中國戲曲的文學特性是在抒情與敘事的傳統中完成的，明清傳奇作家在創作上，一方面繼承了古典詩詞的抒情特質與造境方法，並在深度與廣度上有所拓展，創造了「情景相生」，物我情融的「詩化」戲劇情境，以及融「表現」於「再現」的代言體表達方式，充分發揮戲曲「極情盡致」的特點。另一方面，傳奇的創作更開拓了以「情節」趣味為中心的藝術構思方式，以豐富的虛構與想像為敘事基礎，建立起自成體系的戲劇化展示方式，如內在型衝突「外化」為唱、念、做、打相結合的「現在動作」表現方式等。然而，戲曲藝術作為敘事文學之抒情性表現有別於詩詞之處，在於它不能僅是劇作家內在情感的直接抒寫，而是要把這種內在情感「外化」成某種形象實體作為情感的具象呈現，並通過人物形象蘊蓄與抒發劇作家的情感思想。 　　戲曲之創作從明代以來由於文人之擴大參與，曲文之「主題意識」與「情節結構」逐步滲透，使明清傳奇開始具有呈現整體文學性之要求 ，因而拓展了文人參與劇作之空間。伴隨著對戲劇主題與情節的深度投入，劇作家或劇論家自然地把目光投向戲劇情節的行為主體，即人物的刻畫與分析之中。有鑑於此，本文以明清傳奇之劇本創作、舞臺演出與演員之表演藝術為對象，首先探討「抒情性表現」於戲劇中之傳達方式與中國戲曲抒情特質構成之基礎，並析論戲曲襲自詩詞傳統之抒情手法意境呈現與意象運用對於抒情效果強化所產生的作用。其次，筆者分析了明清傳奇藉由人物刻畫所帶動之「抒情的戲劇化」問題，並進一步探討明清劇論中所謂「傳神」、「肖情」說之著眼點與所提出之呈現要求，以期能彰顯明清傳奇作家在人物刻畫上的成就。

The literary characteristics of Chinese drama are formed within the traditions of lyricism and narrative. Inheriting lyrical skills from Chinese classical shi and ci poetry, the Ming-Qing dramatists, on the one hand, created “poeticized” dramatic situations wherein “scene and feelings blend together” to fully elaborate the expressiveness of Chinese drama. On the other hand, they built up their new dramatized expressive modes by intensifying the sense of plot and structure. While the narrative part becomes the central motif of a composition, a new factor of the narrative structure is introduced, which is the “story interest.” However, the lyricism in Chinese drama is different from that of Chinese shi and ci poetry. The dramatic verse is not simply direct expression of the playwrights' inner feelings, rather, by way of dramatic performances, the presentation or embodiment of the characters' “externalized” feelings. 　　Owing to the Ming literati's participation in the writing of classical Chinese drama, and their gradual realization of the concepts of “structural design” and “thematic consciousness,”Ming-Qing chuanqi drama started to require a kind of unified “literary presentation,”which increased the literati's imaginary and creative space. Following this great interest in dramatic theme and plot, the Ming playwrights and dramatic critics naturally paid more attention to characterization and the analysis of dramatic characters－the subjects of actions in a play, than their precursors in the Yuan dynasty. This paper attempts to take the play-writing, the stage performance and the performing art as its objects, to analyze the significance of characterization in dramatic presentation. I have demonstrated the methods of lyrical expression and the constructional bases of Chinese lyricism. I have also explored the artistic designs of“lyric intensification” and the “dramatization of lyricism” enhanced by characterization in Chinese drama. Finally, I have discussed the foci and significance of the chuanshen and xiaoqing ideas in Chinese dramatic criticism.