Romeo and Juliet Literary Terms Examples

oxymoron	Heavy LightnessSerious Vanity Loving Hates
character foil	Tybalt is the trouble maker and Benvolio is the peace maker
couplet	“my only love sprung from my only hate; too early seen unknown. and known too late.”
apostrophe	“black, foolish tears, back to your native spring.”
hyperbole	1. I’m starving to death2. “Alack, there lies more peril in thine eyes/ than twenty of their swords…”
personification	“The gray-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night.”
simile	“love goes towards love as schoolboys from their books.”
aside	“Villain and he be many miles asunder”
soliloquy	1. Princes Speech: P. 59 Lines. 17-100
symbolism	apothecary is a symbol of death
suspense	P. 761 A feeling of strenuousness is created when we see Romeo hasn’t revered friar Lawrence’s letter yet
theme	feuding leads to disaster
cliche	– Juliet’s eye’s twinkled like stars – She was as busy as a bee
epitaph	Here lies a woman who grieved for her son. She died from her grievance because he was her only one.
irony of situation	The reader might Rome and Juliet to live happily ever after instead of committing suicide
euphemism	Saying someone “passed away” instead or “someone died”
dramatic irony	Romeo and Juliet are married, but their parents do not know about the wedding
pun	Mercutio says “Ask for me in the morning and you shall find me a grave man.”

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