Lesson Three - Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet - Shakespeare
This pre-reading lesson will help you to expand your knowledge of Shakespeare and build an understanding of Romeo and Juliet by connecting the summary of the play to their everyday lives as teenagers. You will also explore the definition of tragedy and how "tragic love" is ingrained in the lives of teenagers from all cultures. The lessons will help you build background knowledge of the play, the genre of tragedy, and related terms and concepts, creating a context in which you can better understand and relate to the Shakespearean text.
6. The English Sonnet
Shakespearean Sonnet Basics:Â
IambicPentameter and the English Sonnet Style
Shakespeare's sonnets are written predominantly in a meter called iambic pentameter, a rhyme scheme in which each sonnet line consists of ten syllables. The syllables are divided into five pairs called iambs or iambic feet. An iamb is a metrical unit made up of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable. An example of an iamb would be good BYE. A line of iambic pentameter flows like this:Â
baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM.Â
Here are some examples from the sonnets:
When I / do COUNT / the CLOCK / that TELLS / the TIME (Sonnet 12)
When IN / dis GRACE / with FOR / tune AND / men’s EYES
I ALL / a LONE / be WEEP / my OUT/ cast STATE (Sonnet 29)
Shall I / com PARE/ thee TO / a SUM / mer's DAY?Â
ThouÂ
Shakespeare's plays are also written primarily in iambic pentameter, but the lines are unrhymed and not grouped into stanzas. Unrhymed iambic pentameter is called blank verse. It should be noted that there are also many prose passages in Shakespeare’s plays and some lines of trochaic tetrameter, such as the Witches' speeches in Macbeth.Â