Merchant of Venice and King Lear Study Guide

70 vocabulary flashcards covering themes, characters, and literary devices from Merchant of Venice and King Lear.

Justice vs. Mercy

A key theme comparing strict law (Shylock) and human compassion (Portia) in Merchant of Venice.

Appearance vs. Reality

A theme that examines how mercy is performed in Merchant and private corruption in Measure for Measure.

Power & Authority

The theme showing that law favors those who control it, as exemplified in Merchant.

King Lear

A tragedy by Shakespeare that explores authority without justice leading to chaos.

Shylock

A major character in Merchant, representing law, revenge, and outsider status.

Portia

A character in Merchant known for her intelligence and manipulation of justice.

Antonio

A character in Merchant exemplifying Christian mercy with limits.

Angelo

A character in Measure for Measure embodying hypocrisy and moral absolutism.

Duke Vincentio

The Duke in Measure, representing surveillance and mercy as control.

Isabella

A character in Measure representing moral purity versus practicality.

Goneril

One of Lear's daughters; her actions contribute to Lear’s downfall.

Regan

Another of Lear's daughters; part of the betrayal against Lear.

Cordelia

Lear's honest daughter who represents truth and loyalty.

Edmund

A character in Lear who represents ambition and social resentment.

Gloucester

Lear's loyal subject who gains moral insight through suffering.

Dramatic Genre

Categories of plays, including comedy, tragedy, history, and problem play.

Comedy

A play characterized by humorous elements, usually ending in reconciliation.

Tragedy

A serious play depicting the downfall of a hero, evoking pity and fear.

Problem Play

A genre blending comedy and tragedy with moral ambiguities.

Act

A major division of a play.

Dramatic Situation

The context or setup of characters' conflicts at the start of a scene.

Episode

A subunit of action within a larger structure, often akin to subplots.

In Medias Res

A narrative technique starting in the middle of action.

Scene

A subdivision of an act, often indicating a change in location or time.

Line

A single unit of dialogue or verse.

Stage Direction

Instructions for actors' movements, often implied in text.

Anagnorisis

Moment of recognition or discovery by the hero.

Catastrophe

The tragic climax or resolution leading to death or downfall.

Catharsis

Emotional purging for the audience through pity and fear.

Hamartia

A tragic flaw or error leading to the character's downfall.

Aside

A line spoken to the audience, unheard by other characters on stage.

Beat

A pause or shift in rhythm or emotion in dialogue.

Choral Ode

A commentary or song by a chorus, often reflecting on themes.

Dialogue

Conversation between characters.

Implied Stage Direction

Action suggested by dialogue but not explicitly stated.

Monologue

An extended speech by one character to others.

Soliloquy

A speech delivered alone on stage revealing a character's inner thoughts.

Stichomythia

Rapid alternating dialogue, often argumentative in nature.

Accent

Stress on a syllable for emphasis in verse.

Blank Verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter typical of most of Shakespeare's plays.

Couplet

Two rhyming lines often closing scenes in a play.

Elision

Omission of a vowel or sound for metrical purposes.

Foot

A rhythmic unit within a line of verse.

Iamb

An unstressed-stressed syllable, the default in blank verse.

Irregular Line

A line that deviates from the standard meter.

Meter

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.

Original Pronunciation

The accent used during Shakespeare's time, affecting puns.

Prose

Non-metrical speech often used for lower-class characters.

Royal Plural

Use of 'We' instead of 'I' by royalty.

Second-Person

Use of 'thou' for intimate addresses, contrasting 'you'.

Spondee

Two stressed syllables in metrical speech for emphasis.

Stress

Emphasis placed on certain syllables for effect.

Syntax

The arrangement of words, often inverted for style.

Trochee

A rhythmic foot with a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one.

Verse

Metrical speech, commonly used by nobles in Shakespeare's plays.

Alliteration

Repetition of initial sounds in a sequence of words.

Allusion

A reference to a myth, history, or other literary works.

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines.

Antithesis

Contrasting ideas presented in balanced phrases.

Apostrophe

Addressing an absent or personified entity in speech.

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds within a phrase.

Chiasmus

Reversal of the order of words in parallel phrases.

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds in close proximity.

Dramatic Irony

When the audience knows something characters do not.

Ellipsis

The omission of words for brevity.

Epistrophe

Repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive sentences.

Entendre

A word or phrase that has a double meaning, often with sexual implications.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration for emphasis.

Imagery

Visually descriptive language that creates vivid mind pictures.

Litotes

A figure of speech that uses understatement for effect.

Malaprop

Unintentional misuse of a word for comic effect.

Metaphor

A figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two unrelated things.

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which one term is substituted for another closely associated with it.

Personification

Giving human traits to non-human entities or ideas.

Parallelism

The use of similar structures in phrases or sentences.

Pun

A play on words that exploits multiple meanings.

Rhetorical Question

A question posed for effect rather than requiring an answer.

Simile

A figure of speech comparing two different things using 'like' or 'as'.

Situational Irony

An outcome that is opposite to what one would expect.

Spoonerism

A verbal error in which the initial consonants or sounds of two or more words are swapped.

Symbolism

The use of symbols to represent ideas or concepts.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech where a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa.

Synesthesia

A literary device that describes one sense in terms of another.

Verbal Irony

When a speaker says one thing but means another.

Zoomorphism

Assigning animal traits or qualities to humans.