Dictionary Project
Alliteration
the repetition of usually initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables
"From forth the fatal loins of these two foes" (I.prologue.5)
"Now old desire doth in his deathbed lie" (II.chorus.1)
"The day to cheer and night's dank dew to dry" (II.iii.6)
Allusion
an implied or indirect reference especially in literature
"Well in that hit you miss. She'll not be hit with Cupid's arrow. She hath Dian's wit" (I.i.216-217)
"Speak to my gossip Venus one fair word, one nickname for her purblind son and heir, Young Abraham Cupid, he that shot so trim, when King Cophetua loved the beggar maid" (II.i.14-17)
"Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds, towards Phoebus' lodging" (III.ii.1-2)
Apostrophe
the addressing of a usually absent person or a usually personified thing rhetorically
"Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon" (II.ii.4)
"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" (II.ii.36)
"O sweet Juliet, thy beauty hath made me effeminate" (III.i.118-119)
Aside
an utterance not meant to be heard by someone
"Is the law of our side if I say Ay?" (I.i.48-49)
"Is she a Capulet? O dear account! My life is my foe's debt" (I.v.131-132)
"She speaks. O, speak again, bright angel, for thou art as glorious to this night, being o'er my head, as is a wingèd messenger of heaven, unto the white-upturnèd wond'ring eyes of mortals that fall back to gaze on him, when he bestrides the lazy puffing clouds, and sails upon the bosom of the air." (II.ii.28-35)
Comic Relief
a relief from the emotional tension especially of a drama that is provided by the interposition of a comic episode or element
"Nay, I'll conjure too. Romeo! Humors! Madman! Passion! Lover! Appear thou in the likeness of a sigh." (II.i.8-10)
"Doth not rosemary and Romeo begin both with a letter?...Ah, mocker, that's the dog's name." (II.v.210 & II.v.212)
"Why silver sound? Why music with her silver sound? What say you, Simon Catling?...It is music with her silver sound because musicians have no gold for sounding" (IV.v.135-136 & IV.v.145-146)
Couplet
two successive lines of verse forming a unit marked by rhythmic correspondence, rhyme, or the inclusion of a self-contained utterance
"Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake. Then move not while my prayer's effect I take." (I.v.116-117)
"But passion lends them power, time means, to meet, temp'ring extremities with extreme sweet." (II.prologue.13-14)
"Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast. Would I were sleep and peace so sweet to rest. Hence will I to my ghostly friar's close cell, his help to crave, and my dear hap to tell." (II.ii.202-205)
Dramatic Foil
a character with qualities that contrasts another character's qualities
Tybalt and Benvolio
Tybalt (fiery, violent): "What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee." (I.i.71-72)
Benvolio (peaceful): "I do but keep the peace. Put up thy sword, or manage it to part these men with me." (I.i.69-70)
Lady Capulet and Nurse
Lady Capulet (royalty, distant): "This is the matter.—Nurse, give leave awhile. We must talk in secret.—Nurse, come back again. I have remembered me, thou's hear our counsel. Thou knowest my daughter's of a pretty age." (I.iii.8-11)
Nurse (common, close): "Faith, I can tell her age unto an hour." (I.iii.12)
Mercutio and Romeo
Mercutio (dislikes love): "Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down" (I.vi.28)
Romeo (believes in love): "Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight, for I ne'er saw true beauty till this night." (I.v.59-60)
Foreshadowing
an indication of what is to come
"Within the infant rind of this weak flower, poison hath residence and medicine power" (II.iii.23-24)
"And that bare vowel I shall poison more" (III.ii.52)
"Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low, as one dead in the bottom of a tomb." (III.v.55-56)
Metaphor
a figure of speech in which a word or phrase denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them
"This precious book of love, this unbound lover, to beautify him only lacks a cover." (I.iii.93-94)
"My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss." (I.v.106-107)
"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun" (II.ii.2-3)
Monologue
a long speech done by a character in the presence of others
"O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you...turning his face to the dew-dropping south." (I.vi.58-110)
"More than prince of cats. O, he's the courageous...you gave us the counterfeit fairly last night." (II.vi.20-47)
"Tybalt, here slain, whom Romeo's hand did slay...this is the truth, or let Benvolio die." (III.i.160-184)
Personification
representation of a thing or abstraction as a person or by the human form
"Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon" (II.ii.4)
"And death, not Romeo, take my maidenhead!" (III.iii.150)
"Death is my son-in-law; Death is my heir." (IV.v.44)
Pun
the humorous use of a word as to suggest two or more of its meanings or the meaning of another word similar in sound
"That dreamers often lie." (I.iv.56)
"Nay, I am the very pink of courtesy. Pink for flower. Right. Why, then is my pump well flowered." (II.iv.59-62)
"Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man." (III.i.101-102)
Simile
a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by like or as
"It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night as a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear" (I.v.52-53)
"No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as 100 a church door, but 'tis enough." (III.i.100-101)
"Death lies on her like an untimely frost upon the sweetest flower of all the field." (IV.v.33-34)
Soliloquy
a long speech done by a character in solidarity
"He jests at scars that never felt a wound...that I might touch that cheek!" (II.ii.1-26)
"The clock struck nine when I did send the Nurse...unwieldy, slow, heavy, and pale as lead." (II.v.1-17)
"Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds...and may not wear them." (III.ii.1-33)
Citations
© 2023 Dheirya Tyagi Companies
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Simon & Schuster, 2004.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Goyal Publishers & Distributors, 2004.