Are there any oxymorons in romeo and juliet

This first example is from the play's opening scene and it is part of a charm chanted by witches:. In this particular scene, the oxymoron "fair is foul, and foul is fair" speaks to the witches' evil character. They have an inverted moral code that values "the foul" and dislikes "the fair.

There's a drama and simplicity to the "fair is foul" oxymoron, which becomes a refrain as the play goes on and characters begin to act according to the witches' moral code. Nabokov's novel Ada tells the story of Van and Ada, a sister and brother who meet as teenagers and fall in love, believing that they are cousins. In this example, Nabokov describes Ada, seen through Van's eyes, absorbed in one of her favorite activities:. On those relentlessly hot July afternoons, Ada liked to sit on a cool piano stool of ivoried wood at a white-oilcloth'd table in the sunny music room, her favorite botanical atlas open before her, and copy out in color on creamy paper some singular flower Or else she combined one species with another unrecorded but possible , introducing odd little changes and twists that seemed almost morbid in so young a girl so nakedly dressed.

The "nakedly dressed" oxymoron immediately follows the description of Ada's drawings, in which she combines together unlikely species: just as oxymorons conjoin unlikely words and ideas. The contradiction contained in "nakedly dressed" echoes the impossibility of the hybrids Ada draws, and more importantly, it expresses both Van's feeling that he can see into her soul despite the clothes covering her body, his yearning for her such that her clothes only suggest to him her body beneath them, and at the same time because it's an oxymoron and the words contradict the impossibility of the siblings' relationship.

This example is similar to the lines above from Romeo and Juliet, in that both use the contradictory terms of an oxymoron to reflect the characters' experience of thwarted love.

The couple's relationship becomes a bright spot for both of them in the midst of war, but ultimately also a source of pain and confusion for Jordan, as he struggles to balance his obligation to fight with his desire to live happily by Maria's side. The contradiction contained within the oxymoron "scalding coolness" emphasizes the couple's conflicting emotions and impossible situation.

The following lines refer to Lancelot, who is in love with Guinevere, King Arthur's wife. In the poem, Lancelot is tempted by another woman, but he remains "true" to Guinevere. The shackles of an old love straitened him, His honour rooted in dishonour stood, And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true. Paul Simon wrote the song The Sounds of Silence about the difficulty people have in communicating with one another, but the lyrics were later interpreted as a reference to the Vietnam War a war that many would say was full of contradictions :.

Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping Left its seeds while I was sleeping And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains Within the sound of silence.

Some of the greatest truths lie in contradiction, and oxymoron is one of the best figures of speech for expressing contradiction. For example, as we covered above, Shakespeare used oxymorons to describe strong, opposing emotions that often occur together, and also to show how the friction between those two feelings—love and hate, or love and pain, for example—can coexist and shape characters' experiences.

However, oxymorons aren't always so serious. The following example is from Alexander Pope's poem, "Essay on Criticism":. In this case, the oxymorons "bookful blockhead" and "learned lumber" add humor and spice to Pope's writing. Even so, Pope uses oxymoron to emphasize that people who are well-read are not necessarily original thinkers. Oxymoron Definition. Oxymoron Examples. Oxymoron Function.

Her choice to not have physical relations with anyone leaves Romeo feeling alive, but dead, he claims. Love is complex in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare by making various characters dramatically illogical, significantly overjoyed, or incredibly angry.

Romeo, near the beginning of the story, had a strong affection for a woman named Rosaline. When Romeo is acting unusually depressed, his cousin Benvolio questions what is bothering him. He also portrays the idea of lovers making sacrifices in order to be together, even if it means forsaking things that are valuable to their existence, including their lives.

Even though Friar Lawrence agrees to the marriage in the end, he seems to know that things will go wrong. Friar is also worried that Romeo is so wrapped up in his feelings that he will let things get completely out of control, so he warns him to keep control of his. Whether referencing the setting or the tragic end of the title characters themselves, these symbols contribute to the feelings of misfortune and despair present in the play.

Light and Darkness. Romeo is hinting at the point that Rosaline has nothing to do with him, yet, he is in love with her. This love is shown once again in another part of the story with Juliet. In Romeo and Juliet, young love is portrayed as superficial. Because of their age, as the play beings they are very immature and have a childish mindset, but throughout the play they begin to mutrare.

In the beginning of the story, Romeo and Juliet are two innocent teenagers living two normal lives. The two teenagers have never met and only know of the other as the enemy because of the disagreement between their families. Juliet , as most young girls do, spent most of her time with her friends and family.

Can you fall in love with someone even if you have only known them for one day? Love doesn 't just happen overnight. How can two people be sure they are in love when they have only known each other for one day. Romeo and Juliet do not show what true love is because they keep their feelings for each other a secret.

At the beginning of the play, the young lovers' behavior reverses common gender conventions — Romeo acts in a way that his friends call feminine, while Juliet exhibits masculine qualities. Romeo is by no means an archetypal Elizabethan man; he is disinterested in asserting his physical power like the other male characters in the play. Instead, Romeo chooses to stew in his pensive melancholy. On several instances, Romeo's companions suggest that his introspective behavior is effeminate.

On the other hand, Juliet exhibits a more pronounced sense of agency than most female characters in Shakespeare's time. Audiences may not know that Romeo and Juliet later end their lives in a grave. However, this oxymoron both sets the tone and foreshadows their tragic end. Act II in Romeo and Juliet ends with their marriage and the hope for a more positive future.

He laments his waste of luck in marrying Juliet:. The oxymoron establishes the figurative crossroads Romeo finds himself in at this moment. Much confusion arises after the death of Tybalt. Desperate to hear the news from the sobbing nurse, Juliet pleads with her for clarity:.

Trumpets are associated with triumph and glory. Juliet then learns that Tybalt is dead and Romeo is his killer. Her flood of conflicting emotions comes out as a series of oxymorons:. Juliet cannot make sense of how her beloved husband is a hated murderer. After being promised to Paris for marriage, Juliet sees only one way out of her predicament. She convinces herself to take the elixir that will make her appear dead:. It also foreshadows what is about to happen when Juliet does drink the elixir.

Love leading to death is the ultimate paradox. Here are some examples of oxymorons throughout the last act of Romeo and Juliet. However, having learned that the letter never got to Romeo, Friar Lawrence knows. The plan for the lovers to meet at the tomb has gone awry.