Macbeth Literary Terms and Summary

Literary work that shows the downfall of a noble or outstanding person partly through his or her own fault

• Romance
• Tragedy
• Paradox
• Soliloquy

A noble or outstanding character who through choice and chance is caught up in a sequence of events that ends in disaster

• Tragic Hero
• Paradox
• Motif
• Theme

A seemingly contradictory statement that proves to be true

• Blank Verse
• Aside
• Motif
• Paradox

A mental, emotional, or moral struggle within a character

• Comic Relief
• Internal Conflict
• Personification
• External Conflict

A struggle between a character and an external force

• Internal Conflict
• Simile
• External Conflict
• Soliloquy

Unrhymed iambic pentameter

• Trochaic Tetrameter
• Blank Verse
• Metaphor
• Aside

One character alone on stage sharing his or her thoughts

• Aside
• Dramatic Irony
• Paradox
• Soliloquy

Props conveyed through words

• Aside
• Verbal Scenery
• Dramatic Irony
• Personification

A dramatic device in which a character speaks to the audience

• Aside
• Soliloquy
• Dramatic Irony
• Paradox

Surprising or amusing contradictions

• Soliloquy
• Motif
• Irony
• Metaphor