Select the correct Figure of Speech used in the sentence from the options given below:-
Here's the smell of blood still; all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Hyperbole
The line is spoken by Lady Macbeth in the sleepwalking scene of Shakespeare's Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 1). She says that all the perfumes of Arabia could not remove the smell of blood from one small hand. No real smell could resist every perfume in a whole land. The exaggeration shows how deep and lasting her guilt is.
| Option | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) Simile | A simile compares two things using "like" or "as". The line has no such comparison. | She is as brave as a lion. |
| (2) Antithesis | Antithesis places contrasting ideas side by side in a balanced form. The line has no pair of opposites. | To err is human, to forgive divine. |
| (3) Personification | Personification gives human qualities to a non-human thing. The perfumes are not given any human action. | The wind whispered through the trees. |
| (4) Hyperbole (answer) | Hyperbole is deliberate exaggeration for strong effect. It is not meant to be taken literally. | I have told you a million times to shut the door. |