AP Lit: Theatrical terms and Shakespeare's background

act

a main division of a play; Shakespeare favoured the five act structure for his plays

scene

a unit smaller than an act

aside

device through which a character reveals her true feelings by directly addressing the audience; even though she is not alone on stage, the character is not overheard by any other characters. In Shakespeare’s time, this convention promoted audience involvement and provided opportunity for puns, foreshadowing, dramatic irony etc.

soliloquy

a speech delivered by a character while he is alone on stage. He is able to “talk to himself,” expressing thoughts, mood, or opinion aloud. The playwright uses this device to inform the audience of the character’s state of mind, his motives and intentions, or to advance the plot, create suspense, foreshadow future events or give information about others that would otherwise remain unvoiced.

sonnet

a short poem with 14 lines and a strict rhyme scheme. There several types of sonnets, each with its own different rhyme scheme. abab/cdcd/efef/gg is the pattern found in Shakespearean sonnets.

rhyming couplet

a pair of successive lines of poetry that rhyme

heroic couplet

a pair of rhyming lines of iambic pentameter

pun

a play on words; used artfully by Shakespeare for comedy and often used to create irony. It is the humorous use of a word or of words which are spelled the same (homographs) or sound alike (homophones) but have different meanings

blocking

movement patterns of actors on the stage. Usually planned by the director to create meaningful stage pictures

comic relief

comic relief does not relate to the genre of comedy. Comic relief serves a specific purpose: it gives the spectator a moment of “relief” with a light-hearted scene, after a succession of intensely tragic dramatic moments. Typically these scenes parallel the tragic action that they interrupt. Comic relief is lacking in Greek tragedy, but occurs regularly in Shakespeare's tragedies. Example: The opening scene of Act V of Hamlet, in which a gravedigger banters with Hamlet.

dialogue

the conversation of characters in a literary work. In plays, characters' speech is preceded by their names

dramatic irony

a device in which a character holds a position or has an expectation reversed or fulfilled in a way that the character did not expect but that the audience or readers have anticipated because their knowledge of events or individuals is more complete than the character’s. Example: In Shakespeare’s Othello Othello blames Desdemona for cheating on him. The audience knows that she is faithful and that Iago deceives him.

foil

a secondary character whose situation often parallels that of the main character while his behavior or personality contrasts with that of the main character, highlighting the protagonist’s traits and/or flaws. Examples: In Hamlet, Laertes’, father is murdered. His situation parallels Hamlet’s situation but his response is very different.

fourth wall

the imaginary wall that separates the spectator/audience from the action taking place on stage. In a traditional theatre setting (as opposed to a theatre in the round) this imaginary wall has been removed so that the spectator can “peep” into the fictional world and see what is going on. If the audience is addressed directly, this is referred to as “breaking the fourth wall.”

hubris

the Greek term hubris is difficult to translate directly into English. This negative term implies both arrogant, excessive self-pride or self-confidence, and a lack of some important perception or insight due to pride in one’s abilities. This overwhelming pride inevitably leads to a downfall. Example: In Sophocles Oedipus, Oedipus’ refusal to listen to anyone illustrates hubris. He believes he knows best – even better than the prophet Tiresias – and his refusal to listen leads to his downfall.

monologue

a speech by a single character without another character’s response. The character however, is speaking to someone else or even a group of people.

stage direction

a playwright’s descriptive or interpretive comments that provide readers (as well as actors and directors) with information about the dialogue, setting, and action of a play. Modern playwrights tend to include substantial stage directions, while earlier playwrights typically use them more sparsely, implicitly, or not at all.

tragedy

a type of drama in which the characters experience reversal of fortune, usually for the worse. In tragedy, suffering awaits many of the characters, especially the hero.

tragic flaw

a weakness or limitation of character, resulting in the fall of the tragic hero. Example: Othello's jealousy and too trusting nature is his tragic flaw.

tragic hero

a privileged, exalted character of high repute, who, by virtue of a tragic flaw and/or fate, suffers a fall from a higher station in life into suffering. Example: Sophocles' Oedipus.

shakespeare’s theatre — structural elements

• large round or polygonal and several stories high

• patrons sat on benches in the galleries, stood on the ground, or sat on the stage

• stage was 6 feet high and projected into center of theatre instead of lying behind the curtain; section of floor surrounding stage was where low paying customers stood (groundlings)

• plays were performed during daylight hours; when it rained, those standing were rained on

• vendors probably sold food to groundlings

• officials tried to close theatres — ostensible reason: closed in case of plague; real reason: censorship for moral and political reasons

scenery

• very little scenery but stage could symbolize many things — horizontally stage symbolized the world

• scenes could change rapidly because there was no heavy scenery to move

• upper stage allowed for balcony scenes

• lines of dialogue, rather than scenery, told audience about the setting of the action

costumes

elaborate costumes — companies spent large sums on satin and velvet

canopy

• vertically, the stage suggested the universe

• canopy spread over the stage was studded with stars and represented the heavens

pit

• below the stage was a space representing hell - a trapdoor led down to it

• out of this door, devils and ghosts could appear

• stage between heaven and hell reinforced humanity’s place in the universe — between two spiritual locations

sanguine

highly talkative, enthusiastic, active, and social. Sanguines tend to be more extroverted and enjoy being part of a crowd; they find that being social, outgoing, and charismatic is easy to accomplish. Individuals with this personality have a hard time doing nothing and engage in more risk seeking behaviour.

choleric

independent, decisive, and goal-oriented, and ambitious. These combined with their dominant, result-oriented outlook make them natural leaders. In Greek, Medieval and Renaissance thought, they were also violent, vengeful, and short-tempered.

melancholic

analytical and detail-oriented, and they are deep thinkers and feelers. They are introverted and try to avoid being singled out in a crowd. self-reliant individuals who are thoughtful, reserved, and often anxious. They often strive for perfection within themselves and their surroundings, which leads to tidy and detail oriented behavior.

phlegmatic

relaxed, peaceful, quiet, and easy-going. They are sympathetic and care about others, yet they try to hide their emotions. good at generalizing ideas or problems to the world and making compromises.

wherefore

why or for what reason or purpose