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Shakespearean Figures of Speech - Coggle Diagram
Shakespearean Figures of Speech
Oxymoron
Definition: When opposite words are used together.
“Parting is such sweet sorrow.” (Romeo and Juliet)
Effect: Shows the pain of leaving someone you care about.
Meaning: Goodbyes are happy and sad.
“O brawling love, O loving hate.” (Romeo and Juliet)
Effect: Shows mixed emotions.
Meaning: Love can be confusing.
Anaphora
Definition: Repeating words at the beginning of sentences or lines.
“O that this too too solid flesh would melt,
O that the Everlasting had not fix’d His canon…” (Hamlet)
Effect: Repetition shows his deep emotion.
Meaning: Hamlet is upset.
“Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition!” (King John)
Effect: Makes the anger stronger.
Meaning: Everything feels crazy.
Pun
Definition: A joke that plays on different meanings of the same word.
“Now is the winter of our discontent.” (Richard III)
Effect: Clever wordplay that adds the depths to the word.
Meaning: A bad or “cold” time.
“Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.” (Romeo and Juliet)
Effect: Adds humor.
Meaning: Serious or actually dead.
Metaphor
Definition: Saying something is something else to show a strong connection.
“Juliet is the sun.” (Romeo and Juliet)
Effect: Makes her seem bright, and warm.
Meaning: Juliet is the most important person to Romeo.
“All the world’s a stage.” (As You Like It)
Effect: Makes us think about how people change roles in life.
Meaning: Life is like a play.
Personification
Definition: Giving human actions to non-human things.
“The winds did sing it to me.” (The Winter’s Tale)
Effect: Makes nature feel alive and magical.
Meaning: The wind is described like it has a voice.
“Grief fills the room up of my absent child.” (King John)
Effect: Shows how strong the emotion is.
Meaning: The person feels surrounded by sadness.
Hyperbole
Definition: An exaggeration used to make a strong point.
“If the river were dry, I could fill it with my tears.” (Othello)
Effect: Makes the sadness seem huge.
Meaning: He is very sad.
“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” (Macbeth)
Effect: Shows how powerful his guilt is.
Meaning: Macbeth feels extremely guilty.
Assonance
Definition: Repetition of vowel sounds.
“The moan of doves in immemorial elms.”
Effect: Creates a calm, soft mood.
Meaning: Birds cooing.
“Is crimson in thy cheeks and in thy lips.” (Romeo and Juliet)
Effect: Makes the line sound gentle and romantic.
Meaning: Describes Juliet’s face.
Allusion
Definition: A reference to something famous from history, literature, or mythology.
“Draw the curtain and show the life’s scene.” (King Lear)
Effect: Makes life seem dramatic.
Meaning: Life is like a play.
“You are Eros and I am Mars.” (Antony and Cleopatra)
Effect: Shows passion and conflict.
Meaning: Love and war gods.
Simile
Definition: A comparison using like or as to show similarity between two things.
“As pure as snow.” (Hamlet)
Effect:The purity is easy to see.
Meaning: Describes someone innocent.
"My love is as boundless as the sea.” (Romeo and Juliet)
Effect: It shows deep, unlimited affection.
Meaning: Juliet is saying her love is endless, like the sea.
Irony
Definition: When words mean the opposite of what’s expected or true.
Juliet says she won’t marry Romeo, even though she already has. (Romeo and Juliet)
Effect: Creates drama.
Meaning: It is just a lie
“Brutus is an honourable man.” (Julius Caesar)
Effect: Turns the crowd against Brutus.
Meaning: Antony doesn’t actually think this.
Onomatopoeia
Definition: Words that sound like what they describe.
“Hark! Hark! The lark at heaven’s gate sings.” (Cymbeline
Effect: Sounds like a real call
“The buzzing of the bees.” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
Effect: Makes the picture more real.
Alliteration
Definition: Repeating the same first sound in nearby words.
“Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.” (Sonnet 73)
Effect: Soft sounds create a sad feeling.
Meaning: Trees in winter look empty.
“Full fathom five thy father lies.” (The Tempest)
Effect: Makes the line sound smooth and musical.
Meaning: Someone drowned at sea.
Extra Notes
Shakespeare often mixes up word order
He creates new words.
“Thy” = your
Favourite quote: “Juliet is the sun.” The way he describe Juliet is so cute.
“Thou” = you