Figurative Language In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Did you know Shakespeare wrote 37 plays? In his plays, poems, or anything else, Shakespeare used figurative language in many ways. In the play Romeo and Juliet, by Shakespeare, figurative language is used to reflect detailed imagery to the reader. Shakespeare, the greatest writer in the English language, created over 20,000 words we still use today. With these words, Shakespeare creates imagery in the mind of the reader. Through Shakespeare’s use of similes and personification throughout Romeo and Juliet he provides creative and masterful use of imagery for the reader.

For the duration of the play, Shakespeare uses similes to create imagery for the reader. “Is love a tender thing? It is too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like

a thorn.” (R.J. 1.4.25-26) Using this simile, Shakespeare compares the love of Romeo and Juliet to thorns, showing that even things like beautiful roses still inflict pain. By using this, readers might imagine Romeo and Juliet madly in love and feel their sense of pain and understand their love isn’t easy. “O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear.” (R.J. 1.5.43-45) Here, you can imagine Romeo standing outside Juliet’s window, gazing up at her beauty, which appeals to the reader’s sense of sight. Romeo looks up at her, comparing her beauty to a rich jewel in a vague world, the reader could imagine looking up at the most beautiful thing. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses a variety of similes to further enhance the imagery that has been created for the reader.
During the play, Shakespeare also uses personification to create an image for the reader and impact sight, hearing, touch, etc. “Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she.” (R.J. 2.2.5-5) In this example of personification, Romeo is telling the fair sun, Juliet to rise. This creates imagery because the reader knows Romeo is standing beneath Juliet’s balcony, so the reader can imagine him calling out to her. “My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words. Of that tongue’s uttering, yet I know the sound. Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague.” (R.J. 2.3.58-60) Here, Juliet realizes she barely knows Romeo by his voice. This appeals to the reader’s hearing. Juliet hasn’t known Romeo long, but he is already familiar to her, as is his family name. In the part of the play, readers can feel their love and the distress between the families. By using personification, Shakespeare was able to connect our feelings and senses to the love of Romeo and Juliet to create a picture for the reader.
Throughout the play, Shakespeare used figurative language to provide detailed imagery for the reader and make the reader feel the way the characters might. To accomplish this creation of imagery, Shakespeare used different things such as similes and personification throughout Romeo and Juliet. Without figurative language like similes and personification, the imagery produced during the play may not have created as vivid of an image in the mind of the reader or appeal to the senses in the way it did.