Shakespeare’s Terminology Words you need to know

Aside Noun: A remark by a character in a play intended to be heard by the audience but not by the other characters.

Blank Verse Noun: Verse without rhyme, esp. that which uses iambic pentameter.

Noun: Comic episodes in a dramatic or literary work that offset more serious sections. A character or characters providing this. Comic Relief

Dialogue Noun: Conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or movie.

Dramatic Irony (theater) irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play.

Foot Unit of metrical pattern in poetry.

Iambic Pentameter Iambic pentameter is a commonly used metrical line in traditional verse and verse drama. The term describes the particular rhythm that the words establish in that line. That rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables; these small groups of syllables are called "feet". The word "iambic" describes the type of foot that is used (in English, an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable). The word "pentameter" indicates that a line has five of these "feet."

Pun A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings- “the pigs were a squeal (if you'll forgive the pun)”

Soliloquy An act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, esp. by a character in a play. A part of a play involving such an act.

Tragedy A play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, esp. one concerning the downfall of the main character.

Tragic Flaw the character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall.