Important Terms Flashcards
(20 cards)
Character Development
When a characters personality or something about them develops from what it previously was before
Reveal Character
When a characters personality is shown for the first time
Foreshadowing
When something hints on something else happening later on in the future
Irony
use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning
Dramatic Irony
when the audience knows a key piece of information that a character in a play does not
Situational Irony
when the actual result of a situation is totally different from what you’d expect the result to be.
Verbal Irony
when a speaker’s intention is the opposite of what he or she is saying
Themes
- theme of the supernatural
- theme of light vs darkness
- theme of masculinity
- theme of guilt
- theme of appearance vs reality
- theme of the great chain of being
- theme of the natural order (being disturbed)
- theme of deception
- theme of time
- theme of fate vs free will
- theme of violence
- theme of ambition
Motifs/Imagery
- blood
- light vs darkness
- animals/birds
- sleep
- weather
- clothing
Nemesis
Certain characters receive the death/consequences they deserve
Foil
A character that exists in order to serve contrast to another character
Hamartia/Tragic Flow
When some point in the action of a character he/she makes the wrong choice that leads to their destruction
Pathos
The quality in a drama which arrouses pity or sadness for a character
Rhyming couplet
Two lines, one right after the other, that rhyme are used by Shakespeare to indicate the end of a scene. Usually spoken by the witches and not normal characters to show how they are different and abnormal
Equivocation
When words are used in an ambiguous game
Ex. Fair is foul and foul is fair
Ex. Lesser then Macbeth, and greater
Paradox
An apparent contradiction or illogicality in a statement which on closer examination turns out to contain the truth (same as equivocation)
Pathetic Fallacy
When the weather portrays how a character of many characters are feeling
Personification
Giving human traits and qualities such as emotions, desires, sensations, gestures, and speech, often by way of a metaphor
Aside
The inner thoughts of a character spoken aloud
Soliloquy
When a character utters his thoughts aloud. However, no one else is usually on stage, and no one can here the speaker except for the audience
