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Definition of Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations intended to emphasize a point... read full definition
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations... read full definition
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements... read full definition
Key Examples in As You Like It
Act 3, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—A Sermon of Love:
In Act 3, Scene 2, Celia reads out loud from Orlando’s poem to Rosalind. Replete with mythological and legendary allusions, it features a series of hyperbolic comparisons between Celia and several figures of antiquity:
Nature presently distilled
Helen’s cheek, but not [her] heart,
Cleopatra’s majesty,
Atalanta’s better part,
Sad Lucretia’s modesty.
Thus Rosalind of many parts
By heavenly synod was devised
Of many faces, eyes, and hearts
To have the touches dearest prized.
Heaven would that she these gifts should have
And I to live and die her slave.
Related Themes:
Act 4, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—So, Come Death:
In Act 4, Scene 1, “Ganymede” pretends to be struck by despair when Orlando leaves their meeting in the forest. Rosalind offers a hyperbolic goodbye:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Ay, go your ways, go your ways. I knew what you would prove. My friends told me as much, and I thought no less. That flattering tongue of yours won me. ’Tis but one cast away, and so, come, death. Two o’clock is your hour?
Related Themes:
