Now much beshrew my manners and my pride, illustrates the use of

Analyze the question

The line "Now much beshrew my manners and my pride" comes from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (Act 3, Scene 2), spoken by Portia. You are asked to identify the figure of speech, or sound device, in it.

Explain the concept

• Alliteration: repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of nearby words.
• Onomatopoeia: words that imitate sounds, like "buzz" or "bang".
• Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds within nearby words.
• Personification: giving human qualities to non-human things or ideas.

Work through the line

"Now much beshrew my manners and my pride"

• "much", "beshrew", "my", "manners", "my": the repeated /m/ sound in "much", "my", "manners", "my" is a clear case of consonant repetition at the start of words. This is alliteration.
• Onomatopoeia: no word imitates a sound.
• Assonance: there is no obvious repeated vowel pattern, as the vowels vary (much, beshrew, manners, pride).
• Personification: "manners" and "pride" are Portia's own qualities, not things given human traits. (In the wider speech she asks that her manners and pride be cursed, which is not personification.)

So the dominant device is the repeated /m/ sound: much, my, manners, my, and also the /b/ and /p/ sounds in "beshrew" and "pride", which add to the sound play.

Answer

The correct option is A. alliteration.

Exam tip

For sound-device questions, check the first letters of the words first. If the same consonant sound keeps recurring (m… m… m…), choose alliteration. Think of Alliteration as At the start of words, and Assonance as All about vowels.