Download Shakespeare`s Style

Blank Verse
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unrhymed verse
iambic :
unstressed, stressed syllables
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pentameter
5 “feet” to a line
ends up to be 10 syllable lines
In the Iambic Pentameter
The rhythm in each line sounds like:
ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM
If mu- / -sic be / the food / of love, / play on
Why did Shakespeare use
many variations on metre?
to make his verse
less monotonous
Feminine Ending
To be, / or not / to be: / that is / the ques- / -tion
Sometimes Shakespeare added an extra
unstressed beat at the end of a line to
emphasize the character’s sense of
contemplation.
Inversion

Shakespeare also reverses the order of the
stresses to help emphasize certain words or
ideas : emphasis on the word “that”
To be, / or not / to be: / that is / the ques- / -tion

Occasionally, Shakespeare will completely break
the rules and place two stressed syllables in the
same iambus
Now is / the win- / -ter of / our dis- / con- tent
Did he use verse or prose ?
BOTH
VERSE
PROSE
generally used
by aristocratic
characters

in serious or dramatic
scenes

generally used
by lower-class
characters


in comic scenes

in informal dialogues
Tragedy
Drama where the central
character suffers disasters or
great misfortune
 In many tragedies, downfall
results from :
Fate
 Fault
 Combination of the two

Theme
Central idea about
life which explain
the downfall
Plot
The sequence of
events in a
literary work
Exposition
The plot usually begins with :
1. introduction
 setting
 characters
 basic situation
3.Conflict
The struggle that develops
1.
2.
3.
4.
man vs. man
man vs. himself
man vs. society
man vs. nature
4. Crisis
The point where the
protagonist’s situation
will either get better or
worse
1. Protagonist = good guy
2. Antagonist = bad guy
2. Inciting Moment
 Often
called “initial incident”
That is the first important bit
of action that occurs
Romeo and Juliet “lock eyes”
at the party
5.Climax
The turning point of
the story
everything begins
to fall from here
6. Resolution
The end of the
central conflict
7. Denouement
The final explanation
or outcome of the
plot
Characters
 Round
 Flat
 Dynamic
 Static
Round characters
Characters who have
many personality traits,
like real people.
Flat Characters
One-dimensional, embodying
only a single trait
 Shakespeare often uses them
to provide comic relief even in
a tragedy

Dynamic Character
 Characters
that change
somehow during the course of
the plot.

They develop psychologically in the
course of the action
Static Characters
Characters
within a
story who remain the
same.
They do not change
their minds, opinions
or character.
Dramatic Foil
A character whose
purpose is to show
off another character
Benvolio for Tybalt
Soliloquy or Monologue
Long speech expressing
the thoughts of a
character alone on
stage.
Monologue
One person is speaking
on stage
 Long speech expressing
the thoughts of a
character alone on stage
Aside
Words spoken, usually in
an undertone not intended
to be heard by all
characters
Look for…
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Puns
Allusions
Metaphor
Personification
Oxymorons
Paradoxes
Foreshadowing
Puns
A pun is a humorous play on
words.
Mercutio – “Nay, gentle Romeo, we must
have you dance.”
Romeo – “Not I, believe me. You have
dancing shoes / With nimble soles; I have
a soul of lead…” (Act I Sc. 4)
Allusions
An allusion is a reference to a
well known work of art, music,
literature, or history.
“At lovers’ perjuries, they say Jove laughs.”
(Act II, Sc. 2)
Jove is another name for Jupiter, the Roman
King of the Gods.
Metaphor
A metaphor is a direct comparison
between two unlike things.
Romeo – “But, soft! what light through yonder
window breaks? / It is the east, and Juliet is the
sun.” (Act II Sc. 2)
Personification
Personification occurs when
an inanimate object or concept
is given the qualities of a
person or animal.
Juliet— “For thou wilt lie upon the wings of
night / Whiter than new snow on a raven’s
back. / Come, gentle night (Act III Sc. 2)
Oxymorons
An oxymoron describes when
two juxtaposed words have
opposing or very diverse
meanings.
Juliet – “Beautiful tyrant! fiend angelical!”
“Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate,
O any thing, of nothing first created:
O heavy lightness, serious vanity”
(from Romeo and Juliet)
Paradoxes
A paradox is statement or
situation with contradictory
components.
Juliet – “O serpent heart, hid with a flowering
face!” (Act III Sc. 2)
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a reference
to something that will happen
later in the story.
Juliet – “Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the sun.” (Act III Sc. 2)
Time
Look for references to time:
•References to “time” words, such as
“hours”
•References to the passage of time,
“rushed”
Irony
Verbal
irony
The audience knows
something that a character
on stage does not
Dramatic
irony
Saying one thing
It is structural: line or scene.
but meaning another
contrasts with another
In Julius Caesar, Mark
Antony calls Brutus “an
honourable man” but
means the opposite
In Macbeth Duncan’s line
“He was a gentleman on
whom I built an absolute
trust” contrasts with the
action on the stage
Comic Relief
Use of comedy within
something that is NOT
comedy to provide “relief”
from seriousness or
sadness.
Repetition of words or phrases
What for?
to underline the emotional intensity of a scene


“Oh horrible, oh horrible, most horrible!”
(The Ghost in Hamlet)
its comic effect
“O night, O night, alack, alack, alack,
I fear my Thisbe’s promise is forgot!
And thou, O wall, O sweet, O lovely wall.”
(Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
Hyperbole
Extravagant and obvious exaggeration
“Blow me about in winds! Roast me in sulphur!
Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire!”
(from Othello)
(
Othello is haunted by the knowledge
that he has wrongly killed Desdemona
)
Pronouns: you and thee
Send clear social signals
YOU
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Friendship towards an equal
Superiority over someone
considered a social inferior
Can be aggressive or
insulting
THEE
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More formal and distant
form
Suggests respect for a
superior
Courtesy to a social equal
Imagery
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
repeated images to build up a sense of the
themes of the play, like
light and darkness in Romeo and Juliet
imagery from nature
imagery from Elizabethan daily life, like:
sports and hunting; jewels; medicine
use of metaphors and similes
There’s daggers in men’s smiles”
(from Macbeth)
use of personification
“Come, civil Night;
Thou sober-suited matron all in black.” from Romeo and Juliet
Elizabethan (QE1)
Words
 An,and:
If
Anon:
 Aye:
 Art
 But:
 Dost
 E’en:
 E’er:

Soon
Yes
Are
Except for
Do
Even
Ever
QE1 Words (contin.)
Haply:
 Happy:
 Hence:
 Hie:
 Nay
 Thee
 Thou
 Thy

Perhaps
Fortunate
Away, from her
Hurry
No
You
You
Your
QE1 Words
Whence:
Where
Wilt:
Will, will you
Would:
Wish