Language and Rhetoric
• Language defining the characters
• Language, characterization, and humor
• Dialogue defining relationships
• High and low language
• Using allusion
Language defining characters
• The way in which a character is made to
speak is a device of characterization.
• We learn some things about a particular
character by observing the way he acts in
different situations.
• We usually are reinforced in our
estimation of the character by the way in
which he speaks.
Language, characterization, and
humor
• Very early in Shakespear’s famous comedy
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare
introduces the company of actors who are
to perform the play within the play. They
have become one of the most famous and
humourous tribes of men in the history of
the theatre and primarily because
Shakespeare has delicately used language
as a device of characterization.
Language, characterization, and
humor
• Through Bottom’s speeches we quickly see
the soul of his personality; there is no
substitute for carefully chosen dialogue in
establishing humour.
Dialogue defining relationship
• While dialogue in plays first and foremost
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defines the characters as they speak, dialogue
also is tantamount to the definition of
relationships within the play
The language that a particular character uses
when talking to one person in the play will be
altogether different from the language he uses
when talking to another character
Dialogue defining relationship
• As we see the different kinds of language
employed by the same character
throughout the play, we slowly are led
both to an understanding of the rounded
personality of that character and to an
understanding of the relationships he has
with other characters
High and Low language
• In most plays we are able to determine whether
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the language on the whole is “high’ or ‘low”.
By “high” we mean lofty, formal, rhetorically
polished language and even language which
relies strongly on fanciful expression.
By “low” we mean simple, plain, and unadorned
language.
It is important to identify the range of the
language in order to determine the conventions
within which the playwright is working
Using Allusion
• Another aspect of high style is the use of
allusion.
• The mere mention of faraway exoticsounding places transports the audience
quickly into a higher realm; the allusion to
places and people presents a sense of
grandeur and elevates the import of a
speech.