Key terms Flashcards
Hamartia
It means fatal flaw. The fatal flaw is the thing that leads to the downfall of the character.
What is Macbeth’s fatal flaw?
His ambition and lust for power that led to his inevitable downfall and is the arc of play between him and his wife.
Catharsis
The purging or cleansing of emotions, particularly through pity and fear, that the audience experiences at the end of a tragedy.
Hubris
Exaggerated pride or self-confidence.
Tragic waste
When good is destroyed along with evil.
Tragic hero
The central character of a play, film, etc, depicted as a noble figure who experiences a tragic downfall.
Why is Macbeth a tragic hero?
Because he displays a tragic flaw and suffers a downfall that leads to his death.
Peripeteia
A sudden turn or reversal of events in a story.
What is a peripeteia in Macbeth?
The regicide of King Duncan.
Anagnorisis
The point in a play or novel in which a principal character recognises or discovers another character’s true identity or true nature of their own circumstances.
Where does the anagnorisis take place?
In Act V scene V just after Macbeth learns about the recent death of his wife.
Motif
An element that reoccurs such as a word, phrase, idea, image, action, character or symbol that appears throughout the play for emphasis.
Anaphora
Repeating a sequence of words at the beginning of adjacent clauses.
Stichomythia
A dialogue between two characters who speak one after the other.
