Language using figures of speech, such as simile, hyperbole, metaphor, symbolism and personification to form imagery is figurative language. It is used to increase shock, novelty, appearance, or illustrative consequences. .
Example- Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? .
Thou art more lovely and more temperate .
(Shakespeare, Sonnet #18) .
Purpose- This is one of Shakespeare's many extended metaphors. He is comparing someone to a summer day, and in doing so he uses many comparisons. This example of figurative language makes a more intense effect on the reader. .
Irony- .
Verbal- This type of irony is when something is said while something else is actually meant, similar to sarcasm. .
Example- "Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; .
And Brutus is an honourable man" .
(Shakespeare, Julius Caesar) .
Purpose- This sarcastic remark is used to show that Brutus is actually the opposite of what is said. .
Dramatic- Dramatic Irony is when the audience realizes something that the characters in a story don't know. .
Example- O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, .
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew! .
Or that the Everlasting had not fixt .
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God! .
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable .
Seem to me all the uses of this world! .
Purpose- In this soliloquy, we as the audience learn of his suicidal thoughts. Yet, no other characters in the story know about his hatred for Claudius or his wishes for death. .
Situational- This type of irony occurs when what is expected to happen is different from the actual result .
Example- In Hamlet, it is ironic that neither Hamlet nor the conspirators against him survive in the end. The victory of Hamlet is expected, not the death of nearly every main character. .
Purpose- Shakespeare uses this irony to show that what happens occurs out of forces not under the control of the characters. It actually emphasizes the importance of fate.
