Dramatic Devices
_Dramatic devices are elememts of the play which allow the writer to build up tension or other intended effects.
Metaphor
A metaphor is sometimes defined as a “condensed comparison” a “condensed simile without the link words’’ (see definition of simile).Examples to use the examples given under simile:
— Peter is a bean-pole.
— He is an angry dog.
A metaphor is probably the commonest feature of poetry. It has the power to condense two or more worlds of experience, and so creates associations. It brings together two totally different objects arid gives us a new insight into them. For example, when Macbeth says to Lady Macbeth, “O full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife” the metaphor is particularly rich in associations.
Simile
The simile is a form of comparison of two things from different categories. The word linking the two compared things is very often “as”, “like” or “than”. For example:
— Peter is as tall as a bean-pole.
— He looked like an angry dog.
In Julius Caesar the scornful Cassius describes the powerful Cassius in the following terms:
“Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus...”
Soliloquy
When a character speaks his deepest thoughts aloud to himself when he is alone, he speaks a soliloquy or he soliloquizes.This dramatic technique enables the audience to know what is going on in the “privacy” of a character’s mind. For example: Macbeth’s speech: “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow”.
Symbol
A symbol is an object, creature, person, action or situation which is part of a larger unit. This larger unit is often abstract and inexpressible, and thus requires something more concrete to give at expression. For example: — A flag is a symbol of a nation.
— A rose is a symbol of love.
In Macbeth, Macbeth’s castle becomes a symbol of hell when the murder of Duncan takes place. The witches are symbols of evil. The growing tree and Birnam Wood are symbols of good, of healthy growth. A writer often employs symbolism,and uses symbolic images
A metaphor is sometimes defined as a “condensed comparison” a “condensed simile without the link words’’ (see definition of simile).Examples to use the examples given under simile:
— Peter is a bean-pole.
— He is an angry dog.
A metaphor is probably the commonest feature of poetry. It has the power to condense two or more worlds of experience, and so creates associations. It brings together two totally different objects arid gives us a new insight into them. For example, when Macbeth says to Lady Macbeth, “O full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife” the metaphor is particularly rich in associations.
Simile
The simile is a form of comparison of two things from different categories. The word linking the two compared things is very often “as”, “like” or “than”. For example:
— Peter is as tall as a bean-pole.
— He looked like an angry dog.
In Julius Caesar the scornful Cassius describes the powerful Cassius in the following terms:
“Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus...”
Soliloquy
When a character speaks his deepest thoughts aloud to himself when he is alone, he speaks a soliloquy or he soliloquizes.This dramatic technique enables the audience to know what is going on in the “privacy” of a character’s mind. For example: Macbeth’s speech: “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow”.
Symbol
A symbol is an object, creature, person, action or situation which is part of a larger unit. This larger unit is often abstract and inexpressible, and thus requires something more concrete to give at expression. For example: — A flag is a symbol of a nation.
— A rose is a symbol of love.
In Macbeth, Macbeth’s castle becomes a symbol of hell when the murder of Duncan takes place. The witches are symbols of evil. The growing tree and Birnam Wood are symbols of good, of healthy growth. A writer often employs symbolism,and uses symbolic images