Hamlet - Shakespearean Drama Vocabulary

Match the following:

• Aside

• A character speaks thoughts aloud while alone on stage.

• Dialogue

• A comment made by a character directly to another character that the rest aren't supposed to hear.

• Soliloquy

• Conversation between two or more people.

• Monologue

• Long speech given by one character.

Put the following in order from the largest section of a play to the smallest section of a play:

• Play

• Act

• Scene

• Line

• Word

Match the following:

• Comedy

• A play that tells a light-hearted story with a happy ending and a wedding at the end.

• Tragedy

• A play that tells the dramatized, embellished, or exaggerated story of a real historical figure and the people around that person.

• History

• A play that tells the dramatic story of a protagonist's downfall and usually ends with death.

Blank verse is...

• ... a song written with a lot of pauses for music.

• ... a type of poetry where the author uses blank lines to make a point.

• ... dialogue written in poetry that has rhythm by not rhyme.

• ... when a character mimes a monologue silently instead of speaking it.

A tragic hero is...

• ... a hero whom we hate because he makes a lot of dumb mistakes.

• ... a character with whom we agree when it comes to common sense or life choices.

• ... a character with whom we disagree, but who is also worthy of our honor and respect.

• ... a hero with whom we empathize, but who also has a tragic flaw that leads to specific downfall.

A tragic flaw is...

• ... a character flaw that ultimately leads to the downfall of a tragic hero.

• ... an intentionally broken set piece that causes tragedy in a play.

• ... a human weakness that a character learns to overcome.

• ... when an actor forgets his line and says something horrible while on stage.