Transcript Shakespearean Drama - Tucson Unified School District

Shakespearean Drama
Vocabulary and Terms
Shakespeare’s Plays

3 categories






Tragedy: a play that traces the main
character’s downfall
Ex:
Comedy: a play that ends happily and usually
contains many humorous elements
Ex:
History: a play that chronicles the life of an
English monarch
Ex:
Tragedy and the Tragic Hero
 Shakespeare’s
tragedies are often called
his “greatest plays.”
 Every

tragedy contains a “tragic hero”
Tragic hero: a main character who goes
through a series of events that lead to his/her
downfall
Qualities of a Tragic Hero
 Possesses
importance or high rank
 Exhibits extraordinary talents
 Displays a tragic flaw—an error in
judgment or defect in character—that
leads to downfall
 Faces downfall with courage and dignity
Soliloquy and Aside

Shakespeare uses soliloquies and asides even
though these are not things that are used in real
life.

Soliloquy: a long speech given by a character
while alone on stage to reveal his or her private
thoughts or intentions. (monologue)

Aside: a character’s quiet remark to the
audience or another character that no one else
on stage is supposed to hear. A stage direction
(often in brackets) indicates an aside
Aside Example
Trebonius: Caesar, I will. [Aside] And so
near will I be
That your best friends shall wish I had been
further.
The audience is meant to hear the aside, but
not Caesar.
What does the aside suggest?
Dramatic Irony
 Irony:
the contrast between appearance
and reality
 Dramatic Irony: when the reader or
audience knows something that one or
more of the characters do not know.
 EX: In Romeo and Juliet when we know
Juliet is married to Romeo, but her parents
do not.
 Other examples in R and J?
Verbal Irony
 Verbal
irony = when you say one thing and
mean another (sarcasm is a type of verbal
irony generally associated with a tone of
voice)
 Example
= When Ms. Blea says she’s
happy to see your enthusiasm when you
are yawning
Situational Irony
 Situational
irony = When the unexpected
happens
 Example
Last slide
– A fire station catches on fire