Shakespearean Drama Terms

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Godwin Lawson
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1 Shakespearean Drama Terms

2 Tragedy A drama that ends in catastrophe, usually death, for the main character and usually several other important characters. Romeo & Juliet Hamlet Macbeth Julius Caesar Othello

3 Comedy A drama that is light-hearted and has a happy ending; usually involves marriages A Midsummer Night s Dream Twelfth Night The Taming of the Shrew The Merchant of Venice

4 Act A subdivision of a play Romeo and Juliet has 5 acts.

5 Scene A subdivision of an act Different scenes show a shift in time and/or location Most acts in Romeo and Juliet have 3-6 scenes.

6 Tragic Hero Someone, usually nobly born, who has influence on society, but has one or more fatal character flaws that lead to his/her downfall. Idea is from Aristotle Odysseus in The Odyssey is too proud Romeo is too emotional

7 Protagonist A hero or leading character with whom the audience sympathizes Romeo Juliet

8 Antagonist Character who opposes the protagonist; the bad guy Tybalt

9 Comic Relief A humorous scene, incident, or speech that relieves the overall emotional intensity Many of the lines from The Nurse in Romeo and Juliet

10 Allusion A brief reference to something outside of the work that the reader/audience is supposed to know Mercutio in Act II, Scene I: Speak to my gossip Venus one fair word, One nickname for her purblind son and heir, Young Adam Cupid

11 Foil A character whose personality or attitudes are in sharp contrast to those of another character in order to highlight the other s traits or attitude Not necessarily the antagonist Mercutio is a foil to Romeo. Mercutio s skepticism highlights Romeo s romanticism.

12 Dramatic Conventions Devices that theater audiences accept as realistic, even though they do not necessarily reflect how real-life people behave Soliloquies Asides

13 Soliloquy A speech that a character gives (usually) alone on stage; reveals the inner thoughts and feeling of a character Friar Laurence at the beginning of Act I, Scene III Hamlet s To be or not to be speech

14 Aside A character s remark,either to the audience or another character, that others are not supposed to hear Romeo says in the Balcony Scene, Act II, Scene II: Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?

15 Rhyme The repetition of identical concluding syllables in different words, most often at the ends of lines Never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo

16 Meter The measured arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry The number of feet in a line A foot is a combination of stressed/unstressed syllables

17 Iambic Pentameter Lines of ten syllables in a unstressed/stressed pattern also knows as five iambs (one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable) elevates normal speech to poetry Romeo says in Act II, Scene II: But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?

18 Blank Verse Unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter Most of Shakespeare s plays are written in blank verse Romeo says in Act II, Scene II: But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?

19 Couplet Two rhymed lines in a row Prologue: The which if you with patient ears attend / What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

20 Pun A play on words that emphasizes different meanings or applications of the same word or similar words Mercutio says in Act I, Scene IV: Dreamers often lie and Romeo responds, In bed asleep, while they do dream things true.

21 Oxymoron A word or phrase that contradicts itself Romeo says in Act I, Scene I: Why then, O brawling love! O loving hate! One bright day poem

22 Dramatic Irony The audience knows something that a character does not know. The audience knows from the beginning that R&J will die. Romeo kills himself because he thinks Juliet is dead, but she s not

23 Verbal Irony Words mean the opposite of the speaker s true meaning This pillow is as soft as a brick. Thanks a lot! *sarcasm is a type of verbal irony

ROMEO AND JULIET: Act I Reading and Study Guide

Name Date Period ROMEO AND JULIET: Act I Reading and Study Guide I. VOCABULARY: Define the following words. adversary boisterous nuptial aside blank verse characterization conflict External: 1. vs. 2.