Read the following biography of Antony by Plutarch. This served as Shakespeare's primary source for the play.
Terms and Definitions
Alliteration – the repetition of sounds at the beginning of words. Example: More Mischief and Merriment.
Allusion – a reference to a person, place, poem, book, event, etc., which is not part of the story, that the author expects the reader will recognize. Example: In The Glass Menagerie, Tom speaks of “Chamberlain’s umbrella,” a reference to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.
Anachronism – the misplacing of a person, object, or situation outside of its correct historical time. Example: In Julius Caesar, a comment is made about a clock chiming, which could not possibly have occurred, since clocks had not been invented when Caesar lived.
Apostrophe – directly addressing a person, place, thing, or abstraction, living, dead, or absent from the work. Example: Ophelia, in Hamlet, says, “O, heavenly powers, restore him.”
Blank Verse – unrhymed lines of poetry written in iambic pentameter. Example: "Was this´ the face´ that launched´ a thou´sand ships´/And burned´ the top´less towers´ of Il´i um´?" – Dr. Faustus
Characterization – the methods, incidents, speech, etc., an author uses to reveal the people in the book. Characterization is depicted by what the person says, what others say, and by his or her actions.
Chronology – a sequential, time order of past events.
Comic Relief – the intrusion of humor interrupting or immediately following a scene of great excitement. Example: The drunken porter knocks at the door immediately after the killing of King Duncan in Macbeth.
Conflict – the struggle that moves the action forward in a work of literature. There are three types of conflict, and most books include all three: man versus man (Example: a typical Western, in which the sheriff confronts the outlaw); man versus nature (Example: a story about someone surviving in a small boat on the ocean); man versus himself (Example: a character in a story fighting his or her own drug abuse). Some authorities consider man versus society a fourth category of conflict (Example: a character in a book fighting against the Nazis).
Drama – plays intended to be acted; performances of plays. Example: Arthur Miller’s All My Sons.
Foreshadowing – the use of hints or clues in a story to suggest what action is to come. Foreshadowing is frequently used to create interest and build suspense. Example: Two small and seemingly inconsequential car accidents predict and hint at the upcoming, important wreck in The Great Gatsby.
Hyperbole – exaggeration for emphasis; overstatement. Example: I’ve told you a million times to…
Iambic Pentameter – a line of poetry composed of five feet of iambs; the most common form of English poetry. Example: Hamlet says, “O, what´/ a rogue´/ and peas´/ ant slave´/ am I´.”
Metaphor – a comparison of two things that are basically dissimilar in which one is described in terms of the other. Example: The moon, a haunting lantern, shone through the clouds.
Meter – the emphasized pattern of repeated sounds in poetry; meter is represented by stressed and unstressed syllables. Example: “To wake´ the soul´ with ten´der strokes´of art´.” – Alexander Pope
Paradox – a statement that is self-contradictory on its surface, yet makes a point through the juxtaposition of the ideas and words within the paradox. Examples: “Noon finally dawned for the remaining, weary soldiers”; “He that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat…” – Isaiah 55:1
Personification – a figure of speech in which an object, abstract idea, or animal is given human characteristics. Examples: The wall did its best to keep out the invaders.
“Because I could not stop for Death,/ He kindly stopped for me.” – Emily Dickinson
Plot – the pattern of events in a literary work; what happens.
Poetry – literature that is arranged in lines of differing and arbitrary lengths, not in paragraphs as in prose. Sound, rhythm, and literary terms are more of an integral part of poetry than they are in prose. Examples: Milton’s Paradise Lost, Shakespeare’s Sonnets.
Prose – the ordinary form of written or spoken language, without rhyme or meter; speech or writing that is not poetry. Example: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
Protagonist – the central or main character in a story around whom the plot centers. Examples: Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter; David Copperfield in David Copperfield.
Simile – a comparison between two different things using either like or as. Examples: I am as hungry as a horse. The huge trees broke like twigs during the hurricane.
Soliloquy – lines in a play in which a character reveals thoughts to the audience, but not to the other characters; it is usually longer than an aside and not directed at the audience. Example: Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be” speech.
Subplot – a secondary, less important plot. Example: Polonius’ scheming over Laertes’ behavior is secondary to the main issue of Hamlet’s indecisiveness over the King’s murder.
Tragedy – a serious work, usually a play, in which the main character experiences defeat, brought about by a tragic flaw. Example: Hamlet.
Tragic Hero – the main character in a tragedy; in order to fit the definition, the hero must have a tragic flaw, which causes his or her downfall. Examples: Hamlet’s main character weakness is his indecision; Lear’s is his pride.
You'll understand this play a little better if you watch some of this: