Fusing a variety of influences (Aristotle, Stanislavsky, Kenneth Burke, and structuralism), this new text takes students through progressively complex levels of play reading in which they: respond to a first reading; gather information from the play (including given circumstances); interpret the characters and relate them to the conflict; and synthesize perceptions that have been revealed through analysis. Its central principle is that conflict is the essence of drama: the book lays out a systematic process for analyzing plays, relating each element to the conflict explored in each play.