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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Melodrama \Mel`o*dra"ma\, n. [F. m['e]lodrame, fr. Gr. me`los
song dra^ma 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".
[1913 Webster]


Drama \Dra"ma\ (dr[aum]"m[.a] or dr[=a]"m[.a]; 277), n. [L.
drama, Gr. dra^ma, fr. dra^n 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.
[1913 Webster]

A divine pastoral drama in the Song of Solomon.
--Milton.
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2. A series of real events invested with a dramatic unity and
interest. "The drama of war." --Thackeray.
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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.
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The drama and contrivances of God's providence.
--Sharp.
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3. Dramatic composition and the literature pertaining to or
illustrating it; dramatic literature.
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Note: The principal species of the drama are {tragedy} and
{comedy}; inferior species are {tragi-comedy},
{melodrama}, {operas}, {burlettas}, and {farces}.
[1913 Webster]

{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.
Dramatic