The Use of Verse and Prose in Romeo&Juliet
The Use of Prose and Verse in Romeo&Juliet
Table of Contents page 1 Introduction 3
2 Technical terms 3
2.1 Metre 3
2.2 Foot 3
2.3 Enjambment and End-stopped Line 4
2.4 Rhyme 4
2.5 Rhyme Scheme 5
3 Prose 5
4 Verse 5
4.1 Rhymed verse 6
4.1.1 Sonnet 6
4.2 Blank Verse 6
4.3 Free Verse 7
5 Verse and Prose in Romeo and Juliet 7
5.1 Functions of the Use of Prose 7
5.1.1 Function of Variation 7
5.1.2 Class-Differing Function 8
5.1.3 Empathy-Creating Function 8
5.1.4 Realness-Creating Function 9
5.1.5 Comic Effect-Increasing Function 9
5.1.6 Function of Suggesting Mental Instability 10
5.2 Reasons for the Use of Verse 10
5.2.1 Class-Differing Function 10
5.2.2 Emphasizing Function 11
5.2.3 Structuring Function 11
5.2.4 Function of the Sonnet Form 12
6 Conclusion 13
7 Bibliography 14
7.1 Primary Literature 14
7.2 Secondary Literature 14
8 Webliography 14
Introduction
In this day and age, modern drama is usually composed in prose language and consists of everyday speech. If a play is written in verse language after all, it might even have an alienating effect on some members of the audience. In William Shakespeare’s time, however, the use of verse language in drama was not at all against the audience’s expectations and much more common than prose. Still, Shakespeare tried to combine both styles in his plays and thus developed his own techniques to unite two completely different modes of speech. Since the distribution of verse and prose language in Shakespeare’s plays is far from being arbitrary, I am not only going to analyse the difference between both styles, but also the reasons for their occurrence using examples of the well-known tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Technical terms
In order to be able to recognize verse and prose language in Shakespeare’s plays, one needs to be familiar with certain technical terms. While the characteristics which are described below appear in verse language frequently, they cannot be found in
Table of Contents page 1 Introduction 3
2 Technical terms 3
2.1 Metre 3
2.2 Foot 3
2.3 Enjambment and End-stopped Line 4
2.4 Rhyme 4
2.5 Rhyme Scheme 5
3 Prose 5
4 Verse 5
4.1 Rhymed verse 6
4.1.1 Sonnet 6
4.2 Blank Verse 6
4.3 Free Verse 7
5 Verse and Prose in Romeo and Juliet 7
5.1 Functions of the Use of Prose 7
5.1.1 Function of Variation 7
5.1.2 Class-Differing Function 8
5.1.3 Empathy-Creating Function 8
5.1.4 Realness-Creating Function 9
5.1.5 Comic Effect-Increasing Function 9
5.1.6 Function of Suggesting Mental Instability 10
5.2 Reasons for the Use of Verse 10
5.2.1 Class-Differing Function 10
5.2.2 Emphasizing Function 11
5.2.3 Structuring Function 11
5.2.4 Function of the Sonnet Form 12
6 Conclusion 13
7 Bibliography 14
7.1 Primary Literature 14
7.2 Secondary Literature 14
8 Webliography 14
Introduction
In this day and age, modern drama is usually composed in prose language and consists of everyday speech. If a play is written in verse language after all, it might even have an alienating effect on some members of the audience. In William Shakespeare’s time, however, the use of verse language in drama was not at all against the audience’s expectations and much more common than prose. Still, Shakespeare tried to combine both styles in his plays and thus developed his own techniques to unite two completely different modes of speech. Since the distribution of verse and prose language in Shakespeare’s plays is far from being arbitrary, I am not only going to analyse the difference between both styles, but also the reasons for their occurrence using examples of the well-known tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Technical terms
In order to be able to recognize verse and prose language in Shakespeare’s plays, one needs to be familiar with certain technical terms. While the characteristics which are described below appear in verse language frequently, they cannot be found in
Bibliography: Primary Literature Shakespeare, William. “Romeo and Juliet”. In: The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt et. al. London: W.W. Norton & Company. 872-939 Secondary Literature Hartman, Charles O. (1980/1996). Free Verse: An Essay on Prosody. Princeton: Northwestern University Press. Hobsbaum, Philip (1996). Metre, Rhythm and Verse Form. London: Routledge. Nünning Vera and Ansgar (2009). An Introduction to the Study of English and American Literature. Stuttgart: Klett Lerntraining Gmbh. Webliography Jamieson, Lee. „Introducing Prose“. About.com –Part of the New York Times Company [Online] http://shakespeare.about.com/od/romeoandjuliet/tp/Romeo_ and_Juliet_ Study_Guide.htm [2012, September 5]