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 (1) respond to a first reading, (2) gather information from the play (including given circumstances), (3) interpret the characters and relate them to the conflict, and (4) 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.