Download Dramatic Poetry: The Merchant of Venice

ENG1DB Poetry Analysis Unit: Examining DRAMATIC Poetry
Dramatic poetry occurs in a dramatic work, such as a play, composed in poetic form.
It can also be defined as any drama written in verse to be spoken aloud (usually
onstage in a theatrical setting). The origin of the tradition of dramatic poetry extends all
the way back to Ancient Greece.
The English Renaissance saw the height of dramatic verse in the English-speaking world,
with playwrights such as Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, and William
Shakespeare, developing new techniques, both for dramatic structure and poetic form.
Though a few plays, such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, feature extended passages
of rhymed verse, the majority of dramatic verse is composed as blank verse (poetry that
does not follow a consistent rhyme scheme). A dramatic monologue can also be
characterized as dramatic poetry.
How Can You Identify a Dramatic Poem?
1. Implied Tone
 The tone (the poet’s feelings toward the subject) is implied (unlike in lyric poetry)
2. Point of View
 Spoken by a character invented by the poet rather than by the poet themselves
or an unnamed speaker
 Characters usually talk to a second implied character (in the form of dialogue
spoken aloud)
 The speaker has a goal of affecting the listener in a specific way (to teach a
lesson perhaps)
3. Focus
 Dramatic action that the reader/audience can visualize
 Communicates theme through a specific character’s conflict, speech, and
action
4. Structure
 Written in poetic verse complete with a distinct rhythm (iambic pentameter for
example)
An Example of Dramatic Poetry: The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
SHYLOCK
There I have another bad match: a bankrupt, a
prodigal, who dare scarce show his head on the
Rialto; a beggar, that was used to come so smug upon
the mart; let him look to his bond: he was wont to
call me usurer; let him look to his bond: he was
wont to lend money for a Christian courtesy; let him
look to his bond.
SALARINO
Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not take
his flesh: what's that good for?
SHYLOCK
To bait fish withal: if it will feed nothing else,
it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and
hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses,
mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my
bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine
enemies; and what's his reason? I am a Jew. Hath
not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs,
dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with
the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject
to the same diseases, healed by the same means,
warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as
a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed?
if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison
us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not
revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will
resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian,
what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian
wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by
Christian example? Why, revenge. The villany you
teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I
will better the instruction.
Thinking Questions:

Please answer the following poetry analysis questions in complete sentences on a
separate sheet of lined paper.
1. What is this dramatic poem is about?
2. Identify and explain the tone of this poem. Include a direct quotation from the
poem to support your observations. Analyze the effectiveness of the tone.
3. Identify and explain the theme of this poem. Include a direct quotation from the
poem to support your observations.
4. Identify and explain the purpose and effect of two literary or poetic devices
(examples of figurative language) used in this poem. Include two direct
quotations from the poem to support your observations.
5. What important lesson is the primary character (Shylock) attempting to teach
the reader/audience? Explain thoughtfully and in detail.