Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Shakespearean Figures of Speech Screenshot 2025-11-11 2.33.43 PM,…
Shakespearean Figures of Speech
Simile
- The comparing using like or as
"My bounty is
as
boundless
as
the sea." This shows the comparison of love and how big the sea is. This means that love can not be measure because it is too much.
“He’s
as
tedious
as
a tired horse.” Tedious means boring, so this means that tired horse in nature is very boring.
“And therefore think him
as
a serpent’s egg
Which, hatch’d, would
as
his kind grow mischievous.” Serpent's egg is the snake's egg, so if he grew bigger or unlocked the full potential, it will be so dangerous as the snake that come out of egg.
Metaphor
- The comparison without using like or as
“It
is
the east, and Juliet
is
the sun.”
This shows the combining of Juliet's beauty and the sun. The author wants to show that Juliet is very beautiful as the sun that rise in the east.
The orange color of sun rises in a lot of travel destinations are very popular and as beautiful as Juliet's beauty
This might also be the combining of the brightness of the sun that is the same of Juliet's aura.
“Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May.” This shows the imaging of belove's beauty that is as beautiful as the soft wind of summer climate.
“Cowards die many times before their deaths.” This means that if you are a coward, you will feel like you have died many times since you feel more interactive in each normal situation.
When the cowards are riding the roller coaster, they will feel like they have died because of fear.
If the cowards need to come into war, they will feel so scared more than other people that want to protect their nations.
Personification
- not human acting like human
“
The grey-eyed morn smiles on
the frowning night.” This means that the brightness of morning refreshes the darkness of night. So, the morning that is not human, can act like human.
“
Stars, hide your fires
;
Let not lightly see my black and deep desires.” This means that the characters asked the stars to hide their lights, in order to see his deep black desires. This statement not only shows personification, but also the metaphor.
“Rough
winds do shake
the darling buds of May.” This situation means that there is a wind shaking the bud, in May. This shows personification since winds can act like humans which is shaking the buds.
Alliteration
- using the same first letter at the different words
“
F
rom
f
orth the
f
atal loins of these two
f
oes.”Fatal indicates that their fathers have given their lives. Therefore, this statement means that this couple takes each other's life from each other's parents. This is considered as alliteration because the repetition of "F" in the statement.
“
F
air is
f
oul, and
f
oul is
f
air.” Fair means positively and foul means negatively. Therefore, this statement means that something good is actually bad, and something bad is actually good. This shows the alliteration because there is the repetition of "F".
“With
b
lade, with
b
loody,
b
lameful
b
lade.”This shows the scene of the crime that the character stabs the blade on another person's body. This shows the alliteration because there is a repetition of "B".
Assonance
- Repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words.
“So long as men can
breathe
or eyes can
see
.” This statement refers to the character's loves that will last very long. The assonance in this statement is the repetition of the vowel "E".
"So long
lives
this
, and
this
gives life
to thee." This refers to Shakespear's poetry that will live forever. The assonance in this statement is the repetition of the vowel "I".
“
Soft
! What light
through yonder window
breaks?” This statement represents the love between Romeo and Juliet. The situation mainly about Romeo that staring at Juliet's balcony and has the light on the window, and he hopes that it is her. The assonance in the statement is the repetition of the vowel "O".
Hyperbole
- An exaggeration of the words
“The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,
As daylight doth a lamp
.” This means that her brightness is much more than the brightness of the stars and the same as daylight. This statement is an exaggeration because it is impossible that her cheek will as bright as the sunlight.
“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand?” This statement is about the character that wants to wash his dirty hands that have killed people. However, it is an exaggeration because the seawater can wash his hand, but it couldn't wash his mind that has wanted to kill people.
“So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” This means that the loves and this poetry will be eternal. However, everything is always destroyed throughout the time, so it is not true that something will stay the same forever which this shows the exaggeration of the statement.
Oxymoron
- The phrase that has pair opposite words in it.
“O
brawling love
! O
loving hate
!” This statement shows the love that has problems and violence and uses oxymoron since brawling and love, and love and hate have opposite meaning.
“O
heavy lightness
!” This is the oxymoron describing the love. Heavy means the bad sides of the love, but light means the good sides. Furthermore, this is oxymoron because heavy means weighted, but lightness means unweighted, which shows opposition.
"
Serious vanity
!" This is the oxymoron describing the love. Vanity means meaningless which represents that love is not important, but in the other way, serious means meaningful which represents that love is important to him.
Pun
- A joke or play on words that exploits different meanings of a word or similar-sounding words.
“Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.” This statement means that the listener is very serious about listening to the question because the listener might not have much time to answer right now. This is because he might die tomorrow of William Shakespearean Poem.
“You have dancing shoes with nimble soles; I have a soul of lead.” The first part of the statement refers to the character that wants and has the ability to dance. However, In the second part of the statement refers to Romeo who has lead, which is very heavy in his mind. This makes him unable to move freely. Therefore
“A little more than kin, and less than kind.” This refers to the person who has a good relationship and related family with others.
Allusion
- The statement that references the famous things in real life.
“She’ll not be hit
With
Cupid’s
arrow; she hath
Dian’s
wit.” This statement refers to Cupid (The god of Loves) and Diana (The god of Chastity)
“Will all great
Neptune’s
ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” This refers to Neptune (The god of Sea) in Roman god.
“Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a
Colossus
.” This refers to the Colossus the Rhodes, which is the giant statue of Greek sun god named Helios
Irony
- The intended meaning is different from the literal meaning
“This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself.” This irony refers to the character that is happy to walk in the seat or the trap that someone wants him to be.
“I am too much i’ the sun.” The full statement of this is, "I am too much in the sun." This refers to someone that is very sad and has stressed because of and among the public which this statement refers to the sun as public.
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on.” This means that the human's life is not stable as the dream since when we wake up, things in dream is gone.
Anaphora
- Using the same word in each phrase or setence
“
This
blessed plot,
this
earth,
this
realm,
this
England,
This
nurse,
this
teeming womb of royal kings…”
“
Hath
not a Jew eyes?
Hath
not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?”
“
Once
more unto the breach, dear friends,
once
more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead!”
Onomatopoeia
- Using the words that come from the sound of things in real life.
“
Hark
,
hark
!
Bow
-
wow
, the watch-dogs
bark
!
Bow-wow
!” This statement shows the sound of the dog-type animals in The Tempest.
“Cuckoo,
cuckoo
!” This shows the sound of Yellow-billed Cuckoo's sound.
“The
knock
of death!” This shows the sounds of someone knocking the door.
Cowards
Sun rises
Winds shaking the buds
The fresh morning
Hiding your fires
The sea and loves
The tired horse
The serpent's egg
The buds
parents and children
Inverse of situation
That scene of the crime
The picture from the scene
The daylight
The bloody hand
Heavy and lightness
Leads
Trap
Sun exposure
Unstableness
Colossus
Neptune
Cupid and Diana
