The language in Shakespeare’s plays takes a variety of forms, including iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter is a line of verse with 10 syllables made up of five pairs of stressed and unstressed syllables. The rhythm of iambic pentameter sounds like a heartbeat: “ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM.” Here’s an example from Romeo and Juliet:

“But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.”

Lines of iambic pentameter can be rhymed or unrhymed, and Shakespeare often used iambic pentameter for the speech of higher-class characters or to elevate language. In contrast, Shakespeare often used prose, writing without a pattern of stressed or unstressed syllables or rhyme, for lower-class characters.

Which detail from the passage describes iambic pentameter using something the reader may be familiar with?

A
“...Shakespeare often used iambic pentameter...to elevate language.”

B
“In contrast, Shakespeare often used prose...for lower-class characters.”

C
“The rhythm of iambic pentameter sounds like a heartbeat: ‘ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM.’”

D
"Here’s an example from Romeo and Juliet: ‘But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.’”