Transcript Act II Notes

Act II Notes
Dramatic irony: audience knows something the character does
not.
The character may make a statement and not realize the full
meaning of his or her statement, but the audience knows the
importance.
Ex. Act II Scene iv line 124
Caesar says, “Remember that you call on me today;
Be near me, that I may remember you.”
We know that Caesar does not actually want these men to
be close to him,
because they are planning on killing him. Caesar, however,
thinks these men are
his friends and wants them to share in his joy of being
made King. Therefore, this
is dramatic irony, as Caesar does not know the full
meaning of what he is saying.
We (the audience) know the full meaning of what is being said
and the speaker does not have a clue that what he/ she is
saying is ironic.
Ironic situation: one character says something that another
character can not fully understand.
Trebonius says, “Caesar, I will [aside] and so near will I be,
That your best friends shall wish I had been further.”
We know that Trebonius is part of the conspiracy. We know Trebonius is
saying that he will be close to him, because he plans on killing him.
Trebonius knows what he is saying is ironic. However, Caesar does not
know the true meaning of what Trebonius is saying; therefore, this is an
ironic situation.
The speaker knows what he/ she is saying is ironic.
The difference between the two is whether or not the speaker knows
what he or she is saying is ironic.
Blank verse is a poetic form characterized by
unrhymed lines written in iambic pentameter.
An iamb is a foot (unit of rhythm) in which an
unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed
syllable: da-DUH
Pentameter refers to a rhythmic pattern in which
each line has five feet.
In iambic pentameter, the typical line has five
iambs, or five stressed syllables each preceded
(preceded means before) by an unstressed
syllable
Shakespeare’s “upperclass” characters speak in
iambic pentameter. Lower-born characters
speak in prose.
Paraphrase is restating a line or passage from a work in your
own word.
Original Line
“O conspiracy, Sham’st thou to show they dang’rous brow by
night
When evils are most free?”
Paraphrase
O conspiracy, are you not ashamed to show your dangerous
face at night, when it is easiest to be evil?
Keys to Paraphrasing
Look for punctuation showing where a sentence ends.
For each sentence, identify the subject and verb and put them
into the usual order. You may also need to add helping verbs
and use modern verb and pronoun forms.