Shakespearean Drama Background & Prep

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Across
  1. 4. a reference to a literary or historical person or event that the audience is expected to know. Shakespeare’s audience was familiar with Greek and Roman mythology and the Bible, so his plays include many references to these works. For example, Mercutio refers to the mythological god of love when he says, “Borrow Cupid’s wings and soar with them . . .” (Act I, Scene 4).
  2. 5. The repetition of certain words, phrases, or grammatical structures. It adds emphasis or improves the rhythm of a piece of writing. Here is a line from the play with parallel structure underlined.
  3. 8. Two opposites smashed together (juxtaposed) for literary effect.
  4. 10. Elizabethan theater relied heavily on the audience’s imagination. Most theaters had no curtains, no lighting, and very little scenery. Instead, props, sound effects, and certain lines of dialogue defined the setting of a scene. While the staging was simple, the scenes were hardly dull. Flashing swords, brightly colored banners, and elegant costumes contributed to the spectacle. The costumes also helped audience members imagine that women appeared in the female roles, which were actually performed by young men. In Shakespeare’s time, women could not belong to theater companies in England—Elizabethan society considered it highly improper for a woman to appear on stage.
  5. 11. a character whose personality and attitude contrast sharply with those of another character; emphasizes another character’s attributes and traits
  6. 14. Separate story lines that happen at the same time and are linked by common characters and themes.
  7. 16. In 1599, Shakespeare and other shareholders of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men built the Globe Theater, a three-story wooden structure with an open courtyard at its center where the actors performed on an elevated platform. The theater held 3,000 people, with most of them standing near the courtyard stage in an area known as the pit. The pit audience paid the lowest admission fee—usually just one penny. Theater-goers willing and able to pay more sat in the covered inner balconies that surrounded the courtyard.
  8. 17. usually fails or dies because of a character flaw or a cruel twist of fate
  9. 18. unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter, a meter that contains five unstressed syllables (˘), each followed by a stressed syllable (´).
  10. 19. Make use of a word’s multiple meanings, or they play on its sound.
Down
  1. 1. a speech given by a character alone; exposes a character’s thoughts and feelings to the audience
  2. 2. London was the center of the Elizabethan stage. One reason that London’s theaters did so well was that they attracted an avid audience of rich and poor alike. In fact, Elizabethan theaters were among the few forms of entertainment available to working class people, and one of the only places where people of all classes could mix.
  3. 3. when the audience knows more than the characters; helps build suspense
  4. 6. How the reader feels while experiencing a literary work.
  5. 7. a humorous scene or speech meant to relieve tension; the contrast can heighten the seriousness of the action
  6. 9. a character’s remark that others on stage do not hear; reveals the character’s private thoughts
  7. 12. shut the door! And when thou hast done so, / Come weep with me—past hope, past cure, past help!”
  8. 13. the adversary or hostile force opposing the protagonist; can be a character, a group of characters, or a nonhuman entity
  9. 15. When an author creates tension on purpose in a literary work.