Writing a Text Commentary on Shakespeare

Shakespeare Question: Part (a) – the extract

•  Variable length:  22-30 lines

•  Could be a soliloquy (i.e. only ONE character speaking)

•  Act and scene indications ARE included

•  Set question: “Analyse the following extract, commenting on Shakespeare’s use of language and dramatic effects.”

Part (a) Planning and structuring the answer:

Read the scene once or twice.

Then make notes on the following four points. Aim to move beyond identifying techniques. Build a clear chain of reasoning:

Context — What is happening, and why does it matter?

Intentions — What does the character want to achieve?

Language — How do specific words, images, structures or dramatic devices reveal those intentions?

Ideas — What wider meanings emerge, and how do they shape the audience’s response?

The strongest analyses connect all four elements rather than treating them as separate lists.

1. Contexts

When does the scene take place? What happens right before? What will happen immediately afterwards? Who is on stage (both speaking and silent characters)? Is the moment public or private? Do the characters speak in verse or prose? Why?

2.    Intentions

Consider the characters who speak in the extract. What are their intentions (wants, desires, objectives) at this specific moment in the play? And in the play more generally? The characters’ intentions drive the dramatic interaction in the scene.

3.    Language

The characters’ intentions will determine the language they use to get what they want. Characters will also use specific types of language which reflects their personality and status. They may also use specific patterns of imagery.

Look for some of the following:

•      Balance of lines – and what this indicates about power/status

•      Imagery – is it typically associated with any of the characters?

•      Rhetorical devices

•      Poetic devices (see list at the end of this document)

•      Vocabulary – e.g. terms of address, formal/informal language

•      Rhythm and pace: iambic pentameter, syntax, sentence length, shared lines, interruptions

•      Tone

•      Stage directions – explicit and hidden

How do the characters’ use of language indicate what they want at this point in the play?

4.    Ideas

Finally, reflect on the whole extract and consider:

•      What key ideas Shakespeare is exploring at this point in the play?

•      Do any of these ideas link to the GENRE of the play, i.e. tragedy?

•      Is Shakespeare using any notable dramatic devices at this point in the play (e.g. foreshadowing, dramatic irony…)

•      What overall impact might Shakespeare have intended this extract to have on the audience?

•      How might that impact be similar/different to a modern audience’s response?

NOW STOP AND RE-READ YOUR NOTES

You need to find a focus for your analysis of the extract which you will outline in your opening sentences.

Ideas for focus points

–     The role of this scene within the play; how Shakespeare uses it to establish/develop/change the audience’s impression of characters/relationships/key ideas/themes in the play.

–     How Shakespeare shifts the audience’s understanding/sympathies for different characters during this scene and why.

–     How Shakespeare shows the sources of conflict or tension between characters, their relative power, the mechanisms by which this power is being asserted or defended in this moment.

–     How Shakespeare fulfils/breaks/subverts generic expectations of what we should see in a tragedy in this scene and why.

–     How Shakespeare uses a specific dramatic technique to create a specific atmosphere or to affect the audience and why.

Useful phrases to start off your analysis

Shakespeare uses this moment to show/depict/explore/challenge (or any other precise verb!)

In this moment, Shakespeare sets up/foregrounds/establishes/develops…

In this extract, we/the audience can observe…

This extract shows the audience…

This moment is essential/crucial/critical because…

This moment is the climax of…

Shakespeare makes good use of linguistic/dramatic effects, such as xxxx, to convey…

The passage/extract effectively portrays...

This extract is significant in the development of the play as…

The scene symbolises/represents/captures…

Useful phrases for contextualising the extract

Act x, Scene x takes place/occurs/follows

In this extract, the dialogue/conversation/exchange between x and x occurs/follows

This passage takes place in…

This extract is located/situated in Act x, Scene x

WARNINGS

•      You should NOT comment on the extract ‘line by line’ or provide a ‘translation’ of what the lines mean.

•      Weaker responses remain at a descriptive, psychological or assertive level rather than analysing the literary merits of the extract. 

•      Focus wholly on the passage; do NOT discuss other moments from the play in this part.