Stichomythia
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Stichomythia is a technique in drama or poetry, in which alternating lines, or half-lines, are given to alternating characters, voices, or entities. The term originated in the literature of Ancient Greece, and is often applied to the dramas of Sophocles, though others like Shakespeare are known to use it. Etymologically it derives from the Greek stichos ("rows") + mythos ("speech").
Stichomythia is particularly well suited to sections of dramatic dialogue where two characters are in violent dispute. The rhythmic intensity of the alternating lines combined with quick, biting ripostes in the dialogue can be quite powerful.
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[edit] Examples
[edit] Sophocles
A short example from the R.C. Jebb translation of Antigone: the scene is an argument between Ismene and her sister Antigone. For further examples from Antigone, consult the text at the Internet Classics Archive [1].
ISMENE: And what life is dear to me, bereft of thee?
ANTIGONE: Ask Creon; all thy care is for him.
ISMENE: Why vex me thus, when it avails thee nought?
ANTIGONE: Indeed, if I mock, 'tis with pain that I mock thee.
ISMENE: Tell me,-how can I serve thee, even now?
ANTIGONE: Save thyself: I grudge not thy escape.
ISMENE: Ah, woe is me! And shall I have no share in thy fate?
ANTIGONE: Thy choice was to live; mine, to die.
ISMENE: At least thy choice was not made without my protest.
ANTIGONE: One world approved thy wisdom; another, mine.
[edit] Shakespeare
Richard III, Act I, scene ii. Richard Plantagenet, Earl of Gloucester (later Richard III of England) threatens to kill himself unless Lady Anne, widow of Prince Edward (of Lancaster), agrees to marry him.[1]
LADY ANNE: I would I knew thy heart.
GLOUCESTER: 'Tis figured in my tongue.
LADY ANNE: I fear me both are false.
GLOUCESTER: Then never man was true.
LADY ANNE: Well, well, put up your sword.
GLOUCESTER: Say, then, my peace is made.
LADY ANNE: That shall you know hereafter.
GLOUCESTER: But shall I live in hope?
LADY ANNE: All men, I hope, live so.
GLOUCESTER: Vouchsafe to wear this ring.
LADY ANNE: To take is not to give.
RICHARD
Sweet saint, for charity, be not so curst.
ANNE
Foul devil, for God's sake, hence, and trouble us not,
RICHARD
Lady, you know no rules of charity,
Which renders good for bad, blessings for curses.
ANNE
Villain, thou know'st not law of God nor man.
No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity.
RICHARD
But I know none, and therefore am no beast.
ANNE
O, wonderful, when devils tell the truth!
RICHARD
More wonderful, when angels are so angry.
Vouchsafe, divine perfection of a woman,
Of these supposèd crimes to give me leave
By circumstance but to acquit myself.
ANNE
Vouchsafe, defused infection of a man,
Of these known evils but to give me leave
By circumstance to curse thy cursèd self.
In Hamlet, Act III, Scene iv (the Closet scene), Hamlet is confronted by his mother, the queen, about the play (III, ii) which Hamlet rigged to expose his murderous step-uncle.[2]
QUEEN: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
HAMLET: Mother, you have my father much offended.
QUEEN: Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.
HAMLET: Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.
A further intensification is often achieved by antilabe, in which a single verse line is distributed on alternating speakers.
[edit] Notes and references
- Kermode, Frank. 2000. Shakespeare's Language. Penguin: London ISBN 0-14-028592-X
