The portrayal of characters through dialogue in Saule's Drama

Abstract

As dialogue in radio drama is the key to the understanding of characters, among other things, it is the aim of this study to investigate the ways in which dialogue portrays character. Dialogue in Ncedile Saule's two dramas—selected from Amaciko (1988)—reveals interesting differences between male and female characters. In both dramas men are portrayed as initially intolerant, but they change later The female characters are represented as patient and tolerant and they always persevere The voice quality, verbal behaviour, idiolect, dialect and the stylistic texture of their speech help to determine the character of each individual in the two dramas.