Romeo's use of language changes per scene depending on what
Shakespeare is trying to portray about Romeo. For example, Romeo will use
different kinds of language when he is exchanging witticisms with his friends,
when he is conversing with Friar Laurence, and when he is portraying his
amorous emotions. Below are a couple of examples with references to
language devices Shakespeare uses to portray Romeo in different
situations.
One example of witty language Romeo uses when he is with
Mercutio and Benvolio can be seen in Act II, Scene IV. This scene takes place the morning after Romeo abandons his friends at the end of the Capulet Ball. His friends assume he has disappeared because he was pursuing Rosaline and that he was with her all night, which is why Mercutio begins his conversation with Romeo that morning by making all sorts of sexual innuendos. Romeo continues the...
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bantering byadding a pun of his own that can also be
interpreted as a sexual innuendo. Romeo tells Mercutio that his "pump
[is] well-flower'd" (II.iv.59). The word "pump" literally refers to shoe. In
those days, men wore decorations on their shoes, such as flowers. However,
since this line follows a great deal of dialogue involving sexual innuendos,
the word "pump" can also be translated as having more suggestive meaning,
making the line another sexual innuendo. Aside from the linguistic device of
puns, Shakespeare also has Romeo use a form of repetition called alliteration.
Alliteration is when we repeat the first sound of many
consecutive words. Alliteration can be seen with the repetition of the -s sound
in Romeo's line, "O single-sold jest, solely singular for the singleness!"
(63). This line follows the pun repartee Romeo starts concerning shoes, and
shows how the linguistic device of repetition can add to the humor of
the language.
For the romantic scenes, we see Shakespeare make Romeo use a lot of
metaphors to portray amorous emotions. For example, when Romeo
first sees Juliet, he uses many metaphors to speak of her beauty. One metaphor
can be seen in the first line he uses to speak of her, "O, she doth teach the
torches to burn bright!" (I.v.46). In this line, Romeo is comparing Juliet to a
flaming torch, saying that she is even brighter than the torch. He even
compares her to a "snowy dove trooping with crows," meaning a bright, white,
beautiful bird walking around with dark, black, typical, even ugly birds
(50).
Hence, Shakespeare uses many different language devices for
Romeo, such as puns, repetition, and metaphors, to portray his
different emotions, including both his humorous and amorous moods.
References