Literary Devices From Shakespeares Romeo Juliet Similes Metaphors
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Literary Devices From Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet
Similes & Metaphors Simile A comparison of two things that are dissimilar, by using like or as Simile example: Juliet: My bounty is as boundless as the sea, / My love as deep; the more I give to thee, / The more I have to give. Metaphor An implied comparison of two things in the form: this is that. Metaphor example: Lord Capulet: For still thy eyes, which I may call the sea, / Do ebb and flow with tears.
Situational Irony When an occurrence is the opposite of what is expected. For example: In trying to stop Tybalt and Mercutio from dueling, Romeo causes Mercutio’s death, and then he kills Tybalt in a duel. In other words: the peacemaker who tries to prevent the duel ends up killing both of the duelers.
Verbal Irony Occurs when one person says one thing but means the opposite. For example: In the duel when Tybalt strikes Mercution, Mercutio receives a wound which he calls a scratch, but he knows it is fatal. In other words: His wound is anything but a scratch. “Ay, a scratch, a scratch. ” -- Mercutio
Dramatic Irony Exists when the reader or audience knows something that a character does not know. For example: Juliet dreams of her future with Romeo when we know that Romeo has been banished and they’ll have no future together. Capulet demands that Juliet marry Paris, but the audience knows she cannot because she’s already married to Romeo.
Puns & Punning Pun A humorous play on different meanings of words that sound alike but have different meanings. Examples from R&J: Mercutio: “Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man. ” Mercutio: "I dreamt a dream tonight… That dreamers often lie. In bed asleep while they do dream things true. "
Oxymorons Oxymoron A purposeful use of contradictory terms to emphasize a point. Examples from R & J: Parting is such sweet sorrow / That I shall say good night till it be morrow (730) Beautiful tyrant! Fiend angelical A damned saint, an honorable villain (756).
Personification Giving human qualities to a nonhuman thing (animal, object, abstract concept) Examples from R & J: When well appareled April on the heel / Of limping Winter treads Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon The grey-eyed morn smiles on frowning night, / Check’ring the Eastern clouds with streaks of light.
