`Rhetorical Device ; Oxymorons

A rhetorical device is a technique than a writer uses to convey to the listener a meaning with the goal of persuading him or her towards considering a topic from a different perspective. Famous playwright, Shakespeare is well known for using various rhetorical devices throughout his work.  In the popular play “Romeo and Juliet” I seemed to recognize many of the rhetorical devices used, but one that caught my eye at first glance were the oxymorons used. An oxymoron is a literary figure of speech usually composed of a pair of neighbouring contradictory words often within a sentence.  In Act 1, Scene 1, Romeo states “O Brawling love! O loving hate! / O anything of nothing first create! / O Heavy lightness, serious vanity! / Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms! / Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!” Shakespeare chooses language that reflects youthful, idealized notions of romance. Romeo describes his state of mind through a series of oxymorons setting a series of contradictory words together. He does this by blending the joys of love with the emotional desolation of unrequited love: “O brawling love, O loving hate.” With this claim, he expresses such extreme emoticons towards a woman he hardly knows thus demonstrating both his immaturity and his future potential towards a deeper love.