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Literary Devices
Definition of Alliteration
Alliteration is a figure of speech in which the same sound repeats in a group of words, such as the “b” sound in: “Bob brought the box of bricks to... read full definition
Alliteration is a figure of speech in which the same sound repeats in a group of words, such as the “b” sound in: “Bob brought... read full definition
Alliteration is a figure of speech in which the same sound repeats in a group of words, such as the... read full definition
Act 1, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Key-Cold Figure:
Lady Anne’s mourning over the corpse of King Henry VI in Act 1 is imbued with powerful visual and tactile imagery and several poignant uses of alliteration:
Poor key-cold figure of a holy king,
Pale ashes of the house of Lancaster,
Thou bloodless remnant of that royal blood,
Be it lawful that I invocate thy ghost
To hear the lamentations of poor Anne,
Wife to thy Edward, to thy slaughtered son,
Stabbed by the selfsame hand that made these wounds.
Related Themes:
Act 4, Scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—Thy Edwards, My Edward:
In this monologue, Queen Margaret uses alliteration and allusion to detail her despair and hatred of Richard, death, and war. She’s trying to calm a disagreement between Queen Elizabeth and the Duchess of York, and offers up some grim perspective:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Thy Edward he is dead, that killed my Edward,
Thy other Edward dead, to quit my Edward;
Young York, he is but boot, because both they
Matched not the high perfection of my loss.
Thy Clarence he is dead that stabbed my Edward,
And the beholders of this frantic play,
Th’ adulterate Hastings, Rivers, Vaughan, Grey,
Untimely smothered in their dusky graves.
Related Themes:
Act 5, Scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Despair and Die:
Richard is visited by the ghosts of those he has wronged on the eve of the Battle of Bosworth Field. The Ghost of Henry VI gives a chilling prediction, using alliteration and tactile imagery to drive his point home:
Unlock with LitCharts A+When I was mortal my anointed body
By thee was punchèd full of deadly holes.
Think on the Tower and me. Despair, and die!
Harry the Sixth bids thee despair and die.
Related Themes:
