Question

Read the following extract and answer the questions:

‘Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And, by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep…’

1. Identify the figure of speech in the first line
2. What, according to Hamlet, is the solution to the problems that engulf us?
3. ‘Sleep’ here, refers to ______. What figure of speech is it?

Answer 1

1. Metaphor - “a sea of troubles” compares life’s problems to a vast, troubled sea.
2. According to Hamlet, the solution is to die, thereby ending all the troubles and suffering.
3. ‘Sleep’ refers to death. The figure of speech is metaphor, as death is compared to sleep.