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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
Act 1, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Nothing and Noting:
Leontes's repeated characterization of the adulterous behavior he claims to have perceived—but has largely imagined—between his wife and Polixenes as "nothing" is an example of dramatic irony. When Camillo attempts to refute Leontes's claims of Hermione's infidelity in Act 1, Scene 2, Leontes demands:
Is whispering nothing?
Is leaning cheek to cheek? Is meeting noses?
Kissing with inside lip? Stopping the career
Of laughter with a sigh?—a note infallible
Of breaking honesty. Horsing foot on foot? Skulking in corners? Wishing clocks more swift? Hours minutes? Noon midnight? And all eyes Blind with the pin and web but theirs, theirs only,
That would unseen be wicked? Is this nothing?
Why, then the world and all that’s in ’t is nothing, The covering sky is nothing, Bohemia nothing,
My wife is nothing, nor nothing have these nothings,
If this be nothing.
Related Themes:
Act 2, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Every Woman in the World:
In Act 2, Scene 1, Antigonus uses hyperbole in an attempt to convince Leontes of Hermione’s innocence. He declares that, if Hermione is proven to be unfaithful, then so is every woman on the planet:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I’ll keep my stables where I lodge my wife. I’ll go in couples with her;
Than when I feel and see her, no farther trust her.
For every inch of woman in the world,
Ay, every dram of woman’s flesh, is false,
If she be.
Related Themes:
Act 4, Scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—Crush the Earth:
After Florizell unwittingly reveals to his father, who is in disguise, that he plans to marry Perdita, Polixenes declares that he will disown him and refuses to allow the marriage to take place. In response to Perdita's grief, Florizell claims that he is unfazed by his father's rage and uses hyperbole to convey the intensity of his commitment to Perdita:
Unlock with LitCharts A+[Your dignity] cannot fail but by
The violation of my faith; and then
Let nature crush the sides o’ th’ Earth together
And mar the seeds within. Lift up thy looks.
From my succession wipe me, father. I
Am heir to my affection.
Related Themes:
