An essential features of drama is___________

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks for an essential feature of drama, meaning something that must be present for a play to work as drama. Features that are only sometimes used do not qualify.

Step 2: Explain the concept Drama is a story performed by actors, and it depends on tension to move the plot forward. That tension comes from conflict, which is a struggle between opposing forces. The conflict can be:

• Between characters (e.g. hero vs. villain)
• Within a character (e.g. a moral dilemma)
• Between a character and society, fate, or nature

Without conflict, there is no rising action, climax, or resolution, so the play has nothing to hold the audience's attention.

Step 3: Evaluate each option

• A. Soliloquy: A character speaks their thoughts aloud while alone on stage. It is a dramatic device, but many plays do not use it.
• B. Conflict: This is the engine of the plot, and every drama needs it. ✔
• C. Irony: A technique used for effect (dramatic, verbal, situational). It is common but not essential.
• D. Aside: A remark to the audience that other characters do not hear. It is also an optional device.

Step 4: Answer Options A, C, and D are techniques a playwright may choose to use. Conflict is the only one without which drama cannot exist.

Tip: In Literature questions, separate essential elements (conflict, plot, character, dialogue) from optional devices (soliloquy, aside, irony, chorus). If the question says "essential" or "fundamental," pick the element, not the device.