1. Shakespearean Language
LAP 3
Literary Types

2. Iambic Pentameter
Iambic pentameter is meter that Shakespeare nearly always used when writing in verse.
Most of his plays were written in iambic pentameter, except for lower-class characters who speak in prose.
Meter: the set rhythm of a piece of writing
Iamb: an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, marked “u/”

3. Shakespeare’s Meter Iambic Pentameter has:
Ten syllables in each line
Five pairs of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables
Iambic Pentameter: 5 iambs in a row
“u/u/u/u/u/”
Blank Verse: Unrhymed iambic pentameter

4. Iambic Pentameter
The rhythm in each line sounds like: ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM
unstressed with a u
stressed is marked with an x
Most of Shakespeare’s famous quotations fit into this rhythm. For example:
u x u x u x u x u x
If mu- / -sic be / the food / of love, / play on  
Each pair of syllables is called an iambus. You’ll notice that each iambus is made up of one unstressed and one stressed beat (ba-BUM). This is called an iambic foot.

5. Writing Style and Rhyme Scheme
Parts of Romeo and Juliet are written as a sonnet, a poem of 14 lines written and rhymed in iambic pentameter. Each sonnet ends with a couplet. In a Shakespearean sonnet the rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
A couplet is two consecutive lines that rhyme.
Iambic pentameter refers to the rhythm of each line. It is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one.
“Bŭt sóft! Whăt líght throŭgh yóndĕr wíndŏw bréaks?”

6. Shakespearean Sonnet
Sonnet: 14 line lyric poem with a complicated rhyme scheme and defined structure
Shakespearean Sonnet: uses iambic pentameter and has 3 quatrains (group of 4 lines) and a couplet
1st quatrain introduces the situation
3rd quatrain often shows a shift in thought
Couplet resolves the situation

7. Understanding Shakespearean Language