| Rhyming | Two or more different words that sound the same. DON PEDRO: I dare swear he is no hypocrite…(Act 1, Scene 1) |
| Repetition | BENEDICK: One woman is fair, yet I am well; another is wise, yet I am well;another virtuous, yet I am well…(Act 2, Scene 3) |
| Alliteration | When a row of words starts with the same letter |
| Assonance | Assonance occurs when the vowel sounds of two non-rhyming words rhyme, such as this line from one of Benedick’s speeches: No, the world must be peopled. |
| Dissonance | When the sounds of two words clash violently on the ear so as to heighten both.Example: Is our whole dissembly appeared? |
| paradox | A seemingly absurd or contradictory statement or proposition which when investigated may prove to be well founded or true.Example: HERO: When I lived, I was your other wife;And when you loved, I was your other husband(Act 5, Scene 4) |
| Antithesis | Opposites. On the one hand this, and on the other hand that. The weighing up of two ideas. The setting of one idea against another to work out a bigger problem. The most famous example is, of course Hamlet’s line “To be, or not to be…” |
| Oxymoron | This is a contradiction in terms. A tall dwarf. A white raven. An honest politician. A modest footballer. Shakespeare’s characters often revel in a good oxymoron. |
| Lists | The three-part list is one of the most famous rhetorical devices. For example, Julius Caesar’s famous quotation “Veni, Vidi, Vici” or “I came, I saw, I conquered”Example: BENEDICK: One woman is fair, yet I am well; another is wise, yet I am well; another virtuous, yet I am well, but till allgraces be in one woman, one woman shall not come inmy grace. (Act 2, Scene 3) |
Language of Shakespeare – Much Ado About Nothing
July 31, 2019