M.A. (Afrikaans) / The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of language forces within the drama. The hypothesis comprises of the assumption that certain cognitive linguistic aspects could have an important function to fulfil in terms of the interpretational possibilities of the drama. A cognitive linguistic approach to the drama Leuens by Corlia Fourie involves the analysis of cognitive linguistic aspects such as force dynamic interaction, categorisation, metaphorical projections, as well as the relation between reality and illusion - in the discourse of the drama. The central theme of the drama is consequently revealed on account of its manifestation in the developmental progress of the macro speech act. This study demonstrates the great extent to which the understanding of a drama by the reader or viewer is founded on conceptual processing within the domain of cognitive li~guistics. From the above mentioned, it becomes clear that there exists room for contributions from the cognitive linguistic domain within the predominant literary domain of the drama theory. In the final analysis, this study investigates the possibility of verifying the process whereby the reader or viewer of the drama acquires an understanding of the meaning of the drama.