Talk:Stichomythia

Talk
Sychomythia: What Homer did when he got writer's block writing The Odyssey ;-) Φ 11:02, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

Example - Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead
There's an excellent example of stichomythia in the film Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (quote taken from IMDb):

[Guildenstern is pretending to be Hamlet] Rosencrantz: Let me get it straight. Your father was king. You were his only son. Your father dies. You are of age. Your uncle becomes king. Guildenstern: Yes. Rosencrantz: Unusual. Guildenstern: Undid me. Rosencrantz: Undeniably. Guildenstern: He slipped in. Rosencrantz: Which reminds me... Guildenstern: Well, it would. Rosencrantz: I don't want to be personal. Guildenstern: Common knowledge. Rosencrantz: Your mother's marriage. Guildenstern: He slipped in. Rosencrantz: His body was still warm! Guildenstern: So was hers. Rosencrantz: Extraordinarily... Guildenstern: Indecent. Rosencrantz: Hasty. Guildenstern: Suspicious. Rosencrantz: Makes you think. Guildenstern: Don't think I haven't. Rosencrantz: And with her husband's brother! Guildenstern: They were close. Rosencrantz: She went to him... Guildenstern: Too close. Rosencrantz: For comfort. Guildenstern: It looks bad. Rosencrantz: Adds up. Guildenstern: Incest to adultery. Rosencrantz: Would you go so far? Guildenstern: Never!

The film is full of dialogue like this, but this is the best example of stichomythia. Should it be added to the page (especially as an example of stichomythia in modern context), or is it too long? --DearPrudence 04:10, 26 May 2007 (UTC)


 * It is a bit long, but also not in any particular meter. For example, the Shakespeare examples are in in iambic pentameter:


 * Hámlět, | thoǔ hást | thў fáth|ěr múch | ǒffénd[ed] |


 * (To see what the stresses mean etc., have a look at the page).


 * This is also done with half lines (as in passages of Euripides' Ion). But as you see, they all are about the same length. So these passages don't really qualify as stychomythia, as they aren't in a meter, or even with lines of the same length. (The Antigone quote is an exception, as it is a translation from the Greek)


 * (Personally, I think this device can very easily become hackneyed and clichéd, as it does in Ion, as when one character is trying to tell a story, they have to narrate on alternate lines, meaning that the playwright (in this case, Euripides) has to insert something for the character to say. I haven't got my translation right here (I have to study it for Greek GCSE...), but it frequently leads to nonsensical conversations. So it's probably a good thing if it's been dropped!)


 * Φ 11:43, 27 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Ah, okay. I forgot about the iambic pentameter. Thank you! --DearPrudence 18:35, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Other contemporary parallels
Many examples of dialogue from the plays of Harold Pinter could be cited that recall the style of stychomythia. Even more pertinent, I think, is so-called Mametspeak, the way Mamet's characters in scenes of two-way dialogue frequently pick up and repeat words spoken by the other, are interrupted, speak in half-sentences, engage in rapid argument or alternate insults. But perhaps these are more matters of coincidence than examples of an ancient dramatic technique consciously preserved or revived.Prohairesius (talk) 22:36, 26 August 2012 (UTC)