Shakespeare Devices

Act

A main division of a drama. Shakespeare’s plays contain five acts, with each act subdivided into scenes.

Alliteration

The repetition of sounds, usually consonants or consonant clusters, in a group of words.

Allusion

A reference to a historical or literary figure, event, or object to explain a present situation.

Aside

A brief remark made by a character and intended to be heard by the audience but not by other characters.

Atmosphere

The tone or mood established by events, places, or situations.

Blank Verse

Unrhymed poetry with five iambic feet to a line (iambic pentameter).

Chorus (2)

• In ancient Greek drama, the singing and dancing group whose words formed commentary or interpretation of action.

• In Elizabethan drama, the role of the chorus was often taken by one actor (prologue) or several actors offering commentary.

Comic Relief

A humorous scene or speech in a serious drama meant to provide relief from emotional intensity and, by contrast, heighten the seriousness of the story.

Conceits

Whimsical, extravagant, fanciful ideas.

Couplets

Two consecutive lines that rhyme.

Dramatic Irony

A device occurring when some characters are ignorant of facts of which the audience (and sometimes other characters) are fully aware.

End Rhyme

Rhyme that occurs in the last words of lines of poetry.

Foil

A character or scene set up as a contrast to another so that each will stand out vividly.

Foreboding

A feeling that something bad is about to happen.

Humorous Relief

The addition of humor to relieve the tension of tragedy.

Iambic Pentameter

A rhythmic line consisting of five iambs (an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable).

Imagery

Words or phrases that appeal to the five senses.

Metaphor

A figure of speech that states a comparison between two essentially unlike things.

Monologue

A long, uninterrupted speech spoken in the presence of other characters.

Oxymoron

A word or group of words that is self-contradictory (example: bittersweet).

Paradox

A statement that seems contradictory but is actually logical. Used to emphasize a theme or idea.

Personification

A figure of speech in which an animal, object, natural force, or idea is given human qualities.

Pun

A humorous play on words indicating different meanings.

Quatrain

A verse unit of four lines.

Rhyme Scheme

The formal arrangement of rhymes in a stanza or poem, identified by a pattern of letters.

Scene

A small unit of a play in which there is no shift of locale or time.

Simile

A figure of speech comparing two unlike things that are similar in one aspect, using “like” or “as.”

Soliloquy

A speech given by a character alone on stage that reveals thoughts and feelings.

Sonnet

A fourteen-line poem with the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

Stanza

A division of a poem consisting of two or more lines arranged together as a unit, usually in a recurring pattern of meter and rhyme.

Suspense

The element in a play that keeps the audience wanting to know what happens next.

Tragedy

A type of drama about human conflict that ends in defeat and suffering, often involving a noble character with a tragic flaw that leads to destruction.