Final answer:
The figurative language present in the provided Shakespeare excerpt is a simile, due to the comparison using 'like'. Shakespeare's writings utilize various types of figurative language, including similes, metaphors, personification, and symbolism, to convey vivid images and emotions. The correct answer is option: Simile.
Step-by-step explanation:
The type of figurative language seen in the excerpt from Shakespeare’s “The Seven Stages of Man” – “And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress’ eyebrow” – is a simile. A simile is a comparison that uses 'as' or 'like'. In this case, the lover's sighing is compared to a furnace, which uses the word 'like' to construct the comparison.
Shakespeare's writing is renowned for its use of figurative language, which includes not just similes but also metaphors, personification, and symbolism. These devices add depth and complexity to his works, allowing the reader to draw more compelling images and emotions from the text. For example, figurative language helps the reader visualize the intensity of the lover's emotion as something as powerful and consuming as a furnace's heat.