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bear-baiting

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Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Bear-baiting is a historical blood sport in which a chained bear is set upon by dogs for public entertainment.

Detailed Definition
Bear-baiting features in poetry as a vivid image of cruelty and the abuse of the powerless. Shakespeare and contemporaries reference it to evoke the spectacle of suffering and the moral degradation of the crowd. Poets use the chained bear and attacking dogs to symbolize tyranny, resistance, or the savage entertainment that mirrors human savagery in political and social arenas.
Example
Example in poetry:
Bear-baiting’s chained suffering and circling dogs supply poets with images of staged cruelty; Shakespeare and his contemporaries place the spectacle among the moral dangers of the city; “The bear stood in the ring while the dogs were loosed” illustrates public appetite for pain; Educational examples present the sport as a historical mirror of human savagery; Verse keeps the image when tyranny or mob pleasure must be condemned.
Additional Notes
Bear-baiting’s chained suffering and circling dogs supplied early modern poets with a ready image of staged cruelty and public appetite. The sport’s historical reality allows verse to condemn or to exploit the spectacle with equal force. Classroom discussion can usefully examine how the image migrates from literal description into political or moral allegory. Related blood sports include bull-baiting and cockfighting. The term remains potent because the powerlessness of the bear is never in doubt.
Also Known As
bearbaiting
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