Figures of Speech
Oh for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention →
Shakespeare acquired a well-stocked tool chest of rhetorical devices now called figures of speech. While some authors are happy to coin an occasional metaphor, like “well-stocked tool chest,” Shakespeare employed scores of figures of speech, probably learned in school while studying Latin poetry and plays, and later enriched through a lifetime of reading and writing.
Classical Greeks developed the craft of rhetoric to enhance an orator’s ability to inform, persuade, inspire and hold the attention of audiences. The craft was especially useful in the politics of their new democracy, since they lacked television, radio, newspapers and the internet. It also proved a powerful tool in writing poetry and plays. Romans continued to build on the Greeks’ work. Centuries later, during the English Renaissance, scholars, poets and playwrights revived the art of rhetoric.
Figures of speech can be categorized into types to help students better understand, remember and use these devices. These types are not universally accepted among scholars. Even the definitions of many figures of speech are debated. What all rhetorical devices have in common is that they are departures from normal, natural or simple language. But, of course, that requires consensus on the definitions of normal, natural and simple.
Divisions of figures of speech
- Schemes deal with patterns, sounds and syntax, e.g. alliteration, meter, parallelism, rhyme, etc.
- Tropes deal with meanings and ideas, e.g. analogy, metaphor, irony, paradox, personification, etc.
Types of figures of speech
In addition to the two divisions of schemes and the tropes, figures of speech can also be divided into various types, e.g., comparisons, repetitions, substitutions, word play, etc.