Words Flashcards
Tragedy (Greek)
Greek tragedy is a form of theatre from Ancient Greece and Greek inhabited Anatolia. It reached its most significant form in Athens in the 5th century BC, the works of which are sometimes called Attic tragedy.
Tragic protagonists
A tragic protagonist is a character doomed to an unhappy ending.
Antagonist
antagonists are generally the bad guys.
Extended metaphor
An extended metaphor is a version of metaphor that extends over the course of multiple lines, paragraphs, or stanzas of prose or poetry. Extended metaphors build upon simple metaphors with figurative language and more varied, descriptive comparisons.
soliloquy
an act of speaking one’s thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play.
aside
An aside is when a fictional character breaks away from the events of the story to talk to themselves or directly to the audience. Most often used in plays, TV series, and films, asides are usually delivered as quick observations, reactions, or quips.
hubris
Hubris, in Greek tragedy, is the excessive pride towards or defiance of the gods, leading to nemesis. The overbearing pride leads humans to follow paths or projects which lead to certain self-destruction. In Greek drama hubris is more or less followed by nemesis.
hamartia
hamartia, also called tragic flaw, (hamartia from Greek hamartanein, “to err”), inherent defect or shortcoming in the hero of a tragedy, who is in other respects a superior being favoured by fortune.
catharsis
Catharsis is the purification and purgation of emotions through dramatic art, or it may be any extreme emotional state that results in renewal and restoration.
dramatic irony
Dramatic irony is when the audience knows more than the character. It creates tension and suspense. Situational irony occurs when there is a difference between what is expected to happen and what actually happens.
monologue
In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience.
unrequited love
Unrequited love or one-sided love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such by the beloved. The beloved may not be aware of the admirer’s deep and pure affection, or may consciously reject it.
Courtly love
Courtly love was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing various deeds or services for ladies because of their “courtly love”.
Volatile
changing easily from one mood to another. a highly volatile personality.
emotional
When you’re emotional, you’re feeling lots of feelings, or emotions: happy, sad, afraid, lonely, mad.
impetuous
acting or done quickly and without thought or care.
machismo
Machismo is the sense of being “manly” and self-reliant, a concept associated with “a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity”.
antithesis
Antithesis is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introduced together for contrasting effect.
