Literary/Poetic Devices in Romeo and Juliet

Devices to Know• allusion• foil• foreshadowing• irony (verbal, situational, dramatic)•metaphor• oxymoron•pun

Which Device?•Contrast between Mercutio and Romeo in Act I?•Contrast between Paris and Romeo in Acts II-III?•Contrast between Tybalt and Benvolio in Acts I-III?

Foil

Which Device?•“Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.”

Pun

Which Device?•“Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health…”

Oxymoron

Which Device?•“O, speak again, bright angel!”

Metaphor

Which Device?•“Some consequence yet hanging in the stars / Shall bitterly begin this fearful date / With this night’s revels and expire the term / Of a despised life, closed in my breast, / By some vile forfeit of untimely death.”

Foreshadowing

Which Device?• Juliet, distraught because of Romeo’s banishment, tells her mother that she would rather marry Romeo than Paris.

Verbal Irony

Which Device?• In Act I, Romeo didn’t really want to attend the Capulet party; he went just because Rosaline would be there. However, going to the party ends up being a happy occasion because he meets Juliet.

Situational Irony

Which Device?• In Act III scene I, readers/viewers know that Romeo and Tybalt are now related by marriage, but Tybalt, Mercutio, and others do not know.

Dramatic Irony

Which Device?• In Act I, Lord Montague reports that Romeo has

been crying all night and sleeping in his bedroom all day, using these words to describe the dawn.

... But all so soon as the all-cheering sunShould in the farthest East begin to drawThe shady curtains from Aurora's bed...

The phrase "draw the shady curtains from Aurora's bed" refers to the Roman goddess of the dawn.

Allusion