What does "drama" mean?

Drama: 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.

Additional senses

  1. 2.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.

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