Question

Read the excerpt below from act 2.1 of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar and answer the question that follows.

Answer 1

Answer:

Personification.

Explanation:

Personification is one of the literary device that writers and authors use in their works, giving human attributes to an abstract, inanimate ideas or things. It allows the 'thing' to be like a living human being, having qualities that are similar to that of normal living humans.

Act II scene i of the play "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare shows the character of Brutus in a dilemma about his questions on Caesar. He was contemplating the need between Caesar's death and his involvement, stuck between his loyalty to his friend and master Caesar and his loyalty to the nation. By the use of the words "Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough / To mask thy monstrous visage", the writer is personifying "conspiracy", giving it a humanistic quality.

Answer 2

Personification is the form of figurative language used in the bold lines of the above example. Option A is correct.

As a rethorical figure, personification refers to the attribution of human nature or character to inanimate objects, animals or abstract notions.

In other words, personification means giving human qualities to non-living objects such as emotions, desires, sensations, gestures and speech, often by way of a metaphor.