Studyfin
✨ Sign up free
Hi there! I am Studyfin, your learning buddy. Let's explore the exciting world of William Shakespeare and his famous plays!
William Shakespeare wrote plays in England over 400 years ago. Today, people all over the world still read and perform his dramas because they talk about universal human feelings like love, jealousy, and ambition.
To understand his plays, we look at dramatic conventions. An aside is a quick comment a character whispers directly to the audience, while other characters on stage pretend they cannot hear it.
Another convention is the soliloquy. This is a long speech where a character is alone on stage, sharing their inner thoughts and secrets directly with us, the audience.
Lastly, dramatic irony happens when we, the audience, know an important secret that the characters on stage do not know. This builds huge suspense and makes the story exciting!
Read this short scene and analyze how the dramatic convention of 'aside' or 'soliloquy' is used. Scene: Juliet stands on her balcony. Romeo is hiding in the bushes below, listening. Juliet speaks aloud, thinking she is completely alone: 'O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?' Romeo whispers to himself: 'Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?'
- Identify who is on stage and who can hear whom. Juliet thinks she is alone, but Romeo is secretively listening.
- Analyze Juliet's speech. She is speaking her private thoughts out loud while believing she is alone. This is a soliloquy.
- Analyze Romeo's whisper. He speaks a short line to himself/the audience that Juliet cannot hear. This is an aside.
- Explain the effect. These conventions let us hear the characters' true feelings, which builds romantic tension because we know they both love each other before they tell each other directly.
