ENG2D – Mr. Go
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Dramatic Significance of a Scene or Excerpt
Every line in a Shakespearean play reveals some form of information about a
character, the setting, or plot. The lines themselves may be constructed to promote a
certain idea, such as prose speech (written in paragraphs) for commoners or common
matters and poetic speech (written in a specific rhythm – iambic pentameter for instance)
for royalty or matters of great philosophical weight. This richness in the dialogue is
called dramatic significance. The dramatic significance of a passage may reveal
everything from the personality of the speaker to key moments in the advancement of
the plot. Below are the five categories into which dramatic significance falls:
#1. Plot:
- key points in the plot triangle (exposition, inciting incident, rising
action, climax, dénouement, catastrophe)
- background (antecedent) information
- offstage information (unseen by audience)
- complications
- advancements of the plot (pushes plot forward)
#2. Setting:
- time (Elizabethan era – role of women)
- place (geographical location) – Dunsinane, Inverness,
- atmosphere (tone, mood, or emotions related to scene:
foreboding, gloomy, joyous, tense, sombre, jubilant,
triumphant)
- socioeconomic status (class system: courtiers (royalty) vs.
working class)
#3. Character: - personality/nature or changes therein
- relationships or changes therein
- motivations
- states of mind or awareness (psychological? emotional? intellectual?)
#4. Theme:
- motif or recurring concrete images often point to a
particular theme (arising from one of the six central
concepts: inescapable quality of fate and destiny, power of ambition, supernatural as
perpetuator of disorder, importance of honour and loyalty, the division between the
private and public persona, and the allure of temptation to do evil acts.
#5. Special Dramatic Effects:
- dramatic irony, foreshadowing,
pathetic fallacy, pathos, comic relief,
juxtaposition of scenes, soliloquy)
- language literary devices (e.g., allusion, paradox, metaphor/simile,
personification, oxymoron, metonymy, synecdoche)
ENG2D – Mr. Go
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Thorough analysis of a passage:
i)
State speaker and audience (to whom is he/she speaking?) and context (what is
happening at this point?).
ii)
Explain how the passage reveals as many (at least three) of the five levels of
dramatic significance as possible. Make direct connections between the ideas
that are being revealed and the phrases and words that Shakespeare
employs. Always refer to the audience who is affected by the playwright’s
words.
Sample Passage from 1.1.: “Rebellious subjects, enemies of 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… 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 citizen …/part your canker’d hate./ If ever you disturb our streets again/
Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.” (1.1.79-85, 87-90, 93-95)
Here, Prince of Verona speaks to the Montague and Capulet clans just after their
most recent brawl on the streets of the city. Through the Prince’s monologue,
Shakespeare reveals three levels of dramatic significance to the audience: the Prince’s
own authoritative character and the unruly character of his warring subjects, the
background information of the family feud that contributes to the exposition (plot),
and the use of alliteration and metaphor to underscore the tense atmosphere and add
to the special dramatic effect of the lines. By using words such as “rebellious subjects”
and “enemies of peace” (1.1.79) this characterizes the Prince as a strong, authoritative
figure who criticizes rebellion in his “subjects” and frowns upon the feuding families
who are “enemies” of the city’s order. The audience is reminded of background
information that adds to the exposition when the Prince reveals the families “have
thrice disturb’d the quiet of our streets”. Finally, the audience pays closer attention
when they hear the alliteration of “pernicious… purple” (82-83) and “brawls, bred”(87),
all harsh sounding words that capture the harshness of the Montague-Capulet conflict.
Ultimately, through the characterization of the Prince, the revealing of the history of the
family feud, and the poetic use of alliteration, Shakespeare sets the tense atmosphere for
the audience at the start of the play.