Repetition and Innovation in Drama

An attempt to calculate the novelty of actors’ utterances

Abstract

In our study, we present a method to measure the information value of characters’ utterances in a dramatic work. All characters who frequently elaborate meanings different from previous ones are considered innovative, while a character who tends to repeat (and thus reinforce) a previously established discourse performs a maintaining or repeating function. The comparison is based on embedding scores assigned to the character’s sentences using an SBERT-based algorithm. The duality of innovation and repetition is also present within a single character, which the method can investigate through sentence-level analysis. Furthermore, the pairwise comparison of characters allows us to represent their relationships as a directed graph, contributing to the discussion of network representation in plays. Using this procedure, we identify general differences between Shakespeare’s tragedies and comedies, particularly in terms of gender roles. In addition to general patterns, the method provides a basis for new interpretations of individual plays and characters, highlighting the joint applicability of close reading and statistical methods.