Friday 3 October 2014

How does Shakespeare use figurative language to describe Romeo's feelings for Juliet?

Whensneaks into the
garden beneath 's balcony, he says,

But soft, what light
through yonder window breaks?
It is the East, and Juliet is the sun.
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.
Be not her maid since
she is envious.
Her vestal livery is but sick and green,
And none but fools do
wear it. (2.2.2-9)

Here, Romeo uses a
to compare Juliet's window to the east, where the sun rises, and
he develops this metaphor into another metaphor, by which he
compares Juliet to the sun itself. He, likewise, personifies the
moon, saying that she feels grief and envy of Juliet, the sun, because Juliet is more beautiful
than she, the moon. He expresses his feelings for Juliet, especially concerning her beauty, with
these comparisons. Romeo uses apostrophe, speaking to Juliet
although she cannot hear him or respond yet, telling her to refuse to be a servant of the moon.
He describes the dress of those maids who serve the moon as being a sickly green color and
declares that Juliet ought never to wear it.

Romeo goes on to describe Juliet
more, saying,

Two of the fairest stars in all the
heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres
till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The
brightness of her cheek would shame those
stars
As daylight doth a lamp . .
. (2.2.15-21)

Now, he
personifies the stars, suggesting that they have some business to
which they must attend, and so they ask Juliet's eyes, also
personified as something which can understand and respond to
questions, to take their places in the sky. He wonders if Juliet's eyes and those stars have
actually switched places, emphasizing how brightly her eyes seem to shine. He uses a
to suggest that Juliet's cheeks are so bright that they shame the
stars, just like the daylight shames a lamp because it is so very much brighter than the lamp
could ever be. In this simile, the lamp is also personified as
something which could feel shame.

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