R&J: Background Vocab Terms

A character speaks aloud to the audience and other characters on stage cannot hear it

A main character who has one or more fatal character flaws leading to his/her downfall

An indirect reference to another literary work or to a famous person, place, or event

A joke that comes from a play on words

A character whose personality or attitude is in sharp contrast to another character

Humorous scene, incident, or speech that relieves emotional intensity

A character speaks to himself/herself in speech form typically standing alone on stage

A comparison between two unlike things stating one thing is another

Human qualities are given to an inanimate object

Poetic meter that contains five unstressed syllables each followed by a stressed syllable

A statement that seems to contradict itself, but is actually true

A figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or humor

A comparison between two things using the word like or as

A dramatic work that presents the downfall of a dignified character