It would be very unfair to Shakespeare’s mastery of poetic art and also to Juliet’s characterization if we were to conclude that Juliet’s love for Romeo finds expression in exaggeration. It is worth noting that both the actions – Romeo meeting Juliet in the dance hall and Juliet waiting for Romeo, happen at night Secondly, both the lovers are young, innocent, dreamy and inexperienced in love. Both of them have entered a new world and until their love for each other is secured through consummation, the playwright cannot show them in any other mood other than portraying their longing for each other in emotive language. Moreover, both of them have fallen in love at first sight and naturally, their emotional outpourings must contain a description of their physical beauty Since it is a play, the playwright has to make his language overcharged with emotion so as to dramatize the situation. Naturally, Juliet’s language is hyperbolic. Though ‘hyperbole’ is generally defined as ‘exaggeration’, it is not in the ordinary sense. Here ’hyperbole’ is a poetic device and it has been appropriately used for enhancing the dramatic effect One must also remember that plays are meant to be performed. Therefore, while reading a play one must also visualize the action. Therefore, whatever Juliet says is not exaggeration but the emotional outpourings of a young lady who has met her lover for the first time and that too only for a short time. In this context, her longing for Romeo comes out in poetic language.
In Juliet’s soliloquy in Act III scene II, Juliet is now waiting for Romeo. From this speech, we begin to understand the fullness of Juliet’s love. She desires the act of love, not just for the physical pleasure, but because it represents for her the pinnacle of marriage. Juliet has met a lover for the first time in her life and this experience of nascent love in an innocent, virgin maiden finds its best expression in this soliloquy.
In the first line, Juliet is addressing ‘night’ as an entity and night are personified. Thus there are two poetic devices used here – an apostrophe and personification. Here Shakespeare is using them for contrast and emphasis. The poet wants to highlight Romeo’s brightness as seen by Juliet when he comes to visit her in the night. Next, Juliet calls Romeo ‘day-in-night’ which is a metaphor.
In the second line, ‘night is personified as a bird. In the next line, the bird is mentioned as a ‘raven’ and Romeo’s brightness or white complexion is compared with the new snow on the raven’s back. Here, there is a simile. In the fourth line also ‘night’ is personified. Juliet describes the night as having black eyebrows, like a human being. Inline 7 we see ‘personification’ in the phrase ‘face of heaven’. We see the use of‘metonymy’ in the phrase ‘the world will be in love with the night’, which means to say that all the people of the world will be in love with night In view of the situation that is being presented, exaggeration is quite appropriate.
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare About the Poet: William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. He is often called England’s national poet and the ‘Bard of Avon’. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, in 1564. Very little is known about his life, but by 1592 he was j in London working as an actor and a dramatist. Between about 1590 and 1613, Shakespeare wrote at least 37 plays and collaborated on several more. Many of these plays were very successful both at court and in the public playhouses. In 1613, Shakespeare retired from the theatre and returned to Stratford-upon-Avon. He died and was buried there in 1616. Shakespeare wrote plays and poems. His plays, 37 in number, were comedies, histories and tragedies. His 17 comedies include ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’. Among his 10 history plays are ‘Henry V’ and ‘Richard III’. The most famous among his 10 tragedies are ‘Hamlet’, ‘Othello’, and ‘King Lear’. Shakespeare’s best-known poems are ‘Venus and Adonis’, ‘The Rape of Lucrece’ and the Sonnets, 154 in all.
