Another aspect of the dramatic script is the playwright's point of view, which determines the dramatic genre. The two oldest and best-known genres in the theater are tragedy and comedy. Particular societies as well as individual playwrights are often predisposed to a tragic or comic viewpoint. Two historical periods conducive to tragedy were the fifth century, B.C. in Greece and the late sixteenth to early seventeenth century in Europe.

Other important types of serious drama include heroic drama, melodrama, domestic drama, and tragicomedy. Other comedic forms include farce, satire, domestic comedy, comedy of manners, and comedy of ideas.