Shakespeare Literary Devices and Dramatic Significance

Apostrophe

A writer or a speaker uses this to detache himself from reality and addresses an imaginary character/idea in his/her speech. The speaker speaks to something/someone not physically present (could be an idea or something personified). For example, in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein says, "Oh! Stars and clouds and winds, ye are all about to mock me; if ye really pity me, crush sensation and memory; let me become as nought; but if not, depart, depart, and leave me in darkness."

Aside

lines spoken by a character in an undertone or directly to the audience, not intended for the other actors on stage to hear

Blank Verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter (almost all of Shakespeare's dramatic lines are written in this style, particularly the dialogue of nobility)

Comic Relief

humorous incidents that occur as a break in serious moments. The content of the comic relief episode is relevant in some degree to the tragic plot.

Dramatic Irony

This is when the audience/reader knows more about what's happening than the character(s) know. Often, this means a character's words or actions carry a larger meaning that the character does not perceive. However, the audience is well aware and realizes the significance of the character's lack of knowledge

Dramatic Significance

the five parts of a conventional tragedy: Introduction (Act 1), Complication (Act 2), Climax (Act 3), Falling Action (Act 4), Catastrophe (Act 5) (in Shakespeare, not the apex of excitement, but rather a turning point when the action inevitably begins to fall toward the conclusion.)

Alliteration

repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words (e.g. "with bloody blameful blade. . .")

Anachronism

something placed in an inappropriate time (i.e. cell phones in the 1700s)

Anaphora

repetition of a word or phrase at the start of successive clauses or paragraphs - ("We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills" (Winston S. Churchill).

Antithesis

a contrast emphasized by parallelism (similar order and structure in the makeup of a sentence) Eg. "Fair is foul and foul is fair."

Foil

A character whose personality and attitude is opposite the personality and attitude of another character. Because these characters contrast, each makes the personality of the other stand out.

Hamartia

a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine

Iambic Pentameter

five sets of pentameter rhythm (unstressed syllable / stressed syllable) in a poetic line; ten syllables in all

Metaphor

an implied comparison between two completely different class of things (e.g. "thou bleeding piece of earth" compares the mutilated body of Julius Caesar to a piece of ruined earth)

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing is referred to by something closely associated with it. Example: The White House stated today that.... Example: The Crown reported today that...

Monologue

narrative style in which one character speaks to one or more listeners whose replies are not given

Motif

a conspicuous element such as a type of incident, a device, a reference that occurs frequently in a work of literature eg. In Macbeth, "blood".

Oxymoron

a paradoxical utterance joining two terms that in ordinary usage would be considered opposites e.g." hateful love" or "burning cold "

Pathetic fallacy

It is attaching emotion or feeling to something inanimate, particularly things in nature. In particular, it refers to how weather can reflect a character's mood or the action in the text. For example, the "somber clouds darkened our mood" is a pathetic fallacy as human attributes are given to an inanimate object of nature and reflecting the character/speaker's mood.

Paradox

a statement that seems on the surface to be self-contradictory or absurd, yet turns out to make good sense.

Prose

ordinary form of written or spoken language, without rhyme or metre. Shakespeare's lower class characters (servants, tradespeople) usually speak in this.

Pun

a play on the meaning of a word(s) (e.g. As Mercutio dies, he says "Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.")

Report

usually given by a messenger who describes offstage action (e.g. a battle) or past events

Rhyming couplet

two consecutive lines that rhyme. Shakespeare usually ends each Act with a ______ _______ to signify an ending of sorts. Also referred to as a heroic couplet.

Scenes

the smaller units of action within Acts.

Simile

a direct comparison between two completely different class of things using like or as (e.g. "he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus" compares the power of Julius Caesar to the strength of the mythological being Colossus who holds the world on his shoulders)

Soliloquy

lines in which a character reveals his/her true thoughts to the audience but not to the other characters, by speaking as if to herself.Sy

Symbolism

the collection of symbols in a literary work that share connected meanings e.g. evil is symbolized in Macbeth through the witches, the dark, the appearance of a raven.

Synecdoche

Indicating a person, object, etc. by letting only a certain part represent the whole. Example: All hands on deck.

Theme

an observation of life that serves as the controlling idea in a literary work. The ____ is implied through the actions and dialogues of characters, the use of symbols and recurring images/motifs, or the manipulation of other literary devices.

Tragedy

a serious drama that is a thoughtful examination of human failure and unhappiness. The protagonist is a person of nobility, yet one who usually has a serious fault (the tragic flaw or "hamartia"), who must make a moral decision that leads to downfall and death.

Within

Stage direction indicating that a person speaking or being spoken to is behind a door or inside a room.