Year 9 Macbeth knowledge organiser test vocabulary revision

Allusion

An indirect reference to another story. There are perhaps biblical allusions in the way Lady Macbeth tempts her husband

Ambition

a strong desire to achieve something

Anagnorisis

The moment in a tragedy when a character recognises their true situation. Macbeth’s moment of anagnorisis is when he realised the witches have misled him.

Antithesis

(plural: Antitheses)

Pair of opposites used in speech for rhetorical or literary effect, such as “fair is foul” or “lost and won”.

Apparition

A ghost like appearance, summoned by magic.

Aside

Words spoken that are not meant to be heard by others on stage.

Equivocation

The act of telling half-truths. Members of the gunpowder plotters were accused of, and executed for, equivocation

Hamartia

A character’s fatal flaw

Iambic Pentameter

Lines of 10 syllables, alternating between odd stress and on stress. Most of Macbeth is written in iambic pentameter

Jacobean

Relating to the reign of King James I.

Motif

A recurring image in a literary work. A common motif in Macbeth is blood or blood-stained hands.

Pathetic fallacy

A device where men dominate and where inheritance passes through male heirs.

Prophecy

(plural: Prophecies)

A prediction of future events.

Prose

Lines not written in verse. In Macbeth, prose is mainly used by the lower-status characters, or when characters are losing a sense of themselves, like when Lady Macbeth sleepwalks.

Protagonist

The leading character in a literary work. The main character in opposition to the protagonist is called the antagonist.

Regicide

The act of killing a monarch

Shakespearean

Relating to the writings of Shakespeare.

Soliloquy

(plural: soliloquies)

A speech given by one character standing alone on the stage. The significance of soliloquy is that we know it is a characters true thoughts.

Tragedy

(plural: tragedies)

A play in which a respected, noble and successful character descends from greatness to destruction as a result of an innate human flaw.