Write Between the Lines is an exploration and articulation of
the obvious and the obscure. A cavalcade of creation and commentary
designed to amuse and bemuse.
Dramatica
Theory
The
Four Throughlines of a Grand Argument Story
by KE Monahan Huntley
There
is a dearth of stories that fulfill us both intellectually
and emotionally.Inherent
to stories that do
engage an audience are sound structure and dynamic storytelling.Dramatica,
a relatively new narrative theory, expands upon current
understanding of how engaging stories work.
Formulated
apart from major theoretical paradigms, the Dramatica theory
may prove compelling for its potential use in story creation
and analysis (screenplays, teleplays, novels, short stories,
and stage plays).
Created
by writer/director Melanie Anne Phillips and film and television
production software developer Chris Huntley, Dramatica offers
a powerful solution to the problems of faulty stories and
the absence of an accessible “reasoned account of the
structure of the narrative, the elements of storytelling,
their combination and articulation” (Chatman 15).Dramatica addresses all components of a story, from
the underlying deep structure to an audience’s reception
of its meaning.
As
an exposition of the entire theory is beyond the scope of
this article, the focus is confined to one basic aspect
of the Dramatica theory’s foundation—the four
throughlines of a grand
argument story.
Grand
Argument Story
The
grand argument story is a specific type of work that is
conceptually complete and emotionally and logically comprehensive.Qualities that substantiate a grand argument appear
in the story’s structure (the underlying relationships between the parts of a story),
dynamics (the
moving, growing, or changing parts of a story), and the
manner in which the grand argument is relayed through character,
plot, theme, and genre.
In
a grand argument story the author investigates all significant
approaches to resolving the story’s specific problem,
and provides the most appropriate solution to solve it.Characters, plot, theme, and genre are the different
families of considerations intrinsic to the grand argument
story.Characters
enact the motivations.Plot documents the problem-solving methods.Theme examines values and their standards of measure.Finally, genre establishes the overall attitude that
influences the characters, plot, and theme.By placing different emphases on character, plot,
theme, and genre in the storytelling, the author communicates
a certain message.
Four
Throughlines
As
in structuralism, Phillips and Huntley perceive a literary
work as a construct “whose mechanisms could be classified
and analysed like the object of any other science”
(Eagleton 106).According to Chatman, the basis of structuralism
is “that each narrative has two parts: a story (historie),
the content or chain of events (actions, happenings), plus
what may be called the existents (characters, items of setting);
and a discourse (discours), that is, the expression, the
means by which the content is communicated” (19-20).Chatman identifies the narrative’s “point
of view” in the discourse, and further defines it as
“the physical place or ideological situation or practical
life-orientation to which narrative events stand in relation.
. . . the perspective in terms of which the expression is
made.The perspective
and the expression need not be lodged in the same person”
(153).
Phillips
and Huntley concur; they declare further that in Dramatica
there are four different kinds of points of view, called
the four throughlines, that probe the issues presented over
the course of the story.The significance of the four throughlines is they
grant the opportunity for an audience to participate in
the four points of view that comprise a grand argument.
Dramatica’s
four throughlines are the overall story throughline, main character throughline, impact character throughline, and main vs. impact character story throughline.The overall story and main character throughlines
are storytelling conventions comparable to the omniscient
and first person points of view; the impact character and
main vs. impact character story throughlines delve into
two additional points of view.
The
overall story throughline is the story’s objective,
dispassionate viewpoint.It contains the action and events in which all the
characters take part.An objective character is defined as a specific
collection of dramatic characteristics that remain consistent
throughout the overall story.Objective story characters may be archetypal, e.g.,
the classic protagonist and antagonist, or complex.Similar to “dramatis personae” (Propp 20),
the simple arrangement of archetypal characters represents
all the requisite functions of a complete grand argument
story.Although archetypal characters may conflict
with one another, this type of character does not experience
conflict within itself.Archetypal characters may provide a form of storytelling
shorthand.This
is convenient for an author who wishes to emphasize plot
or theme, or is limited in storytelling time and/or space.If not used for a clear purpose, however, a structurally simple
character may not hold an audience’s interest.Nevertheless, a comprehension of archetypal characters
informs and enhances one’s appreciation for complex
characters.Complex characters more closely represent a real person because
their internal elements can be at odds with one another.
