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
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
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.