This document defines common drama vocabulary terms including foil, monologue, soliloquy, dramatic irony, aside, comic relief, blank verse, elements of Shakespearean tragedy, pun, allusion, oxymoron, and foreshadowing. It provides examples of blank verse and notes that characters typically speak in iambic pentameter to indicate they are aristocrats, while lower class characters speak in prose. Comic relief helps relieve emotional intensity with humorous scenes or speeches.

1. Drama Vocabulary

2. Foil
• Two contrasting characters placed in the same
play

3. Monologue
• Long speech by one character to another
character on stage

4. Soliloquy
• A speech by a character alone on stage

5. Dramatic Irony
• Audience knows something the characters
don’t

6. Aside
• One or two lines spoken to the audience

7. • Comic Relief: A humorous scene, incident, or
speech that relieves the overall emotional
intensity in the play. Comic relief helps the
audience absorb the tragic events in the plot
of a play.

8. • Blank Verse: Unrhymed lines of iambic
pentameter. Shakespeare wrote all of his
plays in blank verse.
– Typically the presence of a character speaking in
iambic pentameter indicates that the character is
an aristocrat (upper class). Lower class characters
speak in prose.

9. Example of Blank Verse
~ / ~ / ~ / ~ / ~ /
But soft.|What light| through yon|der win|dow
breaks?
~ / ~ / ~ / ~~ / ~ /
It is| the east|, and Jul|iet is |the sun!

10. Elements of Shakespearean Tragedy
• Tragedy depicts the downfall of a noble hero
or heroine, typically royalty, usually through
some combination of hubris (pride), fate, and
the will of the gods.
• The tragic hero should have a flaw and/or
make some mistake (hamartia).
• The hero must undergo a change in fortune,
typically death, as a result of his flaw.

11. Pun
• Play on words

12. Allusion
• Reference to something outside of the play;
usually another work of literature

13. Oxymoron
• Two opposite words placed next to each other

14. Foreshadowing
• Hint of things to come