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The following is a list of literary terms that you need to know in order to fully understand what Shakespeare is all about.
Be aware that the definitions contained here are designed to be simply understood. While they are accurate explanations of each term, you should know that these terms can be studied in far greater depth.
Click on a literary term in the frame below to go to that term's definition.
TRAGEDY: A type of narrative writing in which the main character suffers defeat following a serious struggle against great odds. The following are the main elements of Tragedy:
- The hero or heroine of a tragedy is an extraordinary individual. Very often they are important people, which is why many tragedies have been written about kings, queens and princes, for instances. These characters begin at a great height or peak of power or happiness and are eventually reduced to death or destruction. In Romeo and Juliet it is the main characters intense, idealistic love which makes them extraordinary characters.
- The hero in a tragedy must be destroyed (usually killed) as a result of FATE or character FLAWS, or a combination of both. (The Greeks, who invented the literary theory of tragedy, called the TRAGIC FLAW Hamartia � the greatest example of which was too much pride or Hubris.) Note how FATE works against Romeo and Juliet throughout � their families are enemies, they are separated by an unfortunate meeting and fight, Friar Lawrence�s message fails to reach Romeo, Juliet awakes just moments too late, etc. Both characters, particularly Romeo, also have character FLAWS � they do rash, impetuous things. However, FATE leads to their tragic end more than these FLAWS.
- The hero�s death should serve a purpose. In this case, for instance, the feuding families are united because of their children's deaths.
PARADOX: A statement that is basically true but seems to say two different things. For instance, in Romeo and Juliet, love leads to death which, in turn, leads to a new kind of love between the formerly feuding families.
SOLILOQUY: A literary device in which a character speaks aloud to him/herself, revealing that character�s inner thoughts to the audience. Often we pretend or assume ("a willing suspension of disbelief") that the other characters on stage cannot hear the revelations contained in these thoughts. (In Romeo and Juliet, however, the main characters overhear each other�s thoughts in the "Balcony Scene".) A soliloquy is a fairly long speech given by a character.
ASIDE: A literary device in which a character makes a brief comment directly to the audience. This is often acted out by the character covering his mouth to hide his speech from other characters on stage.
SIMILE: A figure of speech comparing two unlike things by using the words "like" or "as". For example: "Death lies on her like an untimely frost."
METAPHOR: A figure of speech involving implied comparison between two things. For example: "�purple fountains issuing from your veins." It�s a bit like a simile � that is, it makes a comparison between two things, but without using "like" or "as".
HYPERBOLE: Excessive exaggeration used for effect. For example: "We�ll welcome you back with twenty hundred thousand times more joy�" We also sometimes use hyperbole in everyday speech � for example: "I�m starving" when mildly hungry; "I love that" when you like something; "I�m freezing" when a little cold, and so on. "I�ll kill you" is the most common example of hyperbole in the English language.
PERSONIFICATION: A figure of speech in which human qualities are given to non-human things. Example: "The sun for sorrow will not show its head."
PROTAGONIST: The force for good in a literary work. The "good guy".
ANTAGONIST: The force for evil or destruction in a literary work. The "bad guy."
TECHNICAL CLIMAX: The point in the narrative (play or story) where the protagonist and antagonist meet in a decisive manner from which the course of events which follow cannot be changed. In Shakespeare�s tragedies this always happens in Act III, Sc i.
FORESHADOWING: Hints or clues about action which will happen later in the play. "Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man." (Mercutio reveals that he is dying.)
IRONY: A literary technique in which the outcome of an event is the opposite of what is expected. There are three main types:
- DRAMATIC IRONY: A contrast between what the character says with what the audience or reader knows to be true. An example is our knowledge that Juliet is not really dead and our understanding of Romeo�s reluctance to fight Tybalt.
- VERBAL IRONY: A statement in which the opposite of what is meant is said. Not very different from sarcasm.
- SITUATIONAL IRONY: Occurs when the opposite of what is expected happens.
ONOMATOPOEIA: The use of words which sound like what they mean. There are obvious ones, such as "buzz", "cuckoo", "hiss", etc, but many others depend on a poetic ear or interpretation.
ALLITERATION: The repetition of initial consonant sounds. Simply put, and most often the case, the consecutive use of the same letter (or sound) in a sentence. Look at the last three words in the explanation of paradox above.
OXYMORON: A two-word expression the halves of which are contradictory. Example: "heavy lightness", "loving hate" � an everyday instance might be a phrase like "awful good" or "terribly good".
DENOUEMENT: The final revelation (unknotting of a complex plot) or clarification of the outcome of a plot conflict.
BLANK VERSE: Unrhymed line consisting of ten syllables, alternately stressed and unstressed. Known also as IAMBIC (2) PENTAMETER (x 5 = 10). Note: in Shakespeare�s plays, only the important characters speak in blank verse. Servants seldom do, for instance.
RHYMING COUPLET: Two lines which have the last word of each line rhyming with each other, as in the last two lines of a sonnet (The Prologue, for instance).
RENAISSANCE: Began in Italy in the late 1200�s and for most of the 1300�s. A period in history in which there was a revival in classical learning (Greek/Latin) and art.
PUN: A form of clever wordplay in a which a word can have more than one meaning. In Shakespeare�s works these words are often bawdy (referring to sexual jokes or comments) or tragedy itself. Mercutio�s use of the word "grave" refers: (1) to the seriousness of his position and (2) to where he will soon be going, as a corpse.
IMAGERY: Visual pictures which stand for something beyond their surface meaning. These can include SYMBOLS � like a dove representing peace, for instance. IMAGES that are repeated throughout a piece of literature are MOTIFS � they are pointing strongly, with emphasis to certain themes or ideas. In Romeo and Juliet there are constant references to stars (Fate), light (love), fire (passion), shadows, coldness and darkness (death), and so on. These are literary signposts.