Shakespeare Terms

sonnet

poem of 14 lines comprised of 3 quatrains, ABAB rhyme scheme, and 1 couplet at the end

quatrain

4 line stanza

couplet

2 lines of poetry that rhyme

rhyme scheme

pattern that rhymes follow

meter

intentional rhythm structure in poetry

iamb

one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

-sounds like a heartbeat

pentameter

five iamb sections per line = 10 syllables in the line

ba-Boom

iambic pentameter

poetic meter that is made up of 5 stressed syllables each followed by an unstressed syllable

-uses 5 iamb sections and 10 total syllables per lines

-used by upper class citizens in Macbeth/Shakespeare

trochee

one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable

-reverse heart beat: Boom-ba

tetrameter

four trochee sections per line = 8 syllables per line

trochaic tetrameter

type of speech used by people in Shakespeareincluding the 3 witches

blank verse

poetry without rhyme

-most of Macbeth

prose

non poetic, normal speech

monolouge

long speech given by one person, typically to another

soliloquy

inner thoughts of a character said out loud, typically lengthy and not purposely said to others

aside

words spoken to audience or private comment between characters, short sidenote not heart by others

chorus

character that comments on play but doesn't participate, typically part of epilogue and prologue

foil

secondary character that parallels the main character, but with opposite circumstance and actions