Genre
Play
Language
English
Setting and Context
19th century
Narrator and Point of View
Various characters in the play narrate their parts.
Tone and Mood
Tragic, violent, and apprehensive
Protagonist and Antagonist
Pelleas and Melisande are the unfortunate protagonists, whereas Golaud is the antagonist.
Major Conflict
Pelleas and Melisande's forbidden romance.
Climax
Golaud's eventual act of executing Pelleas.
Foreshadowing
Pelleas' desire to flee from his family foreshadows the tragic outcome that could ensue should he stay there are close to Melisande. Melisande's loss of her wedding ring is a foreshadow of tragedy.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
An allusion to fairy tales such as the use of 'princess.'
Imagery
The scene of Golaud murdering Pelleas depicts Golaud's overwhelming envy, which blinds him from acknowledging that Melisande is not in love with him.
Paradox
N/A
Parallelism
Yniold employs parallelism in his sentences: “Ah! ah! your beard, little father!... It pricks! It pricks! it pricks! It is getting all gray, little father, and your
hair, too; all gray, all gray, all gray.... [_The window under which
they are sitting is lighted up at this moment, and the light falls
upon them._] Ah! ah! little mother has lit her lamp. It is light,
little father; it is light...."
Personification
Death is personified by being equated to “The old handmaid of Death.” Golaud’s horse is personified by being likened to a “blind madman.” Herds are personified when they are likened to ‘lost children.’
Use of Dramatic Devices
Golaud employs a monologue at the beginning of scene II: “I shall never be able to get out of this forest again.--God knows
where that beast has led me. And yet I thought I had wounded him to
death; and here are traces of blood. But now I have lost sight of him;
I believe I am lost myself--my dogs can no longer find me--I shall
retrace my steps....--I hear weeping... Oh! oh! what is there yonder
by the water's edge?... A little girl weeping by the water's edge?"
