Iambic pentameter is a meter in poetry, consisting of an unrhymed line with five iambs. It was very commonly used by Shakespeare.
It follows a beat that sounds very much like a human heartbeat:
- da-dum da-dum da-dum da-dum da-dum
- It also consists of an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable, marked by (-) for unstressed and (/) for stressed.
Shakespeare uses iambic pentameter to give actors an indication to which words are stressed, and which words are more important than the other. This allows us to enunciate these words by voicing and over exaggerating the vowels in the stressed words. - Here is an example from Egeus' speech in Midsummer Night's Dream:
- - / - / - / - / - /
- Full of vexation, come I, with complaint
- - / - / - / - / - /
- Against my child, my daughter Hermia.
- - / - / - / - / - /
- Stand forth, Demetrius. My noble lord,
- - / - / - / - / - /
- This man hath my consent to marry her,
- - / - / - / - / - /
- Stand forth, Lysander. And my gracious duke,
- - / - / - / - / - / - /
- This man hath bewitch'd the bosom of my child. -
- - / - / - / - / - / -
- With cunning hast thou filched my daughter's heart,
- - / - / - / - / - / - /
- Turned her obedience, which is due to me,
- - / - / -
- To stubborn harshness.
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