Shakespeare for Beginners: Rhetorical Devices That Drive Conflict

Rhetorical devices as conflict detectors

In Shakespeare, characters rarely say “I want power” or “I’m losing control.” Instead, they argue. Rhetorical devices are the visible gears of that argument. When you learn to spot them, you can predict where conflict is tightening: who is pressuring whom, who is defending themselves, and who is trying to seize the narrative.

Use each device as a reading signal with three questions: (1) What does it look like on the page? (2) What pressure does it create? (3) What does it suggest about power?

A simple marking system for annotation

Keep your marks consistent and fast. You are not “decorating” the text; you are building a map of tactics.

• Repeat words / phrases: circle the repeated word and draw arrows between repeats. Write REP in the margin.
• Oppositions (either/or, this/that, good/evil): draw a bracket and label OPP. If it’s a balanced pair, add ANT for antithesis.
• Lists / parallel structures: underline each item once; put a vertical line | between items; label PAR.
• Questions: put a ? in the margin; if the question is clearly not seeking an answer, label RQ.
• Direct address (to a person, object, or abstract idea): box the name/thing addressed; label APOS.
• Images (metaphors, comparisons): highlight image-words; label IMG. If several images belong to the same “world” (disease, law, animals), label CLUSTER.

Device 1: Antithesis (built-in opposition)

What it looks like on the page

Antithesis is a balanced contrast: two ideas set against each other in similar grammar.

• Common shapes: not X but Y, X and Y where X/Y are opposites, either X or Y.
• Often “mirror syntax”: the sentence feels like a scale with equal weights.

Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.

What effect it creates

Self-justification. Antithesis lets a speaker look reasonable: “I’m not cruel; I’m principled.” It compresses a messy motive into a clean moral choice.

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What it suggests about power

The speaker is trying to control the frame: if they can define the conflict as a simple either/or, they can pressure the audience into choosing their side. Antithesis is power through definition.

Step-by-step: how to mark it fast

• Bracket the two opposed terms.
• Label ANT.
• Write in the margin: “What choice is being forced?”

Device 2: Anaphora (repetition at the start)

What it looks like on the page

Anaphora repeats the same word(s) at the beginning of successive lines or clauses.

We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds...

(That example is modern, but the pattern is the same.)

What effect it creates

Pressure and momentum. Each repeated start is a drumbeat. It can sound like certainty even when the logic is thin.

What it suggests about power

Anaphora is power through rhythm and crowd-control: it invites listeners to anticipate the next beat, mentally joining in. The speaker becomes the conductor.

Step-by-step: how to annotate

• Circle the repeated opening word(s).
• Draw arrows down the margin connecting each repeat.
• Label REP (ANA) and note: “What emotion is being built?”

Device 3: Epistrophe (repetition at the end)

What it looks like on the page

Epistrophe repeats the same word(s) at the end of successive lines or clauses.

...for Brutus is an honourable man; so are they all, all honourable men.

What effect it creates

Pinning and narrowing. Ending repetition feels like a stamp. It can sound like a verdict, or like the speaker is tightening a noose around a key idea.

What it suggests about power

Epistrophe is power through closure: the speaker decides what each thought “lands on,” limiting alternative interpretations.

Step-by-step: how to annotate

• Underline the repeated ending.
• Label REP (EPI).
• Ask: “What word is being made unavoidable?”

Device 4: Parallelism (controlled patterns and lists)

What it looks like on the page

Parallelism uses repeated grammatical structures: lists, paired phrases, or multiple clauses built the same way.

• Look for repeated shapes: to + verb, noun + adjective, if... if... if....
• Often appears as a list of “proofs” or “charges.”

I came, I saw, I conquered.

What effect it creates

Persuasion by order. Parallelism makes speech feel organized, therefore trustworthy. It can also accelerate conflict: a list can become an indictment.

What it suggests about power

Parallelism is power through command of structure. The speaker sounds like someone who can arrange reality into categories—judge, prosecutor, leader.

Step-by-step: how to annotate

• Put a light underline under each parallel unit.
• Separate items with |.
• Label PAR and write: “Is this building evidence or building emotion?”

Device 5: Rhetorical questions (questions that aren’t really questions)

What it looks like on the page

A rhetorical question looks like a question but functions like a statement, accusation, or command.

• Often comes in clusters: multiple questions in a row.
• May contain loaded words: “Who could deny…?” “What kind of man…?”

Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?

What effect it creates

Cornering. It forces the listener to answer internally, and the “acceptable” answer is usually built into the question.

What it suggests about power

Rhetorical questions are power through control of response. The speaker pretends to invite dialogue while actually steering the audience into agreement or shame.

Step-by-step: how to annotate

• Mark RQ in the margin.
• Paraphrase the implied statement (see mini-lab method below).
• Ask: “Who is being pressured—an individual, a crowd, or the speaker themself?”

Device 6: Apostrophe (direct address to someone/something absent)

What it looks like on the page

Apostrophe is when a character speaks to an absent person, an object, or an abstract idea (Death, Fortune, Night, Rome).

