Characteristics

Of
Shakespearean
Tragedy
By Schoology or the Internet
 A tragedy is a drama in which a
series of actions leads to the
downfall of the main character,
called the tragic hero.

TRAGEDY ☠️ The plot builds to a catastrophe,

or a disastrous final outcome,
that usually involves the death of
the hero and many others.
 TRAGIC HERO🦸
🏾 🏾

The tragic hero at the center of a tragedy is a person of high rank who accepts his or her
downfall with dignity. The tragic hero is a common archetype.

A tragic flaw is an error in judgment or a weakness in character, such as hubris. The

tragic hero recognizes the flaw and its consequences, but only after it is too late. This
realization helps to redeem his character.

Despite the tragic hero’s tragic flaw, there is usually some redeeming quality or qualities
that make us sympathize with or root for the tragic hero.
 TRAGIC HERO CONT.
• The catastrophe must be a result of the tragic
hero’s tragic flaw. It is not usually an accident or
coincidence.
• The tragic hero is usually a “human” character with
which the audience can relate.
• The tragic hero usually encounters some
disappointed hope or frustrated ambition.
 IRONY
Irony is a literary device, There are 3 types of
just like simile and irony.
personification are.

Situational Irony: is
Dramatic Irony: is when when something
the audience knows about
happens that contradicts
something that a character
or characters don’t know. what the audience
expected to happen.
Verbal Irony: is when a
character or narrator says
something that’s the
opposite of what he or she
means.
 SOLILOQUY

A speech made by an actor alone on stage

It is used to reveal his or her private thoughts and feelings

 ASIDE

• A character’s remark, either to the audience or to

another character, that no one else on stage is supposed
to hear
 IAMBIC PENTAMETER
• Iamb occurs when an unaccented syllable is followed by an accented one. For
example, contain (con-TAIN).
• Penta means 5 (it’s a prefix 😉)
• Meter is how a poem is measured; by the type and number of feet in one line of the
poem.
• Iambic Pentameter, then, contains 5 iambs (10 syllables that begin with an
unaccented/unstressed syllable and alternate for the rest of the line).
 IAMBIC PENTAMETER CONT.

• Example:
• “If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
That strain again! it had a dying fall…
BLANK VERSE

Blank Verse is poetry that is unrhymed and written in

iambic pentameter
 RHETORICAL DEVICES
• A rhetorical device is a use of language for a particular effect.
• Shakespeare uses many rhetorical devices, such as repetition (the repetition of
words and phrases in a short space to emphasize ideas)
• Parallelism (ideas are arranged in sentences, phrases, and paragraphs that balance
one element with another element of equal importance)
• Rhetorical questions (a question that expects no answer; used to make the speaker’s
rightness seem self-evident).
 STAGE DIRECTIONS

• Stage directions are

written in brackets or are
italicized. Be sure to read
them!
 DRAMATIC STRUCTURE
The structure of the plot is usually as follows:

Exposition and exciting force (background information and incident that sets the action
in motion): Act 1
Rising Action (complications in main plot and sub plot): Acts 1-2

Climax (plots come together; turning point that changes the main character’s fate): Act 3

Falling Action (Conflict unravels; things fall apart; main character wins or loses): Acts 4-
5
Catastrophe (Conflicts are resolved—disastrous final outcome): Act 5

01
Monologue: a long
speech made by one actor
either alone or in front of
other actors
02
Apostrophe: This is a speech
given by an actor onstage in
which he or she addresses a
personification or abstract
concept that is not physically
present onstage.
OTHER TERMS
03
Subplot: A smaller plot that
is happening at the same
time as the main plot;
usually involves less
important characters.