Literary Elements - Chino Valley Unified School District
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Literary Elements
Romeo and Juliet
Alliteration
Repetition of consonant sounds at beginning
of words.
Act I, scene iii:
Juliet says, “I’ll look to like, if looking liking
move.”
Allusion
Reference to a literary or historical character
or event
Act I, scene i:
Romeo alludes to Cupid and Diana from
Roman mythology
Antagonist
A character or force in conflict with a main
character.
An apostrophe
Character speaks to a person or idea that
isn’t or can’t be present
Act III, scene iii:
Nurse says, “O, Tybalt, Tybalt, the best friend I
had!
(He’s dead)
Aside
Lines spoken by an actor to himself or
directly to the audience.
Act III, scene 5: Juliet responds to Lady
Capulet, “Villain and he be many miles
asunder.”
Comic relief
Humor inserted into the play to break a
serious mood
Act V, scene 5: Conversation between Peter
and themusicians.
Dramatic Irony
When a character’s words or actions have
one meaning for the character and a different
meaning for the audience or reader.
Act III: Juliet’s despair is interpreted by her
father as sadness for Tybalt’s death when in
fact she is in despair over Romeo’s
banishment.
Foil
A character that highlights or brings out the
personality traits of another character in the
play.
Act I, scene 1 Benvolio, who tries to quiet the
brawling servants, is a foil to the fiery Tybalt.
Also, his calm and sensible disposition is a
foil to the moody and emotional Romeo.
Foreshadowing:
Use of clues to suggest what is going to
happen.
Prologue at the beginning of the play
describe the lovers as “star-crossed”
Imagery
Language that appeals to the senses.
metaphor
Compares too dissimilar things.
Act II, scene ii: Romeo says, “Juliet is the
sun!”
Monologue
A lengthy speech delivered by a character
and is addressed to other characters in the
play, not the audience.
Act I, scene 4: Mercutio’s speech to Romeo
about Queen Mab,
Act III: Friar Lawrence’s speech to Romeo
about being fortunate
Oxymoron
Description that contains a self-contradiction.
Juliet says to Romeo, “Parting is such sweet
sorrow…”
Damned saint
Honorable villain
Personification
Object is given human or animal
characteristics
Act II, “Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious
moon who already sick and pale with grief…”
Prologue
Brief opening section of the play spoken by a
single actor called “the chorus”
Welcomes the audience and gives them a
taste of the story.
Protagonist
Main character in a literary work
Pun
A play on the multiple meanings of a work, or
on two words that sound alike but have
different meanings.
Romeo and his friend Mercutio clown around
a the start of the play
Romeo and Mercutio trade wits in a series of
more sophisticated puns
Some are barely understandable today
Rites of passage
Romeo discovers the difference between
infatuation and love
Juliet realizes there is more to life than being
a dutiful daughter
simile
Compares two different terms using like or
as.
Act II, scene ii:
Romeo watches Juliet from afar. Romeo says,
“For thou art as glorious to this night, being
o’er my head, as if a winged messenger of
heaven.”
Soliloquy
A long speech delivered by a character alone
on stage to let the audience know what the
character is thinking and feeling.
Tragedy
A drama in which events turn out disastrously
for the main characters, often resulting in
death.
Tragic flaw
The weakness in the tragic hero, which leads
to their downfall.
Romeo’s tragic flaw could be reacting without
thinking– impulsiveness.