Shakespeare Figurative Language Terms

"When in the why and the wherefore is neither rhyme nor reason?"

• Alliteration
• Onomatopeaoia
• Metaphor
• Simile

"Thou art an elm, my husband, I a vine, ... "

• Imagery
• Metaphor
• Idiom
• Hyperbole

" ... as easy mayest thou fall a drop of water ... as take from me thyself and not me too."

• Metaphor
• Simile
• Idiom
• Cliche

a reference to a mythological, literary, or historical person, place, or thing

• Dramatic Irony

• Allusion

• Simile

• Metaphor

• Situational Irony

a comparison of two unlike objects using a connective word such as like or as

• pun

• metaphor

• simile

• paradox

comparison of two unlike objects without the use of a connective word

• pun

• metaphor

• simile

• paradox

giving inanimate objects or animals human characteristics

• simile

• pun

• malaproprism

• symbolism

• personification

a term that describes a pattern or strand of imagery or symbolism in a work of literature

• simile

• symbolism

• motif

• personification

• allusion

the use of any object, person, place, or action that has a meaning in itself while standing for something larger than itself, such as a quality, attitude, belief, or value

• monologue

• personification

• motif

• symbolism

• allusion

a play on words that sound the same but have different meanings (intentional)

• allusion

• personfication

• metaphor

• malaproprism

• pun