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Definition of Simile
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like" or "as," but can also... read full definition
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like... read full definition
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often... read full definition
Act 1, Scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—Mercutio's Language:
Mercutio's language is arguably the most intricate and advanced in the entire play. His linguistic cunning lends him power and status among the other noblemen—all of whom use language as a weapon—and highlights both his sense of humor and his deep-seated cynicism about conventional notions of life and love.
For instance, in Act 1, Scene 4, Mercutio uses personification to explain his views on dreams to Romeo:
True, I talk of dreams,
Which are the children of an idle brain,
Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,
Which is as thin of substance as the air
And more inconstant than the wind, who woos
Even now the frozen bosom of the north
And, being angered, puffs away from thence,
Turning his side to the dew-dropping south.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Romeo, Mercutio, and Love:
In Act 1, Scene 4, Romeo and Mercutio use simile and implied metaphor, respectively, to examine the idea of love from different perspectives:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Romeo: Is love a tender thing? It is too rough,
Too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn.Mercutio: If love be rough with you, be rough with love.
Related Themes:
Act 2, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Mercutio's Language:
Mercutio's language is arguably the most intricate and advanced in the entire play. His linguistic cunning lends him power and status among the other noblemen—all of whom use language as a weapon—and highlights both his sense of humor and his deep-seated cynicism about conventional notions of life and love.
For instance, in Act 1, Scene 4, Mercutio uses personification to explain his views on dreams to Romeo:
Unlock with LitCharts A+True, I talk of dreams,
Which are the children of an idle brain,
Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,
Which is as thin of substance as the air
And more inconstant than the wind, who woos
Even now the frozen bosom of the north
And, being angered, puffs away from thence,
Turning his side to the dew-dropping south.
Related Themes:
Act 2, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Love Like Lightning:
In Act 2, Scene 2, Juliet uses both simile and metaphor to characterize her fledgling relationship with Romeo—a characterization that actually functions as an instance of foreshadowing, given the play's tragic conclusion:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I have no joy of this contract tonight.
It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden,
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be
Ere one can say “It lightens.”
Sweet, good night.
This bud of love, by summer’s ripening breath,
May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Juliet's Boundless Love:
In Act 2, Scene 2, Juliet professes her love for Romeo through hyperbole and simile, comparing her "bounty"—her burgeoning feelings for Romeo—to the limitless "sea":
Unlock with LitCharts A+My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep. The more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.
Related Themes:
Act 2, Scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—Mercutio's Language:
Mercutio's language is arguably the most intricate and advanced in the entire play. His linguistic cunning lends him power and status among the other noblemen—all of whom use language as a weapon—and highlights both his sense of humor and his deep-seated cynicism about conventional notions of life and love.
For instance, in Act 1, Scene 4, Mercutio uses personification to explain his views on dreams to Romeo:
Unlock with LitCharts A+True, I talk of dreams,
Which are the children of an idle brain,
Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,
Which is as thin of substance as the air
And more inconstant than the wind, who woos
Even now the frozen bosom of the north
And, being angered, puffs away from thence,
Turning his side to the dew-dropping south.
Related Themes:
Act 2, Scene 5
Explanation and Analysis—Romeo as a Lamb:
In Act 2, Scene 5, Juliet's nurse returns from meeting Romeo and uses a simile to assess his character:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Well, you have made a simple choice. You know not how to choose a man. Romeo? No, not he. Though his face be better than any man’s, yet his leg excels all men’s, and for a hand and a foot and a body, though they be not to be talked on, yet they are past compare. He is not the flower of courtesy, but I’ll warrant him as gentle as a lamb. Go thy ways, wench. Serve God.
Related Themes:
Act 5, Scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Lady Capulet's Lament:
In Act 5, Scene 3, Lady Capulet realizes that Romeo and Juliet have died for each other, and that Juliet was not dead when the Capulets laid her to rest in the family tomb earlier. She uses a simile to express her feelings about the tragedy:
Unlock with LitCharts A+O me, this sight of death is as a bell
That warns my old age to a sepulcher.
Related Themes:
