A wide range of theater experiences fall under the heading of serious theater, all of which take a thoughtful, sober attitude toward their subject matter. Tragedy asks the most basic questions about human existence, and it assumes that the universe is indifferent to human concerns and often cruel and malevolent. However, in the face of such indifference, humankind is capable of extraordinary acts of courage and nobility. We can divide tragedy into two basic kinds: traditional tragedy and modern tragedy. In traditional tragedy, the chief characters are persons of stature-kings, queens, and nobility. The central figure is caught in a series of tragic circumstances which are irretrievable. The hero or heroine is willing to fight or die for a cause. The language of the play is verse. Modern tragedy involves ordinary people rather than the nobility and is generally written in prose. The deeper meaning of tragedy are explored in the nonverbal elements. Other types of serious drama include heroic drama, which is similar to traditional tragedy except that it has a basically optimistic worldview even when the ending is sad; bourgeois or domestic drama, which focuses on problems of the middle-class family and home; and melodrama, which uses exaggerated action and clear-cut issues and characters to tell a story or present a didactic argument.