Shakespeare

Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent playwright. He is often called England's national poet who tops the list of symbols that Britons feel most pride.

Industry: Literature

Add a new term

Contributors in Shakespeare

Become a Contributors

Shakespeare

oration

Literature; Shakespeare

An oration is a more sophisticated word for speech. Julius Caesar is famous for quite a few orations. The most popular is probably Mark Antony's funeral speech, "Friends, Romans, Countrymen".

rhetoric

Literature; Shakespeare

Rhetoric is the art of persuasion in speech or writing. In Julius Caesar a common theme is persuasion, thus there is plenty of rhetoric throughout the play.

trochaic

Literature; Shakespeare

A trochaic meter is when two syllable words. The stress pattern is / - like the word season. This is used to command attention like Antony's start of his speech.

verbal irony

Literature; Shakespeare

Verbal irony is when someone says one thing, but means another thing. Mark Antony's use of the word "honourable" is an example of verbal irony.

situational irony

Literature; Shakespeare

Situations irony is when someone tries to do one thing and the opposite happens. For example Brutus tries to free Rome from tyranny, and he ends up leaving Rome in the hands of a tyrannical leader.

dramatic irony

Literature; Shakespeare

Dramatic irony is when the audience knows something that characters do not know. For example, Mark Antony states he plans to seek revenge in his funeral speech. The audience knows this, but Brutus ...

rhetorical question

Literature; Shakespeare

In the funeral speeches of both Mark Antony and Brutus they ask rhetorical questions. These are a very persuasive technique that help them get the audience on their side by asking questions when they ...