User:Diegetic/Notes from Kirkwood

Kirkwood, G. M. “The Dramatic Role of the Chorus in Sophocles.” Phoenix, vol. 8, no. 1, 1954, pp. 1–22. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1086857. Accessed 2 June 2024.
 * Sophocles' choruses are meant to convey a certain philosophical worldview.
 * The chorus can generally be dramatic in 5 ways: (1) through the chorus members' personalities and their relationship to diegetic elements, (2), through the coryphaeus' iambic lines, (3), through phsycail participation in diegetic action, (4), through kommoi, a lamentation song, and 95), through the paradoi and stasima.
 * In Sophocles' plays, there are 2 different kinds of personal relationships between the chorus and the diegetic elements. In Ajax, Trichiniae, Electra, and Philoctetes, the chorus is close to one character, usually the protagonist and presents a biased point of view.
 * In other plays, they are generally more impartial elders, such as Antigone and Oedipus Coloneus.
 * Kommoi are present in all seven of Sophocles' plays, but importance varies. For example, the two kommoi in Antigone are critical to the plot of the play, as opposed to just conveying emotion for the audience.
 * There are 2 kinds of chorus, either representing the protagonist's viewpoint, or simply to further the theme in a meta narrative manner.