terms Flashcards
Hamartia.
Tragic flaws (role of justice/revenge in judgements)
Hubris.
Excessive pride.
Peripeteia.
Reversal of fate.
Anagnoris.
Important discovery.
Nemesis.
A fortune the protagonist can’t avoid.
Catharsis.
The character’s downfall and feelings of pity and fear.
Iambic pentrameter
Shakespeare’s use of iambic pentameter in Malcolm’s speech is very regular. This use of regular IP shows a sense of order among the chaos that is happening.
trochaic meter
The rhythm is unnatural and makes characters sound strangely different or otherworldly
the chain of being
The great chain of being is a hierarchical structure of all matter and life, thought by medieval Christianity to have been decreed by God.
sililoquy
an act of speaking one’s thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play.
aside
a remark or passage in a play that is intended to be heard by the audience but unheard by the other characters in the play.
pathetic fallacy
the attribution of human feelings and responses to inanimate things or animals, especially in art and literature.
antithesis
a person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else.
foil
a character who is presented as a contrast to a second character so as to point to or show to advantage some aspect of the second character.
dramatic irony
the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
poetic justice
the fact of experiencing a fitting or deserved retribution for one’s actions.
paradox
A paradox is a statement that appears at first to be contradictory, but upon reflection then makes sense.
equivocation
the use of vague language to hide one’s meaning or to avoid committing to a point of view.
didactic
literary movement encompassing written works that both instruct and entertain
regicide
killing a king
nominalisation in english
wrong: We analysed the data in the experiment, and it revealed chrildren react when they have too much sugar.
Right: The analysis of the data reveals childrens reaction to excessive sugar intake
thane
Macbeth once held this position.
example:
Macbeth, the powerful Thane of Glamis, has led the Scottish army of King Duncan to victory against an invading force and has personally fought bravely.
the gun powder plot
It is often said that Macbeth is a comment on The Gunpowder Plot of 1605. … But within that time, in November 1605, the Gunpowder Plot had been discovered: the plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament, kill James and replace him with a Catholic monarch failed and the plotters were tortured and horribly executed.
The natural order
If there was political order, then there would be natural order. Macbeth shows this connection between the political and natural world: when Macbeth disrupts the social and political order by murdering Duncan and usurping the throne, nature goes haywire.
