allusion

an indirect reference to another literary work or to a famous person, place or event.

Romeo claimed Rosaline wouldn’t let herself fall in love when he told Benvolio,

"She'll not be hit with Cupid's arrow.”

apostrophe

Words that are spoken to a person who is absent or imaginary, or to an object or abstract idea.

O Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore Art Thou Romeo?

Death, lie thou there.

aside

Words that are spoken by a character in a play to the audience or to another character, but that are not supposed to be overheard by the others on the stage.

Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?

blank verse

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

chorus

In Romeo and Juliet, a single actor stepped on stage,

before the main action began, and summarized what would

happen during the show by speaking the Prologue.

in Greek tragedy, the chorus was a group of actors who commented on the actions of the characters

comic relief

After the serious love scene between Romeo and

Juliet, at the Capulets’ party, Mercutio and Benvolio are

a bit drunk and they clown around as they look for

Romeo.

a humorous scene, incident, or speech that is included in a serious play to break the tension

couplet

a pair of rhyming lines usually the same length and meter.

For sweet love remember’d such wealth brings

That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

dramatic conventions

In Shakespeare's time, most plays were written in poetry, even

though people don't really talk that way.

certain practices or methods that are accepted by a reader or an audience even though they are not realistic.

If an actor entered the stage from the trap door in the platform,

everyone in assumed the character was coming from HELL.

dramatic irony

When the readers or audience know something that a character does NOT know which makes that character’s words or actions funny in a twisted sort of way.

When Capulet tells Paris that Capulet is sure Juliet will be happy to marry Paris, his comments are funny to the audience because we know Juliet has already married Romeo, so she will NOT be happy to marry Paris.

foil

Mercutio is a foil for Romeo because of Mercutio's

constant joking and low opinion of love.

•Character who is used as a contrast to another character.

Romeo is a “lover” not a “fighter.”Mercutio is a “fighter” not a “lover.

A character who is a foil, is like the

metal behind the gem that is used

to intensify its brilliance.

foreshadowing

When an author includes hints about what will happen later in the story.

The prologue foreshadows the events of the play.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes

 A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;

Whole misadventured piteous overthrows

 Do with their death bury their parents' strife.

hyperbole

Juliet tells Romeo, "A thousand times good night.”

a figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated.

Iambic pentameter

A line of poetry that contains five iambs

Example: But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?

iamb

A metrical foot of poetry with one stressed and one unstressed syllable.

Example: a rise

Imagery

• language that appeals to the senses that create vivid images

metaphor

When Romeo saw Juliet standing on her balcony he said, “Juliet is the sunJuliet is the sun.”

monologue

a speech by one character that is spoken to another character or characters

oxymoron

A figure of speech in which two words with opposing meanings are used together intentionally for effect.

paradox

Romeo says that love is "A choking gall, and a preserving

sweet” during a conversation with Benvolio. (Something

technically be sweet and bitter at the same time.)

a statement that seems to contradict itself, but is true.

personification

When Lord Capulet said to Paris,

"The earth hath swallowed all my hopes but she” he implied

that the earth was human-like by saying the earth had a

mouth.

figure of speech which gives human qualities to an object, an animal, or an idea

pun

As Mercutio is dying he says,

"Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.”

• a joke which comes from a play on words

Shakespearean Sonnet

Also known as an English Sonnet—a sonnet with 3 – 4 line units (called quatrains), followed by a couplet.

The rhyme scheme is: abab cdcd efef gg

simile

a comparison of two things using “like” or “as.”

Tears flowed down his cheeks like a waterfall.

She laughed like a hyena!

Mark was as cute as a kitten and as tall as a tree.

soliloquy

a speech in which a sole (single) character says his or her thoughts aloud, usually while he or she is alone on stage.

At the beginning of the balcony scene,

Juliet believes she is alone, so she talks to herself about her love for Romeo.

sonnet

Fourteen line poem—usually written in iambic pentameter which endss in a couplet. It has one of several rhyme schemes.

Example: The Prologue

tragedy

We like Romeo, but because he does not slow down to

carefully think through his desires and plans, his actions lead

to many deaths and his own suicide.

a dramatic work which presents the downfall of a good character brought about by himself.

tragic flaw

Romeo and Juliet both suffer from the tragic flaw of

impulsiveness.

•a trait (usually beyond the character's ability to control) that causes a character's downfall that may result in death