Question

Read the excerpt from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Juliet: Ay me!

Romeo: She speaks:
O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head
As is a winged messenger of heaven
Unto the white-upturned wondering eyes
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air.

How are the writing styles of Romeo and Juliet and Ovid’s "Pyramus and Thisbe" similar?

Both use historical details.
Both use figurative language.
Both use rhythmic stanzas.

Answer 1

The correct similarity is: Both use figurative language.

Why:
- Romeo’s speech is full of metaphor and imagery (“bright angel,” “winged messenger,” “sails upon the bosom of the air”).
- Ovid’s Pyramus and Thisbe is likewise rich in mythic imagery and figurative devices.

Why the others are not correct:
- “Both use historical details” — no. Ovid’s tale is mythic, not historical, and Romeo’s speech is poetic, not documentary.
- “Both use rhythmic stanzas” — partly true in the sense that both are metrical (Shakespeare often uses iambic pentameter; Ovid writes in dactylic hexameter), but they don’t use the same stanza form, and calling them “stanzas” is misleading.