Shakespearean Drama Terms

Someone who paid a penny to stand on the ground to watch a play

• antagonist

• groundling

• protagonist

• tragic hero

Characters who are in conflict with the hero

• tragic hero

• antagonist

• protagonist

• foil

The use of hints or clues about what will happen later

• comic relief

• foreshadowing

• drama

• tragedies

An occurrence in which the audience knows more about what is happening than the important character

• situational irony

• irony

• dramatic irony

• fate

All the written words of a play

• stage directions

• drama

• script

• allusion

The directions for movements which include descriptions, setting, and actions

• script

• stage directions

• Modern English

• foil

The speech of the characters in a play often in conversation

• aside

• dialogue

• soliloquy

• comic relief

Plays that make fun of human problems and are funny

• comic relief

• allusion

• dramatic irony

• comedies

A disastrous event that ruins the hero’s life and often leads to the hero’s death

• catastrophe

• tragic flaw

• tragedies

• comic relief

Speech given on stage by a character who is alone on stage

• dialogue

• soliloquy

• aside

• comedies