Examples Of Oxymoron In Romeo And Juliet

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In the first act of Romeo and Juliet, written by Shakespeare, multiple oxymoron are used to reveal that love is very confusing and often contradicts itself. In the midst of Romeo and Benvolio’s conversation Romeo becomes frustrated by the concept of love and says “Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate… Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, / still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!” (I.i.175-180). Romeo starts off his conversation with Benvolio complaining about how hopeless he is because his love will never love him back. Benvolio agrees with Romeo that love can indeed be gentle but also rough. This sets off Romeo and his speech of oxymorons about love. He asks why love involves so much fighting, why you can hate the