Key terms (Dr F/Enron specific) Flashcards
Soliloquy
Is a speech given by a character in a play when the speaker is alone. This is presented to inform the audience or reader of what is happening in the mind of a character and to give information about the action of the play. - example: Act 1 Scene 1, Dr Faustus gives a soliloquy when deciding the pillar of learning he wants to study
Aside
A speech made by an actor DIRECTLY TO THE AUDIENCE, but seemingly to himself or herself. It is always a true reflection of the character’s thoughts. Its function is to reveal character. example - Enron prologue, lawyers speech
Hamartia
Is an ancient Greek theatre term meaning the error, frailty, mistaken judgment or misstep through which the fortunes of the hero of a tragedy are reversed. Hamartia must express itself through a definite action, or, failure to perform a definite action. Hamartia can result from bad judgment, a bad character, ignorance, inherited weakness, or accident. This error does not always result from an error in character.
Example - arguably the hamartia of both Dr F and Enron company members is arrogance and a desire for power
Dramatic Irony
Occurs when the reader knows a secret, but the characters in a play or work of fiction do not. Therefore, the words or actions of a character carry a special meaning for the reader but are understood differently by the character. The characters are blind to facts, but the reader is not.
Example - When Dr F continually questions Mephistopheles about the universe but is constantly rebuffed with ‘to think on hell’. We know this is another way lull Faustus into deeper indiscretions
Foreshadow
A hint or warning of things to come, making specific events in the plot seems more probable as they unfold.
Allusion
This is a reference to a person, place, event, usually without explicit identification. Allusions can be references to mythology, the bible, historical events, geography, legends, or other literary works.
Example - Dr Faustus prologue, classical allusion to icarus “his waxen wings did melt’ used to emphasised the way in which Dr F is an overreacher
Dramatic device
A dramatic device is anything that drives the action.
Example - Dr F Valdes and Cornelius plant the idea of necromancy in Faustus head
Monologue
a long, uninterrupted speech that is spoken in the presence of other characters. Unlike a soliloquy a monologue is heard by other characters.
Example - Enron Jeff skilling performs a monologue just before he goes to prison
Symbolism
It is the frequent use of words, places, characters, or objects that mean something beyond what they are on a literal level.
Example - The good and evil angel in Act 1 Scene 1 of Dr F, symbolise his divided will
Prosodic
relating to the intonation of a specific word that helps emphasise it.
Could be related to
- volume
- intonation
- pitch
- pace
- stress
Example - Act 1 Scene 1, when Skilling and Roe are going at each other back and forth and they emphasis certain words
Paralinguistic features
- pitch
- tempo
- loudness
- resonance
- timbre
- intonation range
- syllabic duration
- rhythm
Schism
different opposing ideas/beliefs
Machismo
excessive male strength and pride
Split scene
a scene that occurs simultaneously but in two locations (e.g. scene 5 of Enron)
Proxemics
the location and distance between objects/people on stage
Physical theatre
theatre which uses physical elements (use of body movement or movement of props)
Naturalistic
Action that is palpable or feels real
Non - naturalistic
theatre that is exaggerated, wouldn’t happen in real life (e.g. the raptors or blind mice in enron)
Face threatening
When one characters attacks or acts in a violent way towards another character (e.g. roe towards skilling in act1 scene2 of Enron)
Clown
A general term that was originally intended to designate a rustic or otherwise uneducated individual whose dramatic purpose was to evoke laughter with his ignorance
robin in dr F
Slapstick
primarily physical kind of comedy based around pratfalls, suffering and mild comic violence
Farce
comedy that aims at entertaining the audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, and thus improbable.
Stock character pairing
A brace of stereotypical persons whom audiences readily recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition
Mispronunciation
The act or state of saying or making the sounds incorrectly.
Bathos
An effect of anticlimax created by an unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to the trivial or ridiculous.
Mockery
Teasing and contemptuous language or behaviour directed at a particular person or thing
Cruelty
Behaviour which causes physical or mental harm to another
Misunderstanding
To interpret incorrectly
Sarcasm
The use of irony to mock or convey contempt
Double Entendre
A word or phrase open to two interpretations, one of which is usually risqué or indecent.
Dramatic irony
When the implications of a situation, speech, etc, are understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play
Pun
Play on words
