| Alliteration | Repetition of the same or very similar consonant sounds usually at the beginnings of words that are close together.Ex: “But now I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in / To saucy doubts and fears.” 3.4.24-25 |
| Allusion | Reference to a statement, a person, a place, or an event from literature, history, religion, mythology, politics, sports, science or pop culture. Ex: “Approach the chamber, and destroy your sight / with a new Gorgon.” |
| Aside | Private words that a character in a play speaks to the audience or to another character and that are not supposed to be overheard by others onstage |
| Blank verse | Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter-Shakespeare used it in his plays. Blank means the poetry is unrhymed. |
| Comic relief | Character that provides comic relief from a previous tense scene |
| Couplet | A pair of rhyming linesEx: Macbeth: “Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell That summons thee to heaven or to hell.” 2.1.63-64 |
| Groundlings | Theater goers in the “pit”The cheap seats! |
| Iambic pentameter | Line of poetry that contains 5 iambs. An iamb is a metrical foot, or unit of measure, consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one. It closely resembles the natural rhythms of English speech |
| Soliloquy | A long speech in which a character who is usually alone o stage expresses his or her private thoughts or feelingsEx: Macbeth: “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow . . . “5.5.19-27Lady Macbeth: “Come, you spirits /s That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here . . . “1.5.38-52 |
| Tragedy | Play that depicts serious and important events in which the main character comes to an unhappy end. The main character is usually dignified and courageous and of noble birth. |
| Tragic Hero | The main character is usually dignified, courageous, and often high ranking. They are often kings or military leaders; thus their downfalls have great consequences, affecting the welfare of a whole nation. Shakespearean heroes cause their own downfalls. The calamities in a Shakespearean tragedy do not just happen by accident, nor are they sent from above. Rather, they proceed from the hero’s own actions. |
| Tragic Flaw | Tragic character’s downfall may be caused by a character flaw, or it may result from forces beyond human control. The tragic hero/heroine usually wins some self-knowledge and wisdom, even though he or she suffers defeat or eve deathEx: Macbeth.. Ambition |
| Climax | The turning point of a story. From here on, the Shakespearean hero moves to his inevitable end. Ex: Act III, Scene 3 Murder of Banquo; escape of Fleance |
| Resolution | Concerns the necessary consequences of the hero’s previous actions which must be the hero’s death.Ex: Act V, Scene 8 Death of Macbeth |
| Foreshadowing | Is the use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in the story |
| Dramatic Irony | Something is known by the audience but unknown to some characters |
| Personification | Personification is giving human qualities to animals or objectEx: “If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me / Without my stir 1.3. |
| Paradox | An apparent contradiction that is actually true.Ex: “Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” |
| Simile | A figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between two seemingly unlike things by using a connecting word such as “like” or “as”Ex: Lady Macbeth: “Look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under it.” 1.5 |
| Theme | The central idea in a literary work. |
English Final Exam: Literary Terms Review Macbeth
December 5, 2019