English Literature GCSE
Blank Verse
What Blank Verse means in English Literature GCSE, as defined for Eduqas, OCR, Pearson Edexcel.
Definitions of Blank Verse
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Unrhymed iambic pentameter (10 syllables per line, alternating unstressed/stressed).
Unrhymed iambic pentameter, typically used by noble characters.
Unrhymed iambic pentameter, the standard verse form for noble and serious characters in Shakespeare's plays. In Henry V, Henry and the nobles speak in blank verse, while common soldiers and comic characters speak in prose.
Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. An iamb is a metrical foot of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (da-DUM). Pentameter means there are five of these feet per line.
Unrhymed iambic pentameter. It has a natural rhythm that mimics speech but is elevated. Most of the high-status characters speak in blank verse.
Unrhymed iambic pentameter; the standard poetic form used by Shakespeare for noble characters.
Topics that use Blank Verse
- Henry V (Eduqas GCSE)
- Macbeth (Eduqas GCSE)
- Othello (Eduqas GCSE)
- The Tempest (Eduqas GCSE)
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (OCR GCSE)
- Henry V (OCR GCSE)
- Romeo and Juliet (OCR GCSE)
- Shakespeare Play (choice of: Macbeth, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice) (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
- The Merchant of Venice (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
Related terms
Using Blank Verse in the exam
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