Lesson Overview

Students will identify iambic pentameter and explain how Shakespeare uses meter in Twelfth Night to create a speech pattern in his dialogue and convey meaning in the text. The worksheet can be completed as students read the text or once they have completed reading.

Materials

  • Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
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Lesson Objectives

1. Students will identify verse and the meter of iambic pentameter. 

2. Students will understand the use of verse versus prose in Twelfth Night and analyze its impact on meaning.

Instructional Sequence

1. Give background on Shakespeare’s use of verse.

Shakespeare wrote most of his plays in verse. The dialogue has a certain meter, or rhythm. Twelfth Night is one of just four plays in which Shakespeare used prose more than verse. The upper-class characters in Twelfth Night—Viola, Olivia, Orsino—often talk in verse. The characters beneath them in social status—Malvolio, Maria, servants—speak in prose. This choice suggests that verse is a more elevated form of speech. Shakespeare also used verse when characters were speaking of love—or the pain and suffering love caused. Verse then also helps convey the emotion a character is feeling. The meter Shakespeare used most often in his verse is iambic pentameter.

2. Define iambic pentameter and provide examples of verse and prose from the text.

Pass out the Shakespeare’s Use of Verse Worksheet. 

Discuss meter and iambic pentameter in particular.  

Meter is measured in groups of syllables called feet. Iambic pentameter is a line of verse with five feet; each foot consists of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable. Occasionally, an odd syllable slips in, or the meter pattern is disrupted slightly, but generally the lines of verse in Twelfth Night are in iambic pentameter: 

If mu’sic be’ the food’ of love’, play on’.
(No Fear: 1.1.1) 

Compare that simple, direct line of verse spoken by Orsino with Malvolio’s speech in rather bloated prose: 

. . . I
protest I take these wise men that crow so at these set
kind of fools no better than the fools’ zanies.
(No Fear: 1.5.79–80)

An easy way for students to recognize verse is simply to look at the lines on the page. Verse has relatively short lines, and each line begins with a capital letter. Prose fills the page from left to right, and the text runs over to the next line as a paragraph does.

Have students define meter and iambic pentameter on their worksheet. Then have them find and cite an example of iambic pentameter.

3. Identify text selections.

Use this excerpt for practice with the class. To help students see the text and length of lines, write the excerpt on the board or project it on a whiteboard. 

Fool
The matter, I hope, is not great, sir, begging but a beg-
gar. Cressida was a beggar. My lady is within, sir. I will
construe to them whence you come. Who you are and
what you would are out of my welkin, I might say
“element,” but the word is overworn.          
He exits.

Viola
This fellow is wise enough to play the fool,
And to do that well craves a kind of wit.
He must observe their mood on whom he jests,
The quality of persons, and the time,
And, like the haggard, check at every feather
That comes before his eye.
(No Fear: 3.1.48–58)

4. Summarize the text. 

Have students jot down a two- to three-sentence summary detailing the meaning of each character’s lines. Have two or three students share their summaries and draw from their responses to construct a summary on the board. An example follows: 

Fool has begged for some money from Viola. He tells her that his lady, Olivia, is inside her home and that he will announce where Viola came from, but he doesn’t know who she is or what she wants. His play on words leads Viola to comment to herself that he is a good fool because he knows how to judge the nature of people and wittily make fun of those who deserve it.

5. Identify the verse and the prose.

Ask students which set of lines is verse (Viola’s) and which is prose (Fool’s). Have volunteers read each set of lines aloud to hear the difference and mark the metric pattern in the verse.

6. Analyze the use of verse and prose.

Ask students: Why would Shakespeare have Fool speak in prose and Viola in verse? What impact do the different speech patterns have on the listener?

7. Analyze the use of verse and prose.

Have students identify additional examples of verse and of prose in the play on their worksheets (item 3) and analyze them according to the prompt on a separate sheet of paper.

Differentiated Instruction

This activity can be modified to help all students access learning.
Decrease difficulty

Work with students to choose a verse excerpt and a prose excerpt from the play. Ask them how they identified verse versus prose. Have a volunteer read the lines aloud, or have students read the lines silently but so they hear the words “in their heads.” 

Guide discussion of the impact of the distinction.

Increase difficulty

Challenge students to rewrite part of Fool’s lines in iambic pentameter and part of Viola’s lines in prose. Have them read aloud their rewrites and discuss the different impressions of the character each produces.

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