Question

In this excerpt from act I of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which figure of speech does Romeo use repeatedly to describe how he feels about Rosaline?

ROMEO: Here's much to do with hate, but more with love.
Why, then, O brawling love! O loving hate!
O any thing, of nothing first create!
O heavy lightness! serious vanity!
Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms!
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire,
sick health!
Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!
This love feel I, that feel no love in this.
Dost thou not laugh?

A.
oxymoron
B.
allusion
C.
simile
D.
metaphor
E.
pun

Answer 1

The answer is A. oxymoron.

Step-by-step explanation:

This literary figure consists of the use of two words that have different meanings but they combine together to create a literary effect. In this excerpt, Romeo uses oxymorons as Brawling love or loving hate. Here we can see that these two words have different meanings and connotations. He used this figure to represent the bitter love he had for Rosaline. He is constantly comparing love with sad or tragic words as "Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, and sick health". This figure of speech is used to show the duality in this case of love, that can be beautiful but also chaotic and painful.