1. How to read plays and understanding Shakespearean tragedy

2. Helpful terminology
Plays are written in acts and scenes, not chapters.
We refer to the “author” as the playwright
Plays are entirely constructed of dialogue, conversation between characters
Other terms you need to know: soliloquy, aside, monologue, pun, chorus, and hyperbole.

3. The limitations of plays
Plays are visual mediums so we do not have the following tools to work with:
Narration (no commentary by the playwright)
Description (of setting, physical descriptions of places/people, no indication of props, no description of character tone)
Plays are written to be performed

4. The Shakespearean stage

5. How this affects characterization
Indirect characterization is the process by which an author/playwright reveals a character through the following:
what the character says
a character’s actions
what others say about a character
the character’s thoughts/speech (this one is tricky but possible…)

6. Monologue
Monologue is a speech given by a character on stage to other characters that reveals his/her innermost thoughts and feelings.
Do not copy this monologue, but note that Juliet is on stage when it occurs, and Romeo is describing his feelings in a whisper.
But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun! Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief That thou has maid art far more fair than she. Be not her maid, since she is envious. Her vestal livery is but sick and green, And none but fools do wear it. Cast it off. It is my lady! O, it is my love! O, that she knew she were! She speaks, yet she says nothing. What of that?

7. Monologue
Monologue is a long-winded speech given by a character on stage to other characters..
Do not copy this monologue, but note that this monologue introduces the prince, who professes his anger toward the feuding families.
Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace, Profaners of this neighbor-stained steel! --Will they not hear?—You men, you beasts, That quench the fire of your pernicious rage With purple fountains issuing from your veins, On pain of torture, from those bloody hands Throw your mistempered weapons to the ground And hear the sentence of your moved prince! Three civil brawls, bred of an airy word Have thrice disturbed the quiet of our streets!

8. Soliloquy
A soliloquy is a revealing of thoughts and feelings when no other characters are present on stage, and the character speaks to herself (but intended for the audience)
Here, Juliet impatiently awaits for the plans to marry Romeo
The clock struck nine when I did send the nurse; In half an hour she promised to return. Perchance she cannot meet him. That’s not so. O, she is lame! Love’s heralds should be thoughts Which ten times faster glides than the sun’s beams Driving back shadows over low’ring hills. Therefore do nimble-pinioned doves draw Love, Now is the sun upon the highmost hill Of this day’s journey, and from nine till twelve Is three long hours; yet she is not come.

9. ASIDE
An aside is a brief comment that a character makes directly to the audience that the character intends the other characters on stage not to hear
Sometimes for comical effect but almost always creates dramatic irony

10. Chorus
The chorus is a character who addresses and/or comments on the action of the play and speaks directly to the audience. The function of the chorus is to allow the playwright to describe critical details that the dialogue of the characters cannot provide.
The chorus typically speaks at the beginnings of acts or scenes, or in the prologue, to literally “set the stage.”

11. pun
Pun is a form of ambiguity in which an author uses one word or short phrase in two different ways (homonym) or through similar pronunciations
Homonyms have either the same spelling with two different meanings or different spellings with different meanings
Effect: usually humorous or intellectual

14. Tragedy
A tragedy is a type of drama, opposed to comedy, that depicts cause-and-effect events that lead to the downfall of the protagonist, or tragic hero, whereupon evil is vanquished and order is restored.
Events in Shakespearean tragedy are cause-effect but are sudden and appear accidental.

15. The tragic hero The tragic hero MUST:
Be of noble stature, usually a prince or king
Be generally a good person who acts with the best of intentions but commits a crime
The crime is the result of the hero’s tragic flaw (jealousy, ambition, quick anger, hubris, and so on)
The hero’s downfall is his/her own fault
The punishment well exceeds the crime
Some good arises from his/her fall, to the betterment of society
The audience feels catharsis, or the release of tension/fear at the end when goodness is restored

16. Cycle of tragedy
Good
Evil
Chaos
Death
Re-Assertion of Good

17. AN example in shakespeare

18. Puns in succession
Telus and Bell are Canadian communication companies like ATT and Verizon in the United States.
Both companies recently became what are called “income trusts,” which allow individual investors to buy stocks in those companies and make money off of them.
The Canadian government can pass a bill to make these “tax trusts,” where stockholders have to pay taxes on any money they make after buying stock in companies like Telus and Bell. If this happens, the stock typically drops temporarily because it is perceived as less valuable than when it was simply an “income trust.”