The
Dramatica conception of archetypal and complex characters
can be compared to E. M. Forster’s discrimination between
“flat” and “round” characters:
"A
flat character . . . is built around “a single idea
or
quality”
and is presented without much individualizing detail,
and
therefore can be fairly adequately described in a single
phrase
or sentence.A round character is complex in temperament
and
motivation and is represented with subtle particularity;
such
a character therefore is as difficult to describe with any
adequacy
as a person in real life, and like real persons, is
capable
of surprising us (qtd. in Abrams 24)."
The
main character is the character to whom the audience emotionally
relates; the heart of the story is what is explored in the
main character’s throughline.The main character may additionally fulfill the protagonist
function in the objective story, for example, Catherine
Sloper in Henry James’ Washington Square.As the main character Catherine is the emotional
focus; the reader empathizes with Catherine’s personal
issues.As the protagonist she is the prime mover of
objective story’s action, the effort to make a suitable
marriage.
An
example of a main character that is not the protagonist
is Scout in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.The protagonist is instead her father, Atticus Finch.Atticus is defending a black man unjustly accused of rape; the entire
town is involved in the story of his trial.The audience, however, is emotionally connected to Scout’s
main character throughline as she attempts to understand
prejudice and face her own preconceptions, particularly
those of neighborhood bogeyman, Boo Radley.
The
impact character, wittingly or unwittingly, has the most
influence on the main character.Unlike the antagonist who is directly attempting
to stop the protagonist, e.g., Bob Ewell in To Kill a
Mockingbird, the impact character throughline offers
an alternative approach to the main character’s.The impact character compels the main character to
change or remain steadfast
to their essential nature.In To Kill a Mockingbird, main character Scout’s
impact character is Boo Radley, the character who ultimately
obliges Scout to face her personal bias.
The
story’s passionate exchange is articulated in the main
vs. impact character story.The main vs. impact character story throughline examines
what happens between the main and impact characters, fastening
attention on the pressure that intensifies within the relationship
until one ultimately defers to the other’s way of thinking.
A
grand argument story is limited to stories balanced by the
four throughlines.As a storytelling choice, however, an author
may emphasize one or more throughlines over the other(s)
to great effect.For example, the superb film Hilary and
Jackie, adapted by Frank Cottrell Boyce and directed
by Anand Tucker, centers on the main vs. impact character
story relationship between two sisters, almost to the exclusion
of the objective point of view, and to a lesser extent,
the main and impact character points of view.An example of when only one point of view is
problematic can be found in Bret Easton Ellis’ controversial
novel American Psycho.The story imparts only the main character’s
point of view; a larger context from which to derive meaning
is absent.
Taken
together, the four throughlines comprise the author’s
argument to the audience.Whether or not the audience is in agreement depends upon the individual,
however, as long as the argument is made completely and
consistently, it cannot be dismissed on its own terms.
Conclusion
Dramatica
is valuable to an author’s story where lack of structure
is problematic.For original story creation, applying the fundamental
concept of the four throughlines to a story aids in constructing
sound structure, the foundation from which to build dynamic
storytelling.For the purpose of analysis, this allows insight
vital to understanding author’s intent.For the audience members, they can simultaneously experience all
four points of view necessary for a Dramatica grand argument—an
event that conveys a familiar context within which to find
individual meaning in their own off-screen lives.
Works
Cited
Abrams,
M. H.A Glossary
of Literary Terms.6th ed.Orlando:
Harcourt, 1993.
Chatman,
Seymour.Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film.Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1978.
Eagleton,
Terry.Literary Theory: An Introduction.Minneapolis: U of MN P, 1983.
