Talk:Stichomythia

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

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)[reply]

It is a bit long, but also not in any particular

meter. For example, the Shakespeare examples are in in iambic pentameter

:

(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)[reply]

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

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)[reply]