How Does Shakespeare Use Metaphors In Romeo And Juliet

The Use of Metaphors in Romeo and Juliet In the play, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare employs metaphors to help the audience or reader with what is going on in the plot. The way Shakespeare puts metaphors to use, shows that he wants the audience to be intrigued the whole duration of the play. Shakespeare’s metaphors can help relieve a scene with comic relief or to aid in the deep emotion of the scene. He writes his metaphors to deepen his plot and to emphasize certain things in his writing. Shakespeare utilizes metaphors to aid in the audience grasping the emotions that follow the happenings of Romeo and Juliet, to create more imagery, and to pull the audience deeper into believing that all of the characters are real and too explain the feelings …show more content…
Shakespeare uses metaphors in practically every scene to make comparisons between objects to express the true feeling of the person speaking or thinking. Whether the character is angry or in love, it helps deepen the relationship between the characters in the scene. Shakespeare uses a metaphor to express anger from the Prince, “What, ho! You men you beasts, that quench the fire of your pernicious rage with purple fountains issuing from your veins!” (Shakespeare, 1.1.85-87). In this instance, Shakespeare is using a metaphor to help the Prince express his rage for the feud between the Montagues and Capulets. The Prince compares the men to beasts and that they do not care what blood they shed. Shakespeare correctly utilizes the metaphors to help convey certain emotions to the audience without making the character say them …show more content…
When Shakespeare makes one of the characters speak in a metaphor about what actions they are performing, going to perform, or about another character, it is another advancement in their character background. It allows the audience to get a glimpse of what that character normally thinks like and their attitude towards certain things. When Juliet is speaking to Romeo the night that they first met, “Thou knowest the mask of night is on my face, else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek for that which thou hast heard me speak tonight.” (Shakespeare 2.2.90-92). This metaphor of painting her face with blush, while Romeo is speaking of his love for her and her beauty, shows her innocence. This deepens her character because Shakespeare depicts her as innocent in the sense of love and romance, which is backed by her earlier statements of her not looking for love or marriage. The metaphors in Romeo and Juliet help add to the character’s personalities and backgrounds and make them into more believable or real people to the