Shakespeare drama terms

Act

• a unit of action, often a subdivision of an act

• a major division in a play

• a fourteen line poem with a fixed rhyme scheme

• a verse line of ten syllables with five stresses and no rhyme

Scene

• a unit of action, often a subdivision of an act

• a major division in a play

• a conversation between two or more people, or speech that is written down as part of a piece of narrative text

• a monologue that is delivered when the character is alone

Dialogue

• a monologue that is delivered when the character is alone

• when a fictional character breaks away from the events of the story to talk to themselves or directly to the audience

• a conversation between two or more people, or speech that is written down as part of a piece of narrative text

• a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work

Tragedy

• branch of drama that treats in a serious and dignified style the sorrowful or terrible events encountered or caused by a heroic individual

• a relief from the emotional tension especially of a drama that is provided by the interposition of a comic episode or element

• a person of noble birth with heroic or potentially heroic qualities

• love that is not mutual or reciprocated; one person loves someone who does not love them back

Theme

• what drives a character to say what he says and to do what he does

• someone who contrasts with another character – usually the main character – to highlight their qualities

• the inferred stance taken on the central topic or message of a story

• the main idea of the story

Motivation

• the inferred stance taken on the central topic or message of a story

• what drives a character to say what he says and to do what he does

• the principal opponent or foil of the main character, who is referred to as the protagonist, in a drama or narrative

• a relief from the emotional tension especially of a drama that is provided by the interposition of a comic episode or element

Protagonist

• someone who contrasts with another character – usually the main character – to highlight their qualities

• the principal opponent or foil of the main character, who is referred to as the protagonist, in a drama or narrative

• a person of noble birth with heroic or potentially heroic qualities

• the character who drives the action--the character whose fate matters most

Antagonist

• someone who contrasts with another character – usually the main character – to highlight their qualities

• a person of noble birth with heroic or potentially heroic qualities

• the principal opponent or foil of the main character, who is referred to as the protagonist, in a drama or narrative

• the character who drives the action--the character whose fate matters most

Irony

• when the audience or readers know more about a situation than the character does

• a literary device by which the audience's or reader's understanding of events or individuals in a work surpasses that of its characters

• a relief from the emotional tension especially of a drama that is provided by the interposition of a comic episode or element

• a play on words in which a humorous effect is produced by using a word that suggests two or more meanings or involving words with similar sounds

Dramatic irony

• when the audience or readers know more about a situation than the character does

• when the outcome is the opposite or completely different from what was expected

• a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work

• a literary device by which the audience's or reader's understanding of events or individuals in a work surpasses that of its characters