Quiz 3 Part 2

Revenge Tragedy

a dramatic form popular during the Elizabethan Age, in which the protagonist, directed by the ghost of his murdered father or son, inflicts retaliation upon a powerful villain; includes violence, bizarre criminal acts, intrigue, insanity, a hesitant protagonist, and the use of soliloquy

Parody

a humorous imitation of another, usually serious, work; writers imitate the tone, language, and shape of the original in order to deflate the subject matter, making the original work seem absurd

Irony

a literary device that uses contradictory statements or situations to reveal a reality different from what appears to be true

Pun

a play on words that relies on a particular word having multiple meanings or sounding like another word

Tragicomedy

a type of drama that combines certain elements of both tragedy and comedy; the play's plot tends to be serious, leading to a terrible catastrophe, until an unexpected turn in events leads to a reversal of circumstance, and the story ends happily; often employs a romantic, fast-moving plot dealing with love, jealousy, disguises, treachery, intrigue, and surprises, all moving toward a melodramatic resolution

Tragic Hero

central figure must be both good and noble (by social position and moral stature), otherwise the fall to misfortune would not be great enough for tragic impact; the catastrophic consequences involve an entire nation because of the tragic hero's social rank; he/she must possess a tragic flaw and experience hamartia

Dramatic Irony

creates a discrepancy between what a character believes or says and what the reader or audience knows to be true

Catharsis

emotional reaction produced by observing the events in a tragedy; a "cleansing" or "purging" that should leave the audience feeling not depressed but relieved and almost elated; prove the existence of truth, thereby reassuring our faith that existence is sensible

Situational Irony

exists when there is an incongruity between what is expected to happen and what actually happens due to forces beyond human comprehension or control

Hamartia

in tragedy, the event or act that leads to the downfall of the hero or heroine

Tragic Irony

is a form of dramatic irony found in tragedies such as Oedipus the King (Oedipus searches for the person responsible for the plague that ravishes his city and ironically ends up hunting himself)

Verbal Irony

occurs when a person says one thing but means the opposite

Cosmic Irony

occurs when a writer uses God, destiny, or fate to dash the hopes and expectations of a character or of humankind in general

Problem Play

popularized by Henrik Ibsen, a problem play is a type of drama that presents a social issue in order to awaken the audience to it; these plays usually reject romantic plots in favor of holding up a mirror that reflects not simply what the audience wants to see but what the playwright sees in them; often, a this play will propose a solution to the problem that does not coincide with prevailing opinion

Invective

speech or writing that abuses, denounces, or attacks, directed against a person, idea, or system; employing a heavy use of negative emotive language

Hubris

the most common tragic flaw: an excessive pride that adversely influences the protagonist's judgment

Understatement

the opposite of hyperbole; says less than is intended, usually with an ironic effect

Inversion

the point in a story when the protagonist's fortunes turn in an unexpected direction

Reversal

the point in a story when the protagonist's fortunes turn in an unexpected direction

Hyperbole

a boldly exaggerated statement or "overstatement" that adds emphasis but is not intended to be literally true; used for serious, comic, or ironic effect

Sarcasm

a form of sneering criticism in which disapproval is often expressed as ironic praise

Melodrama

a play in which the typical plot is a conflict between characters who personify extreme good and evil; usually end happily and emphasize sensationalism

Comedy

a work intended to interest, involve, and amuse the reader or audience, in which no terrible disaster occurs and that ends happily for the main characters; high and low comedy

Wit

clever humor characterized by astuteness of perception or judgment

High Comedy

comedy relying on sophisticated wit, subtle irony or sarcasm, and an intricate plot; primarily verbal rather than physical, making generous use of satire; often concerns polite society

Low Comedy

comedy which relies on slapstick and horseplay, often focusing on the everyday life of the lower classes; physical rather than verbal

Farce

farcical; low comedy intended to make us laugh by means of a series of exaggerated, unlikely situations that depend less on plot and character than on gross absurdities, slapstick humor, and coarse dialogue

Romantic Comedy

involves a love affair that meets with various obstacles (like disapproving parents, mistaken identities, deceptions, or other sorts of misunderstandings) but overcomes them to end in a blissful union

Satire

the literary art of ridiculing a folly or vice in order to expose or correct it; evokes attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn, or indignation toward its faulty subject in the hope of somehow improving it

Tragic Flaw

the quality within the hero or heroine which leads to his or her downfall