Understanding The Ins And Outs Of Figurative Languages: Everything You Should Know!

You Must Have Heard These Lines From Romeo and Juliet, One of the Most Celebrated Plays by William Shakespeare:

Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs; Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes; (Act 1, Scene 1)

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?

It is the East, and Juliet is the sun.

Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief. (Act 2, Scene 2)

These lines are rich in figures of speech but are often overlooked by readers. The use of figures of speech gives Shakespeare’s plays an extra depth of emotion. Similarly, all writers and poets utilize figures of speech to give their writings multiple layers of meaning. Wait a second! Let’s first discuss what figurative language means.

DEFINITION OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Figures of speech or figurative languages are often used interchangeably. Figurative languages can be defined as a language that employs different figures of speech. While figures of speech are literary devices or techniques that convey meaning beyond the conventional meaning of the words. Thus, figurative language is a form of expression where the writer uses words that do not convey the literal meaning. Consequently, the use of figurative languages intensifies the effect of a piece of writing.

Now, let’s go back to the top and see what I mean by this. In the play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare refers to love as smoke. But is love smoke? Of course not. Similarly, Is Juliet sun? or Can the sun kill, or Is the moon envious? NOT! Then what does Shakespeare mean when he says this? So, Shakespeare is using figurative language in these lines to convey a deeper meaning.

Now, You may ask, what is the purpose of figurative language? The figurative language contains an element of creativity. It invites the reader to use their imagination and prior knowledge to comprehend the meaning. In addition, it helps the writer to turn abstract ideas into tangible reality making it easier for the readers to make sense of what is being conveyed. Figurative languages is not just restricted to written language. We use it in our spoken language as well.

Let’s look at figurative language more closely by comparing it with literal language.

Difference Between Figurative Language and Literal Language

One salient difference between figurative language and literal language is the purpose behind using the words.

Figurative language uses words that do not convey the actual meaning. It signals a more profound meaning. The words in figurative language deviate from their actual meaning to make them more expressive. To do this, figurative language employs different figures of speech such as metaphors, similes, personification, and hyperbole.

On the other hand, words in literal language exactly mean what they mean. Literal language is straightforward, clear, and explicit. There are no hidden meanings.

EXAMPLE

When someone says; ‘it cost me an arm and a leg’ they do not mean it literally. In this example sentence, the words do not convey the conventional meaning. Rather the person intends to say that the thing they purchased was very expensive.

literal language: it was very expensive.

figurative language: it cost me an arm and a leg.

Now let’s look at different figures of speech.

Different Figures of Speech

Metaphor

A figure of speech that compares two unrelated objects or ideas by saying one thing is another. It can also replace one idea or object for another to indicate similarity between the two.

EXAMPLE:

Life is a broken-winged bird (Langston Hughes)

Juliet is the sun. (Romeo and Juliet)

Simile

a figure of speech that compares two different things by utilizing the words “like or as”. Its purpose is to highlight the similarity between the two things.

EXAMPLE:

Andy has been quiet as a mouse since the death of his father.

O my Luve is like a red, red rose (Robert burns)

Personification

A figure of speech that attributes human characteristics to nonhuman objects or entities. It makes inanimate objects sound more human.

EXAMPLE:

When she came back from her trip to Mexico, she found her lilies begging for water.

Because I could not stop for Death.

He kindly stopped for me – (Emily Dickinson)

Hyperbole

a figure of speech that adds an element of exaggeration to add emphasis.

EXAMPLE

I have told you a hundred times I will not help you with this.

One by one she scorched you with her radiance. (James Tate)

Onomatopoeia

A figure of speech that uses sounds to refer to its associated object or action. The word imitates the sound of the object that makes it.

EXAMPLE

The customers angrily left the store when they heard the buzzing of the bees on the confectionery.

Over the cobbles, he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard. (Alfred Noyce)

Synecdoche

A figure of speech that substitutes the object or concept for its part in a way that the part stands for the whole.

EXAMPLE

The White House passed a bill to prevent a partial government shutdown on Friday.

I should have been a pair of ragged claws. (T.S Elliot)

Allusion

a figure of speech that gives an indirect reference to a literary or historical event, object or person.

EXAMPLE

Well in that hit-you-miss. She’ll not be hit

With Cupid’s arrow. She hath Dian’s wit, (William Shakespeare)

Irony

A figure of speech that shows a contradiction between what is said and what it means. In irony, the literal meaning of the words is the opposite of their implied meaning.

EXAMPLE

My son, my executioner

I take you in my arms (Donald Hall)

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips red; (William Shakespeare)

To sum up, figurative language makes a piece of writing unique and adds emotions to it. It is not just limited to written language but we repeatedly use many figures of speech in our spoken language as well. Figurative language helps the Assignment writers to make a simple text much more engaging. Moreover, the use of figures of speech such as simile, metaphor, metonymy, irony, synecdoche, allusion, hyperbole,  onomatopoeia, and personification can make any piece of writing absorbing and will give it an extra depth of meaning. It also helps the writer to paint a picture in the mind of the reader and capture their imagination through the utilization of words. You may see figurative language being used primarily in literary texts such as poems, plays, and novels to captivate the reader’s attention.