• Signals: O, naming something that cannot answer, sudden direct address.

O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts...

What effect it creates

Performance and self-persuasion. The character stages emotion publicly, or talks themselves into a decision. It can also recruit the audience as witnesses.

What it suggests about power

Apostrophe is power through theatrical authority: the speaker claims the right to summon big forces (honor, fate, heaven) as if they are on their side.

Step-by-step: how to annotate

• Box the addressed word (e.g., Rome, Death).
• Label APOS.
• Write: “What invisible authority is being invoked?”

Device 7: Metaphor clusters (image-systems that steer emotion)

What it looks like on the page

A metaphor cluster is not one metaphor, but many related images from the same “world” (money, sickness, animals, law, weather) appearing close together.

• Look for multiple words that belong to one domain: disease (sick, plague, infection), law (judge, sentence, trial), money (debt, pay, coin).
• Clusters often intensify during conflict.

What effect it creates

Emotional logic. A cluster makes an argument feel “natural”: if the other side is a disease, then harsh action feels like medicine. This is persuasion by imagery rather than proof.

What it suggests about power

Metaphor clusters are power through world-building: whoever controls the imagery controls what actions seem reasonable, necessary, or heroic.

Step-by-step: how to annotate

• Highlight each image-word and label IMG.
• When you spot a pattern, add CLUSTER: [domain] (e.g., CLUSTER: disease).
• Ask: “What does this image-world permit the speaker to do?”

Device 8: Extended comparisons (similes and sustained analogies)

What it looks like on the page

An extended comparison keeps comparing for multiple lines: a sustained simile (like/as) or an analogy that keeps unfolding.

• Signals: repeated like/as, or a long “as if” scenario.
• Often includes multiple details that “prove” the comparison.

As fire drives out fire, so pity pity...

What effect it creates

Persuasion through inevitability. If the comparison feels accurate, the conclusion feels unavoidable: “Since this is like that, we must do this.” It can also be a way to slow time and hypnotize the listener.

What it suggests about power

Extended comparisons are power through interpretation: the speaker positions themself as the one who can explain what this situation “really is.” That interpretive authority can dominate a room.

Step-by-step: how to annotate

• Bracket the whole comparison.
• Label COMP+ (comparison extended).
• Write: “What conclusion is smuggled in by the analogy?”

Mini-lab: dissecting a persuasive speech (device → paraphrase → tactic)

Use this lab whenever a character tries to win a crowd, a friend, or themself. You will do three passes: spot, say it plainly, name the tactic.

Text for the lab (modeled on a public persuasion scene)

Friends, you say he was ambitious. Was he? If he was, why did he refuse the crown? If he was, why did he weep with the poor? You call him ambitious; I call him human. You call him dangerous; I call him wounded. O Rome, what have you done? Look at these wounds—each one a mouth that speaks. Here is the proof, here is the cause, here is the crime.

Pass 1: Identify devices (mark on the page)

• Rhetorical questions: Was he? why did he refuse...? why did he weep...? Mark RQ.
• Parallelism: If he was, why did he... repeated structure. Mark PAR.
• Antithesis: You call him ambitious; I call him human. and You call him dangerous; I call him wounded. Mark ANT and bracket the opposed labels.
• Apostrophe: O Rome. Box Rome, mark APOS.
• Metaphor cluster (body/speech): wounds, mouth, speaks. Highlight and label CLUSTER: body/speech.
• Anaphora (repetition at the start): Here is the... repeated. Mark REP (ANA).

Pass 2: Paraphrase (plain meaning, no poetry)

• Questions section: “You claim he wanted power. But his actions suggest he didn’t. He turned down the crown and cared about the poor.”
• Label-switching section: “Your description is harsh; mine is sympathetic. I want you to adopt my labels.”
• O Rome: “I’m blaming the city (and you) for what happened, and I’m making this feel like a public moral crisis.”
• Wounds metaphor: “The injuries are evidence; they ‘testify’ against the attackers.”
• Here is the…: “I’m presenting a chain of certainty: evidence → motive → wrongdoing.”

Pass 3: Describe the character’s tactic (what they’re doing to power)

Quick practice: one-sentence tactic summaries

• Write: “By using ANT, the speaker tries to ______.”
• Write: “By using RQ, the speaker pressures the listener to ______.”
• Write: “By using CLUSTER, the speaker makes the situation feel like ______, so that ______ seems justified.”

On-the-page checklist (use during reading)

• If you see balanced opposites, ask: “What choice is being forced?” (ANT)
• If you see repeated beginnings/endings, ask: “What idea is being drilled in?” (REP)
• If you see lists and matched grammar, ask: “Is this evidence-building or crowd-building?” (PAR)
• If you see question clusters, ask: “Who is being cornered?” (RQ)
• If you see direct address to an absent force, ask: “What authority is being summoned?” (APOS)
• If you see many related images, ask: “What worldview is being installed?” (CLUSTER)
• If you see a long comparison, ask: “What conclusion is smuggled in?” (COMP+)