the romantic drama

Romantic \Ro*man"tic\, a. [F. romantique, fr. OF. romant. See
   {Romance}.]
   1. Of or pertaining to romance; involving or resembling
      romance; hence, fanciful; marvelous; extravagant; unreal;
      as, a romantic tale; a romantic notion; a romantic
      undertaking.
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            Can anything in nature be imagined more profane and
            impious, more absurd, and undeed romantic, than such
            a persuasion?                         --South.
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            Zeal for the good of one's country a party of men
            have represented as chimerical and romantic.
                                                  --Addison.
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   2. Entertaining ideas and expectations suited to a romance;
      as, a romantic person; a romantic mind.
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   3. Of or pertaining to the style of the Christian and popular
      literature of the Middle Ages, as opposed to the classical
      antique; of the nature of, or appropriate to, that style;
      as, the romantic school of poets.
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   4. Characterized by strangeness or variety; suggestive of
      adventure; suited to romance; wild; picturesque; --
      applied to scenery; as, a romantic landscape.
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   Syn: Sentimental; fanciful; fantastic; fictitious;
        extravagant; wild; chimerical. See {Sentimental}.
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   {The romantic drama}. See under {Drama}.
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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.
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            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}.
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   {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