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Definition of Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations intended to emphasize a point... read full definition
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations... read full definition
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements... read full definition
Act 1, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—The Regions of the Earth:
In the opening scene of the play, the First Gentleman describes Cloten and Posthumus to the Second Gentleman in hyperbolic terms:
He that hath miss'd the princess is a thing
Too bad for bad report, and he that hath her—
I mean, that married her, alack, good man!
And therefore banish'd—is a creature such
As, to seek through the regions of the earth
For one his like, there would be something failing
In him that should compare. I do not think
So fair an outward and such stuff within
Endows a man but he.
Related Themes:
Act 2, Scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—Chaste Dian Bathing:
Hoping to prove that he truly did spend the night in Imogen’s bedchamber, Iachimo uses hyperbole, allusion, and metaphor when describing the carvings on Imogen’s chimney with rich detail:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The chimney
Is south the chamber, and the chimney-piece
Chaste Dian bathing: never saw I figures
So likely to report themselves: the cutter
Was as another nature, dumb; outwent her,
Motion and breath left out.
Related Themes:
