1 A Journey Across the Atlantic: the History of Melodrama in Western Landscape

Melodrama has long been considered as a genre with no artistic value by theatre/drama historians. It is there to cater the tastes of the lower class or the popular society; thus, it is not a genre worthy of literary scholars. Through New Historicism lens, however, such a consideration is given by people with elitist point of view. As it is discussed in the following paper, melodrama has a lot to offer. It has been a genre with a lot of values attached to it since it’s “birth ” in France, its development in England, and maturation in the United States. Unlike the other genres, which are not free from values and biases, melodrama is more frank in delivering its messages