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Types of Metrical Feet
Shakespeare used different rhythmic patterns to give musicality to his lines.
Iambic Foot: One unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one (Our will).
Trochaic Foot: One stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one (Listing).
Anapestic Foot: Two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed one (If a man).
Iambic Pentameter and Blank Verse
Shakespeare frequently used iambic pentameter (five iambic feet per line), creating a natural rhythm in speech. For example:
"Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear?" (Macbeth, Act I, Scene iii, Line 52)
Blank verse is unrhymed verse written in iambic pentameter. It gives elegance and fluidity to noble characters’ language. In contrast, lower-status characters often speak in prose, which has no structured rhythm and is used for humor or urgency.
Example of blank verse:
"To be, or not to be, that is the question." (Hamlet, Act III, Scene i)
Example of prose:
"I am not bound to please thee with my answers." (The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene i)
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