Figurative Language In Romeo And Juliet

Friar uses personification along with other literary devices that helps the reader understand the theme. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses elements of language in Friar Laurence’s speech to convey the idea that everything is both good and evil.

In the first half of the soliloquy, Friar talks about the sky in a way that demonstrates how it is good and evil, like the light of the sun and the darkness of the moon. Friar starts his Soliloquy by saying, “The grey-ey’d morn smiles on the frowning night, Check’ring the Eastern clouds with streaks of light” (2.3.1-2). In addition to the symbolism in lines one and two, the personification in line nine shows how the earth can be good and can blossom good things. Talking about the earth Friar states, “The earth that’s nature’s mother is her tomb”(2.3.9). Friar also says that where things die, like a grave in the ground., is also a place where things can grow--flowers can grow from the ground--which shows that one thing can be both good and evil. To convey this idea Friar states, “What is her burying grave, that is her womb; And from her womb children of divers kind”(2.3.10-11). In conclusion, the first half

Friar shows this by saying, “For nought so vile that on the earth doth live, but to the earth some special doth give”(2.3.17-18). Along with how good and evil can both be given, Friar presents the idea that good can turn into evil if taken advantage of. Friar states, “Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied” (2.3.21). Similar to the personification of the first half of the soliloquy, the personification in the second half shows that something can be good and evil depending on how it is used and applied. Friar uses poison as an example, “Poison hath residence and medicine power”(2.3.24). Therefore, the second half of Friar’s Soliloquy helps the reader understand the good and evil theme of the whole