GETTING INTO SHAKESPEARE’S RHYTHMKate Hendrix

Introduction to Theatre Arts

Madison Central High School

Adapted from Shakespeare Set Free by the Folger Shakespeare Library

ON A SCRAP PIECE OF PAPER…

Write down the lyrics to a song – any song… Now, think about the following…

How long have you had this song in your memory?

What is the song about? Why did you remember it? What helped you remember it?

Shakespeare’s plays (most of the time) have distinctive verse (rhyme) and repetitive beats (rhythm) in regular patterns. He wrote this way primarily to help actors

memorize their lines!

NURSERY RHYMES

Jack and JillWent up the hillTo fetch a pail of water.Jack fell downAnd broke his crownAnd Jill came tumbling after.

Eencey Weencey spiderClimbed up the water spout;Down came the rainAnd washed the spider out;Out came the sunAnd dried up all the rain;And the Eencey Weencey spiderClimbed up the spout again.

IN THE SPEECH “THE KING DOTH KEEP HIS REVELS HERE TONIGHT…”

How many TOTAL beats are in each line? How many STRONG beats are in each line? What is the pattern for weak beats and

strong beats? Is that true for every line?

WHAT THE HECK IS IAMBIC PENTAMETER, ANYWAY?

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING LINES IS WRITTEN IN IAMBIC PENTAMETER?

1) If we shadows have offended2) No more yielding but a dream3) Take heed the queen come not within his

sight4) Think but this and all is mended

ANSWER: “TAKE HEED THE QUEEN COME NOT WITHIN HIS SIGHT”

How do you know??

IAMBIC PENTAMETER

A pattern of beats (syllables) consisting of one strong beat and its corresponding short beat(s) is called a foot

An iambic foot (also called an iamb) is a pattern of 2 beats where the first beat is weak (unstressed) and the second is strong (stressed)

Penta = 5 Pentameter = 5 strong beats per line Therefore…IAMBIC PENTAMETER is a line

consisting of five iambs…five iambic feet In other words, there are 10 syllables with the

pattern: weak strong, weak strong, weak strong, weak strong, weak strong

ACTING COMPANIES – ACT 2, SCENE 1Begin on Puck’s first line (“The king doth keep

his revels here tonight…”) and continue to his last line on p. 1 (“But, room, fairy! Here comes Oberon.”)

Stress rhythm when readingWho are the new characters?What is the new setting?How is it different from Athens?What is the new mood?List, in your own words, the mischievous tricks

played by PuckList, in your own words, the kindnesses that

Puck performs for humansPARAPHRASE the scene