ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Most of Shakespeare’s plays focused on these characters. The verse form he uses is blank verse. It contains no rhyme, but each line has an internal rhythm with a regular rhythmic pattern. The pattern most favored by Shakespeare is iambic pentameter.

Detailed explanation-2: -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.

Detailed explanation-3: -Shakespeare’s dramatic verse (’Pentameter’ comes from the Greek for ‘five measures’.) A foot can be made up of two or three syllables, and various combinations of unstressed and stressed syllables are possible.

Detailed explanation-4: -Each of the fourteen lines of a Shakespearean sonnet is written in “iambic pentameter.” This means a line contains five iambs-two syllable pairs in which the second syllable is emphasized. Shakespeare was such a master of iambic pentameter that he even seamlessly inserted it into dramatic action.

Detailed explanation-5: -Put simply, iambic pentameter is a metrical speech rhythm that is natural to the English language. Shakespeare used iambic pentameter because it closely resembles the rhythm of everyday speech, and he no doubt wanted to imitate everyday speech in his plays.