Key Terms

Here are some of the key terms that get used when talking about Shakespeare’s language, so you can look out for them in Macbeth.
  • Iambic Pentameter

    Play Iambic Pentameter Video

    Iambic pentameter is the name given to the rhythm that Shakespeare uses in his plays. The rhythm of iambic pentameter is like a heartbeat, with one soft beat and one strong beat repeated five times.

    Where will I find it in Macbeth?

    Iambic pentameter is used almost all the time in Macbeth. If you count the syllables in Macbeth’s first lines, you can see how it works: ‘So foul and fair a day I have not seen’ (Macbeth, 1:3).
  • Prose and Verse

    Play Prose and Verse Video

    Shakespeare writes in a combination of prose and verse. Prose is a conversational way of speaking which doesn’t have a set rhythm or structure. Verse always has a set rhythm and structure.

    Where will I find it in Macbeth?

    Most of Macbeth is written in verse, so it’s interesting to watch out for where it isn’t used. You can tell by looking at the page in the script. Where it looks like a poem, Shakespeare is using verse. When it looks like writing in a book that goes the whole way across the page, he is writing in prose. In Macbeth, prose is mainly used by the lower-status characters, such as the murderers and the porter, or when characters are losing a sense of themselves, like when Lady Macbeth sleepwalks.
  • Rhyming Couplets

    Play Rhyming Couplets Video

    Rhyming couplets are two lines written in iambic pentameter that end in the same sound, or a rhyme. They are often used to sum up the end of a character’s speech.

    Where will I find it in Macbeth?

    A lot of characters use rhyming couplets to finish thoughts and speeches in this play. Macbeth uses them at the end of his soliloquies and they often happen at the end of a scene. For example, Act 1 ends with Macbeth saying ‘Away, and mock the time with fairest show: / False face must hide what the false heart doth know.’ (Macbeth, 1:7)
  • Antithesis

    Play Antithesis Video

    Antithesis happens when two opposites are put together. For example, hot and cold or light and dark.

    Where will I find it in Macbeth?

    In Act 1 Scene 1, the Witches’ lines include ‘When the battle’s lost and won’ and ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair’ (1:1). Opposites, including light and dark, heaven and hell, and false and true, are used a lot in Macbeth.
  • Trochaic Tetrameter
    Trochaic tetrameter is a different rhythm, which includes eight syllables in each line rather than the ten that are used in iambic pentameter.

    Where will I find it in Macbeth?

    Look at Act 1 Scene 1, Act 1 Scene 3, Act 3 Scene 5 and Act 4 Scene 1. The witches' lines are much shorter than the other characters’ verse lines. There are eight syllables per line: ‘Double, double, toil and trouble: / Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.’ (4:1) It makes the witches seem strangely different.
  • Shared lines

    Play Shared Line Video

    Shared lines are when two or more characters share a line of iambic verse between them. You will usually see this laid out on the page and it can often show a connection between characters.

    Where will I find it in Macbeth?

    A shared line tells us a lot about the relationship between two characters. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth use a number of shared lines in Act 2 Scene 2 when Macbeth returns from murdering Duncan. In the video here you can also watch actors exploring the shared lines between Macduff and Ross in Act 2 Scene 3 when Ross delivers the news that Macduff’s family have all been killed.

Test Yourself on language terms

Shakespeare writes in a combination of prose and verse. Verse is like poetry and it has a set structure and rhythm. The rhythm Shakespeare uses in his plays is called iambic pentameter, which is like a heartbeat, with one soft beat and one strong beat repeated five times. Sometimes it’s also interesting to look at lines that don’t match the rhythm of iambic pentameter and to think about why. In Macbeth you will find some lines with eight syllables, with four soft beats and four strong beats, called trochaic tetrameter.
In Shakespeare’s plays, you will find examples of antithesis, which is when two opposites are put together, like hot and cold or light and dark. Characters also often end speeches with rhyming couplets, which are two lines written in iambic pentameter that end in the same sound, or a rhyme.

Prose

The style of writing you might find in a book.

Take another look at the prose & verse definitions

Structure

Another word for organise or lay out.

Take another look at Nia’s definition of verse

Iambic

This words comes from the Latin word iam meaning beat.

Take another look at the iambic pentameter definitions

heartbeat

The rhythm you feel in your chest, like a pulse.

Take another look at Nia’s definition of iambic pentameter

five

The Latin word for this number is ‘pent’.

Take another look at the definition of iambic pentameter

opposites

Another word for completely different things.

Take another look at Nia’s definition of antithesis

Dark

The total opposite of light.

Take another look at the definition of antithesis

Couplets

Another word for when two lines are coupled together.

Take another look at the definition of rhyming couplets

Iambic Pentameter

The name for the rhythm Shakespeare writes in.

Take another look at your third answer and take another look at the definitions.

Sound

Another word for something you hear.

Take another look at Nia’s definition of rhyming couplets

Teacher Notes

The following activity is a great way to look at the language and themes in Macbeth using a sonnet to introduce some of the imagery in the play and the key terms on this page.

Starting with Sonnets (2011)

The activity can be found on page 3 and takes approximately 20 minutes.

You can also try out the activities in the videos on this page with students. The activity which is used to explore shared lines can be useful when looking at Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 5 and Act 2 Scene 2.