Terminology Flashcards
What is a soliloquy?
A soliloquy is a speech, conducted by a single character, which expresses the character’s innermost thoughts and feelings. Juliet uses a soliloquy in Act 4, 3 to express her feelings about taking the potion.
What is dramatic irony?
Dramatic irony is when the audience is already aware of what is going to happen but the characters on stage are not. For example, the Prologue, at the very beginning of the play, develops a sense of dramatic irony as the audience knows straight away that the couple are going to die.
What is courtly love?
The idea of a man who is tortured by love and expresses his sadness through love songs and sonnets. Romeo is presented this way at the beginning of the play as he is moping about Rosaline’s rejection: ‘O teach me how I should forget to think!’ (Romeo, act 1, 1).
What is an oxymoron?
An oxymoron is when you put two opposing ideas next to one another. For example, Juliet describes Romeo as a ‘Beautiful Tyrant’ in act 3, 2, after she discovers Romeo has killed her cousin, Tybalt. It is used to express her conflicting feelings towards Romeo.
What is a sonnet?
A sonnet is a love poem that has 14 lines. Romeo and Juliet share a sonnet when they first meet in Act 1, scene 5. Shakespeare has done this to illustrate the immediate closeness and love that the two share.
What is foreshadowing?
Foreshadowing is when a writer uses language to hint at what is going to happen later on in a play or novel. In Act 5, scene 1, Romeo talks about a dream that he has had. In his dream he was dead and Juliet revived him with her kisses. This foreshadows the end of the play and Romeo’s death.
What is pathos?
Pathos is created when an author uses language to evoke a sense of sadness or pity. You can see this when Lord Capulet thinks that Juliet has died: ‘Death lies upon her like an untimely frost| Upon the sweetest flower of all the field.’ (Act 4, 5).
What is tragedy?
A tragedy is a form of classic drama (associated with the Greeks and Romans) that presents ideas about suffering and loss. We can see this at frequent points in the play as it discusses the tragedy of death in young characters (Mercutio, Romeo and Juliet).
