| Chiasmus | two corresponding pairs arranged in a parallel inverse orderex: “Fair is foul and foul is fair” ~Shakespeare’s Macbeth(1.1.12) |
| Epistrophe | repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clausesex: “When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And to be more than you were, you would / Be so much more the man” ~Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1.7.56-58) |
| Anaphora | repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clausesex: “When the hurly-burly’s done, / When the battle’s lost and won” ~Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1.1.3-4) |
| Metonymy | substitution of some attributive or suggestive word for what is meantex: “Lord” for “King” or “crown” for “royalty” |
| Epimone | frequent repetition of a phrase or question; dwelling on a pointex: “Still it cried ‘Sleep no more!’ to all the house. / ‘Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore / Cawdor / Shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more” ~Shakespeare’s Macbeth (2.2.54-57) |
| Metaphor | implied comparison between two unlike things using figurative use of words (not using “like” or “as”)ex: “for the poor wren (Lady Macduff) will fight, / Her young ones in her nest, against the owl” ~Shakespeare’s Macbeth (4.2.11-13) |
| Assonance | repetition or similarity of the same internal vowel sounds in words of close proximity; vowel rhymeex: “Fillet of a fenny snake / In the cauldron boil and bake. / Eye of newt and toe of frog, / Wool of bat and tongue of dog…” ~Shakespeare’s Macbeth (4.1.12-19) |
| Antithesis | juxtaposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel constructionex: “Not so happy, yet much happier” ~Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1.3.69) |
| Ellipsis | omission of one or more words, which are assumed by the listener or readerex: he won all the games, hands down “if we should fail – [at murdering Banquo]” ~Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1.7.68) |
| Parallelism | similarity of structure in a pair of series of related words, phrases or clausesex: “Bear welcome in your eye, / your hand, your tongue” ~Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1.5.75-76) |
| Asyndeton | omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or wordsex: The flower was planted, grew, withered, died. “The valued file / Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle, / The housekeeper, the hunter, everyone…” ~Shakespeare’s Macbeth (3.1.107-109) |
| Onomatopoeia | use of words to imitate natural soundsex: “Knock, knock, knock!” ~ Shakespeare’s Macbeth (2.3.3) |
| Alliteration | repetition of the same initial consonant sound throughout a line of verseex: “For the blood-boltered Banquo smiles upon me…” ~Shakespeare’s Macbeth (4.1.138) |
| Polysyndeton | the repetition of conjunctions in a series of coordinate words, phrases, or clausesex: It makes him, and it / mars him; it sets him on, and it takes him off; it / persuades him and disheartens him; makes him / stand and not stand to…” ~Shakespeare’s Macbeth (2.3.33-38) |
| Synecdoche | the use of a part of the whole, or the whole for the partex: “Tyrant, show thy face” ~Shakespeare’s Macbeth(5.7.19) face is used for entire being/body |
| Epanalepsis | repetition at the end of a clause of the word that occurred at the beginning of the clauseex: “The love that follows us sometime is our trouble, / Which still we thank as love” ~Shakespeare’s Macbeth(1.6.14-15) |
| Paradox | something that at first seems contradictory, but has some truth to itex: fiction is more emotionally truthful than nonfiction |
| Syntax | sentence structure and arrangement of words |
| Paralepsis | emphasizing a point by seeming to pass over itex: “What sights, my lord?” asks Ross. “I pray you, speak not. He grows worse and worse. / Question enrages him. At once, good night” replies Lady Macbeth (Shakespeare 3.4.142-145) emphasizes Macbeth’s ill state and the need to protect him from being suspected of murder |
Rhetorical Devices in Macbeth
September 12, 2019