The term originated from the early 19th-century French word mélodrame. It is derived from Greek μέλος mélos, "song, … See more

The relationship of melodrama compared to realism is complex. The protagonists of melodramatic works may be ordinary (and hence realistically drawn) people who are caught up in extraordinary events or highly exaggerate… See more

The melodrama approach was revived in the 18th- and 19th-century French romantic drama and the sentimental novels that were popular in both England and France. These dramas and novels focused on moral codes in regards t… See more

• Northrop Frye saw both advertising and propaganda as melodramatic forms which the cultivated cannot take seriously.
• Politics at the time calls on melodrama to articulate a world-view. Thus Richard Overy argues that 1930s … See more

• List of melodrama films
• Legal drama
• Newgate novel
• Pantomime
• Serial (radio and television)… See more