Friday, April 4, 2014

What are some examples of figurative language in Romeo and Juliet, Act 3: Scenes 3-5?

There are several important instances of figurative language within scenes 3-5 of Act 3 of Romeo and Juliet.  When Romeo curses his banishment, he uses hyperbole in his cry, "There is no world outside Verona walls" (line 17).  Hyperbole, an exaggerated or overdone statement that is not intended literally, is evident here.  Clearly, there is a world outside Verona walls, one that Romeo himself will visit when he moves to Mantua shortly thereafter.  It is simply that it does not feel that way to Romeo.  

Later in the same act, Shakespeare makes intentional use of alliteration (repetition of an initial consonant sound) when he writes, "Stand up, stand up. Stand, and you be a man / For Juliet’s sake, for her sake, rise and stand" (lines 88 and 89).  Here the initial "s" sound is repeated in "stand" and "sake."  There is an additional "s" sound in "Juliet's" as well, so that when the lines are performed, the "s" sound is quite prominent.


Act 3, Scene 4 is short, and largely furthers the plot.  As the scene changes to Scene 5, however, instances of figurative language reemerge.  In line 9 of Scene 5, Romeo uses personification in the lines, "... jocund day / Stands tiptoe on the misty mountaintop."  Personification, the attribution of human characteristics to something not human, is evident here, as Romeo conjures an image of the day waiting on tiptoes to approach once night has left.  


Finally, in the same act, Juliet uses a simile (direct comparison using the words "like" or "as") when she bids Romeo goodbye, "Methinks I see thee now, thou art so low  / As one dead in the bottom of a tomb." Here, she uses a simile to compare Romeo to someone dead and in a tomb.  This is a true instance of foreshadowing, as Romeo will soon be dead.  Thus, figurative language abounds both in the general play and, more specifically, in the latter half of Act Three.

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