Melodrama as a voice of society

Seminar paper from the year 2001 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2, University of Stuttgart, language: English, abstract: Melodrama was already successfully performed in France, Germany and especially in England. When the Melodrama came to the United States it first had to be Americanized. So the American authors had to invent a new kind of Melodrama which had an American spirit. What they did first was to copy successful European plays and rewrite them for American conditions. By the late 19thcentury real American melodramas were written including a lot of action, violence and often the use of huge machinery. 'Melodrama became a direct expression of American society and national character'¹ as well as technological progress and its dangers. What I am going to do now is to deal with the intentions of the Americanized Melodrama. I think a brief definition of what a melodrama is should be enough because so many others have already taken its definition into pieces. Of more importance is the way the American society is shaped at that time and the way the Melodrama influences and criticises society. I will try to explain the function of a melodrama and how it is used as a voice of society. The example ofUnder the Gaslightby Augustin Daly will help us to understand the functions of the melodrama and how they are implemented.