What is a Stichomythia in drama?

Stichomythia, also spelled Stichomythy, plural Stichomythias, orStichomythies, dialogue in alternate lines, a form sometimes used in Classical Greek drama in which two characters alternate speaking single epigrammatic lines of verse.

What does the word Stichomythia mean?

dialogue
: dialogue especially of altercation or dispute delivered by two actors in alternating lines (as in classical Greek drama)

What is the basic plotline of Richard the Third?

Richard III is a play about evil, violence and murder. It charts the rise of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, a cold-blooded and dastardly villain who slaughters his family and even marries his victim’s widow to become king.

What is the climax of Richard III?

climax In Act III, scene vii, Buckingham and others entreat Richard to accept the crown, which he pretends to refuse and then accepts. falling action Richard turns against Buckingham and murders the young princes and his wife Anne; Richmond defeats Richard at the Battle of Bosworth Field.

What is a recognition scene?

noun. The moment or scene in a play, etc., in which a principal character experiences a sudden revelation or enlightenment through the recognition of another character’s true identity.

What is a Polyptoton in literature?

Polyptoton /ˌpɒlɪpˈtoʊtɒn/ is the stylistic scheme in which words derived from the same root are repeated (such as “strong” and “strength”). A related stylistic device is antanaclasis, in which the same word is repeated, but each time with a different sense. Another related term is figura etymologica.

What is the meaning of Agon?

Agon comes from the Greek word agōn, which is translated with a number of meanings, among them “contest,” “competition at games,” and “gathering.” In ancient Greece, agons (also spelled “agones”) were contests held during public festivals. The word is also occasionally used to refer to conflict generally.

Why is Richard III a tragedy?

Instead of being a villain, Richard III is a tragic hero whose tragic flaw/hamartia is his very desire to transform himself into a “villain” in the action sense of the term, by committing violent actions, even though he does not meet the historical sense of the term “villan”—“a low-born, base-minded rustic” and a …

How many acts does Richard III have?

five acts
Richard III, chronicle play in five acts by William Shakespeare, written about 1592–94 and published in 1597 in a quarto edition seemingly reconstructed from memory by the acting company when a copy of the play was missing.

What is the theme of Richard III?

The Theme of Power in Richard III The most important theme in Richard III is power. This central theme drives the plot and, most importantly, the main character: Richard III.

Where is King Richard III set?

London
Place. For being such a long play, Richard III is set in remarkably few places. For the first four acts, every scene (except one) is staged somewhere in London: anonymous streets, the palace rooms, the Tower of London, or at a handful of London houses.

What kind of drama was stichomythia adapted to?

Through the influence of Seneca, stichomythia was adapted to the drama of Elizabethan England, most notably by William Shakespeare in comedies such as Love’s Labour’s Lost and in the memorable exchange between Richard and Queen Elizabeth in Richard III (IV, iv).

What are the examples of Shakespeare’s stichomythia?

LADY ANNE: I would I knew thy heart. GLOUCESTER: ‘Tis figured in my tongue. LADY ANNE: I fear me both are false. GLOUCESTER: Then never man was true. LADY ANNE: Well, well, put up your sword. GLOUCESTER: Say, then, my peace is made. LADY ANNE: That shall you know hereafter. GLOUCESTER: But shall I live in hope? LADY ANNE: All men, I hope, live so.

How is stichomythia used in The Merchant of Venice?

A further intensification is often achieved by antilabe, in which a single verse line is distributed on alternating speakers. In “The Merchant of Venice”, Shylock and Bassanio enter into an argument using stichomythia at 4.1.65-9, which “catches the dramatic tension of a quasi-forensic interrogation”:

Why did Aeschylus use the stichomythia device?

This device, which is found in such plays as Aeschylus’ Agamemnon and Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, is often used as a means to show characters in vigorous contention or to heighten the emotional intensity of a scene.