an introduction to iambic pentameter and prose

1. An introduction to
Iambic Pentameter

2. 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.

3. Iambic Pentameter
Iamb- 2 syllables
Pentameter- Meter with 5
So how many syllables are in a
line of Iambic Pentameter?

4. Iambic Pentameter has:
• Ten syllables in each line
• Five pairs of alternating
unstressed and stressed syllables
• The rhythm in each line sounds
like:
ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM /
ba-BUM / ba-BUM

5. If music be the food of love, play
on
u / u / u / u /
If mu- / -sic be / the food / of love,
u /
/ play on

6. Rhythmic Variations
In his plays, Shakespeare didn’t
always stick to ten syllables.
He often played around with iambic pe
.

7. Feminine Ending
Sometimes Shakespeare added an extra
unstressed beat at the end of a line to
emphasize a character’s sense of
contemplation. This variation is called a
feminine ending and Hamlet’s famous
question is the perfect example:
To be, / or not / to be: / that is / the
ques- / -tion

8. To be, / or not / to be: / that is / the
ques- / -tion Inversion
Shakespeare also reverses the order of the
stresses in some iambi to help emphasize
certain words or ideas. If you look closely
at the fourth iambus in the Hamlet quote
above, you can see how he has placed an
emphasis on the word “that” by inverting
the stresses.

9. Prose
Run-on lines (unlike
iambic pentameter)
No rhyme or metric scheme
The qualities of everyday language
Lower class characters spoke in prose.

10. Hint:
You can easily spot dialogue
written in prose because it appears
as a block of text, unlike the strict
rhythmic patterns of
Shakespeare’s verse.

11. EXAMPLE of prose:
Puck. If we shadows have offended, Think but this and all is mended,
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
If you pardon, we will mend.
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearnéd luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call:
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends. [Exit.
--William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act V, Scene 1

12. Why did Shakespeare use prose?
To tell us something about his characters.
Many of Shakespeare’s low-class
characters speak in prose to distinguish
them from the higher-class, verse-speaking
characters.
However, this should be treated as a
general “rule of thumb”.

13. To suggest a character’s mental instability
In King Lear, Lear’s verse deteriorates into
prose as the play unfolds to suggest his
increasingly erratic mental condition. We
can also see a similar technique at work in
Hamlet. For example, one of Hamlet’s
most poignant speeches is delivered
entirely in prose, even though he is a
Prince:

14. To create comic effect
Some of Shakespeare’s low-class
comic creations aspire to speak in
the formal language of their
superiors, but do not have the
intelligence to achieve this and
therefore become objects of
ridicule.

15. To make dialogue more realistic
Many short, functional lines like “And
I, my lord,” and “I pray you leave me”
are written in prose to give the play a
sense of realism. In some longer
speeches, Shakespeare allowed the
audience to identify more closely with
his characters by using the everyday
language of Elizabethan England.

16. Let’s take a look at the prince’s
speech from Act 1 Scene 1 of
Romeo and Juliet.
Is it written in iambic pentameter or
prose?

17. PRINCE
Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace,
Profaners of this neighbour-stained steel,--
Will they not hear? What, ho! 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 mistemper'd weapons to the ground,
And hear the sentence of your moved prince.
Three civil brawls, bred of an airy word,
By thee, old Capulet, and Montague,
Have thrice disturb'd the quiet of our streets,
And made Verona's ancient citizens
Cast by their grave beseeming ornaments,
To wield old partisans, in hands as old,
Canker'd with peace, to part your canker'd hate:
If ever you disturb our streets again,
Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.

18. PRINCE
Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace,
Profaners of this neighbour-stained steel,--
Will they not hear? What, ho! 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 mistemper'd weapons to the ground,
And hear the sentence of your moved prince.
Three civil brawls, bred of an airy word,
By thee, old Capulet, and Montague,
Have thrice disturb'd the quiet of our streets,
And made Verona's ancient citizens
Cast by their grave beseeming ornaments,
To wield old partisans, in hands as old,
Canker'd with peace, to part your canker'd hate:
If ever you disturb our streets again,
Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.
What are
these
words that
are in
BOLD??
Simply
contractions
used to
fulfill iambic
pentameter!

19. For example:
Hymns in church and other songs
do the same thing!
Can you think of an example?

20. Now, prose…
Puck. If we shadows have offended,
Think but this and all is mended,
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
If you pardon, we will mend.
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call:
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends. [Exit.
A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act V, Scene 1

21. Now…
Take your Shakespearean monologue and
re-write it skipping lines.
Write the stressed, unstressed symbols
where they should go.
Look up any words you may not know.