only the dialogue but also the character development and the plot progression. Unlike novels, where a narrator can offer insight into the inner thoughts and backgrounds of characters, in drama, these aspects are revealed through conversations and actions on stage.
A play, being a performed spectacle, relies on the audience witnessing these scripted interactions to understand the storyline and character arcs.
Insights into the characters' pasts, their secrets, and motivators are woven into their spoken words, as well as their dynamic interactions, enabling the audience to infer and imagine the worlds outside the immediate action. Furthermore, occasional narration or a chorus may introduce a scene or set the tone, enhancing the experiential richness of the play.
Drama, as defined by scholar Ruth Finnegan and further emphasized by Aristotle in his analysis of tragedy, is an imitation of action expressed through character, thought, and plot, where the latter is composed of arranged incidents, and character serves more as a subsidiary to actions.
As such, the plot is the soul of a drama, intertwining the character's intentions with their consequential actions and thereby forming the essence of the dramatic conflict and resolution.