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Literary Devices In Romeo And Juliet

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In the play of “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare there are two star-crossed lovers, their names are Romeo and Juliet. The two of them go through many obstacles and hardships just to meet with one another. However, the rivalry between the Montagues and Capulets get in the way of their love. The author uses descriptive writing to portray the love between Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare uses literary devices, such as the metaphor, personification, oxymoron, and apostrophe, to show the lengths Romeo and Juliet would go to for each other’s love. Shakespeare’s use of metaphor shows the lengths Romeo would go through for love. This is seen when Romeo represents love as “a smoke raised with a fume of sighs” (I.i.183). A fume of …show more content…

Shakespeare has Juliet use an oxymoron to show that even though Romeo killed her cousin, she still wants to be with him. Juliet lies to her mother, saying how she would never be satisfied “with Romeo till I behold him dead” (III.V.247). It is obvious that she is lying so Lady Capulet doesn’t get mad at her. When Juliet saw that Romeo had killed Tybalt, she still loved him the same. This shows that Juliet would be willing to betray her family so she could stay with her husband, Romeo. Few people would betray their bloodline only to stay with someone they had met recently. This tells the reader that Juliet has a ton of devotion and is desperate for love. Even if it leads to the harm of the people she cares about. Juliet puts Romeo in front of her family when she refuses to marry Paris, even when Nurse along with her parents implied that she should. This devotions displays to the reader that Juliet does not want to marry anyone else besides Romeo. She is too connected and loves him too much. Juliet is too devoted to being with her newly wed husband, enough that she is willing to disobey the plans her family had for her. Another example of a literary device is when Shakespeare uses an apostrophe to showcase Juliet’s character and her grief towards Romeo’s death. For example, when she saw the cup Juliet said “Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end” (V.iii.162).

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