Shakespeare often concludes a scene written in blank verse with a 'capping' device. What is it?
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Correct answer: A rhyming couplet
A rhyming couplet at the end of a blank verse scene provides a sense of finality and 'closure.' It served as a cue to the audience and actors that the scene was over, especially in an era without curtains.
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More Blank Verse questions
- How does the use of blank verse in Shakespeare's later plays (e.g., 'The Winter's Tale') differ from his early plays (e.g., 'Richard III')?
- Which character’s famous 'To be, or not to be' soliloquy is a prime example of meditative blank verse?
- In 'Macbeth,' the Weird Sisters speak in a meter that distinguishes them from the human characters. What is it?
- What is an 'epic caesura' in blank verse?
- Which play by Shakespeare is notable for containing the highest percentage of prose relative to blank verse?
- The omission of a syllable to maintain the iambic pentameter count (e.g., 'th'event' instead of 'the event') is called: