All of these studies provide me with profound materials and convenience to summarized previous works and voice a point by standing on the shoulders of giants。

Ⅲ。 A Brief Introduction to Oxymoron

Shakespeare uses oxymoron in many of his plays, which make his language more vivid, concise and elegant。 But because oxymoron is so special, readers might meet many difficulties during exploration and reading。 Gaining clear knowledge of what oxymoron is and its origin is necessary for readers and will help readers have a better understanding of the importance of oxymoron in Shakespeare’s plays。 As a great literary master, how Shakespeare employs oxymoron， especially in Romeo and Juliet as well as in Hamlet, and how popular it is with people today, there are issues worth exploring into。

3。1。Origin

Oxymoron is one of particular rhetorical devices, which is skillfully constructed and has strong expressive force。 It derives from the Greek word ‘oxusmoros’, which is formed from two Greek roots, ‘oxus’ and ‘moros’。 ‘Oxus’ means sharp and ‘moros’ means foolish, so the whole word means sharp-foolish。 This word is contradictory in itself。 Apparently, oxymoron is a figure of speech that is combined by two terms which are usually contradictory or largely different in meaning, for example, victorious defeat, darkly wise and open secret (Lv, 2004:200)。

3。2。Definition

There are different explanations in different dictionaries。 Longman Modern English (2004) defines it as: “a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms are combined to produce an epigrammatic effect”。 In Webster Collegiate Dictionary (2001), it is defined as: “a combination of contradictory or incongruous words”。 While in Oxford English Dictionary (1978), its definition is: “A rhetorical figure by which

contradictory or incongruous terms are juxtaposed so as to give point to the statement or expression; an expression, in its superficial or literal meaning self-contradictory or absurd, but involving point (Jiang, 2010: 105)。

Aforementioned definitions reveal a common feature of oxymoron that is contradictory。 In a world, two incongruous terms are conjoined to a close relation grammatically to express complex feelings and meanings。 This term is frequently employed both in the literary creation and criticism, especially in the plays, to show the complex and conflicting mental state of the characters and the textual tension。 They are seemingly contrary or absurd to logic on the surface, however, it stands to reason after thinking carefully。 It easily draws reader’s attention, gives people strange and unique feelings and then produces distinguished and surprising artistic effect。

Just because of uniqueness of oxymoron, it is not used so widely like simile, metaphor, parallelism, hyperbole and so on。 It is mostly found in British and American works, especially in Shakespeare’s plays。 Shakespeare exercises oxymoron so perfectly and expertly and he likes oxymoron very much。

3。3。Forms of Oxymoron

The main structural form of oxymoron in Shakespeare’s plays is modifier+ noun．The relation between the modifier and the modified is kept by internal components of this kind of oxymora 。 These oxymorons can vividly reveal the inner meaning of things through the striking contrast between the modifier and the noun ． Shakespeare’s rich and colorful language is derived from so many different structural forms of oxymoron．During the reading, we always appreciate the artistic talent of this great master of language involuntarily( Lu, 2004)．

3。4。Functions of Oxymoron in Literary Works

In oxymoron, the two terms are contrary。 Just because of the abnormal collocation semantically and the departure from the normal of oxymoron, semantic information is expanded in the specific contexts。 It endows words with unique emotional color and play the pragmatic functions at the greatest extent when it transfers semantic information。 In certain linguistic context, there are following kinds of  pragmatic functions of oxymoron。