Drama Literary Terms

Antagonist

Character or group in conflict with protagonist

Ex: Tybalt vs. Romeo, the Prince, feuding Montagues and Capulets

Aside

Lines said to another character; heard only by the audience and intended recipient, not the other characters on the stage

Ex: Gregory and Sampson p.9 Act I, Scene I

Audience

Group of spectators/listeners

Blank Verse

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter; major verse form in Shakespeare’s plays

Ex: p. 40 Nurse’s monologue

Any conversations that do not rhyme

Cast

Characters in a play

Chorus

In Elizabethan drama; actor (s) recite prologue or epilogue and sometimes comments on the actions of characters

Ex: Chorus reads prologue I, prologue II

Comedy

In general, story ends happily

Conflict

Struggle between two opposing forces

Ex: Montagues vs. Capulets

Couplet

Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme

Ex: Last two lines of prologue p. 2 Last two lines p. 66 Act I Sc. 5

Downstage

Front part of stage

Drama

A work written to be performed by actors

Dramatic Irony

Occurs when the audience knows something important that the character in the play does not know

Ex: conversation between Benvolio and Montague – lets audience know about Romeo’s behavior p.18-19

Epilogue

Short summary at the end of a work

Foil

A character who sets off another character by contrast

Ex: Benvolio (peacekeeper) and Tybalt (short tempered)

Iambic Meter

Unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

Ex: Shall I/ = Shall – U and I - /

Shall I = one unstressed and one stressed syllable is an iamb

Iambic Pentameter

Five verse feet with each foot an iamb (total of ten syllables)

Ex: Shall I/ comPARE/ thee TO/ a SUM/mer’s DAY?/

Monologue

Long speech made by one person, often monopolizing the conversation

Ex: Nurse p. 41, Mercutio p. 53, and Juliet p. 85

Oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines contradictory terms

Ex: p. 20 “O brawling love, O loving hate, O anything of nothing…” “O heavy lightness, serious vanity…feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health…”

Prologue

Lines introducing a play (summary)

Ex: p. 2 for Act I, p. 72 for Act II

Protagonist

Central character of a play; engaged in struggle or conflict with another character or group

Ex: Romeo, Juliet

Pun

Play on the multiple meanings of a word or words that sound alike but have different meanings

Ex: p. 53

Mercutio: “My dream told me that dreamers often lie”

Romeo: “They lie in bed while they dream about the truth”

Satire

Writing that ridicules something in order to reveal a weakness

Ex: Saturday Night Live, Scary Movies, Date Movie

Setting

Where the action occurs; often revealed in stage directions

Ex: Prologue

Verona, Mantua (Cities in Northern Italy)

Soliloquy

Long speech made by someone alone on stage; usually expresses private thoughts

Ex:

Act 2, Scene 2 Balcony Scene p. 79

Stage Directions

Notes that describe how a work is to be performed or staged; usually include lighting, sound effects, movements, etc. Ex:

p.5 Sampson and Gregory enter carrying swords and small shields

p. 10 (aside to Sampson)p. 10 (draws his sword)

Stage Directions Cont.

Tragedy

Depicts serious or important events; main character typically comes to an unhappy end

Ex: Romeo and Juliet

Upstage

Back part of stage