A rhetorical question is a question asked to make a point, rather than get an answer.
If you have ever been late, someone might say: 'What time do you call this?' This person doesn't want an answer to the question. They are making the point that you have arrived at an unacceptable time.
Writing to persuade
Rhetorical questions are a useful technique in persuasive writing. As there is nobody to answer the question, a rhetorical question is usually designed to speak directly to the reader. It allows the reader a moment to pause and think about the question. For that reason, they are effective in hooking a reader’s interest and making them think about their own response to the question in hand.
- 'Who wouldn't want to be a millionaire?'
- ‘Do we really want our planet to survive?’
- 'Wouldn’t you feel happier if you could wear what you wanted to school?'
Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet
In Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, a young couple fall in love but are forced apart by their rival families: the Montagues and the Capulets. Juliet makes a point that a person's name should not define them:
'What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.'
When Juliet asks the question ('What's in a name?') she does not expect an answer. This emphasises her point that names are meaningless. A rose being called a rose does not define how good it smells in the same way that people are not defined by their names or their family.
The Merchant of Venice
Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice looks at the divide between the Jewish and Christian faiths. In the following quote, rhetorical questions are used to highlight that all humans are the same regardless of their religion:
'If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh?'
The answers to these questions are obvious: everyone bleeds if they are cut and most people laugh if they are tickled.
The rhetorical questions are not designed to be answered instead they emphasise the idea that all humans are created equal.
