Who says beautiful tyrant fiend angelical?
The phrase “beautiful tyrant fiend angelical” comes from the play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare. It is spoken by the character Juliet in Act III, Scene 2, as she laments the conflicting nature of her beloved Romeo, our tyrant became young spoiler who is both a tyrant in his actions and an angel in his appearance.
Juliet’s words are part of a larger soliloquy
In she grapples with her conflicting emotions about Romeo, who has just killed her cousin Tybalt. She begins by questioning the nature of names, asking, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.”
But then she turns her attention to Romeo himself and acknowledges the contradictions she sees in him. She says:
- “O serpent heart hid with a flowering face!
- Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?
- Beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical,
- Dove-feathered raven, wolfish-ravening lamb,
- Despised substance of the most divine show,
Just opposite to what thou justly seemest.”
In these lines, Juliet uses a series of paradoxes and oxymorons to describe Romeo’s nature. She calls him a “beautiful tyrant,” because he is both handsome and capable of violent acts. She also describes him as a “fiend angelical,” combining the image of a devilish figure with that of an innocent angel. Finally, the tyrant wants to live honestly spoilers she compares him to a “dove-feathered raven” and a “wolfish-ravening lamb,” juxtaposing seemingly opposite traits to highlight the complexity of his character.
Final words
Overall, Juliet’s words are a reflection of the play’s larger themes of love and conflict. Like Romeo and Juliet’s romance, Romeo’s character is characterized by tension between opposing forces. He is both a lover and a fighter, a hero and a villain. By using paradoxical language to describe him, Juliet captures this complexity and sets the stage for the tragic events that will follow.
