Romeo's very
first long speech in the opening scene is different from
other speeches with respect to the number of poetic rhetorical
devices he uses.
One rhetorical
device is the use of many oxymora.
An oxymoron is a word construction that contains
contrasting ideas in close proximity. In this first speech, Romeo is using oxymora
to complain about how puzzling love is and also to describe
love as this sort of wonderful, agonizing torture. One example of the oxymora he uses is
in the line, "O brawling love! O loving hate!" (I.i.174). To "brawl" is to fight;
therefore, due to his rejection from Rosaline, Romeo is describing love as both a loving
emotion and an emotion one battles with. In the line, "O loving hate," he is describing
love as both a loving emotion and a hateful emotion. It is hateful because either the
one you love hates you, or you hate love for being rejected by love. Many other oxymora
can be found in this speech that are being used to describe
love as the exact opposite of what it seems to
be.
In addition to oxymora, another
rhetorical devise Romeo uses to make this speech sound both very poetic
and poignant is apostrophe. Apostrophe is a special
type of personification. Personification is when we give
animals, abstract ideas, or inanimate objects human characteristics. However, apostrophe
is an even more specific form of personification in that the
speaker in a poem or piece of literature actually
addresses some sort of abstract idea as if it is both a
person and actually present in the
room href="http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_P.html">(Dr. Wheeler, "Literary Terms and
Definitions: P"). Throughout most of this speech, Romeo is
literally addressing love as if it is present, which gives love human
characteristics. His address to love begins at the line, "Why then, O brawling love! O
loving hate!" (174). In this line and throughout the rest of the speech, Romeo is
literally asking love why its awful tormenting nature is the way it
is.
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