Language plays a major role in Juno and The Paycock in the quick changes of pace, mood and characterisation of the play, and strengthens both its comedy and tragedy. In particular, figurative language has a powerful role in this play, that is, language that goes beyond the ordinary meaning of words, and repetition of such devices emphasises their importance. The play is realistic in its details; stockings, cupboards, moleskin trousers and shovels give it a firm base in reality. Compared with the strict realism of the plays setting in the tenement house, which OCasey describes meticulously on the first page, characters and dialogue is a strong yet simple poetic symbolism of everyday objects, such as the gramophone, a grand-lookin insthrument, that represents Junos yearning for luxury, and the votive light representing protection, until its extinguishing and foreshadowing of what is to come. Objects with symbolic overtones and the use of literary references are combined with characters and speeches that are natural, yet heightened; and a melodramatic series of events that seem natural, given the sickening and inhumane outer setting of civil war in Ireland.

Symbolism enriches the play Juno and The Paycock in many ways. The symbolism of religion plays one such key role, meaning different things to each character, and there are several recurring symbols of this. Johnnys deepest feelings can be related to the votive light, and he continually seeks the protection and the comfort this light provides, Between the window and the dresser is a picture of the virgin; below the picture, on a bracket, is a crimson bowl in which a floating light is burning. However, on a symbolic level, it only highlights his guilty vision: I seen him I seen Robbie Tancred kneelin down before the statue an the red light shinin on him an I seen the wouns bleeding in his breast. This votive light burns throughout the whole play until it is extinguished towards the end: Mother o God, the lights afther goin out! theres a shot Im afther getting!, and it can be seen to be foreshadowing Johnnys imminent death for the betrayal of Tancred. Furthermore, the extinguishing of the light also symbolises the emptying of the Boyles tenement living area when a Catholic chapel is abandoned, it is deconsecrated, its altar furniture is removed, and its sanctuary lamp extinguished. OCasey emphasises this idea through the removal of all furniture from the tenement household as a result of the Boyle family losing out on the will, which had once symbolically represented a sign of hope for the future in terms of wealth. In this sense, the symbolism of religion, especially through the votive light, has power to give more depth to the play, as well as providing a potent source of counterpointing the main action.

The Virgin Mary is another important symbol, and can be seen to represent bereaved motherhood, as the Virgins son was killed like Junos and Mrs Tancreds own sons. The reiteration of prayers and hymns counterpoints the action with an easily understood symbolism, such as the Hail Mary sung at Tancreds funeral at the end of the second act, and when Johnny later repeats it as he is arrested and punished for Tancreds own death. Mrs Tancreds bitter balanced elegy for her son is powerful in its use of figurative language on page 115, where she cries, an to think that he was lyin for a whole night stretched out on the side of a lonely counthry lane, with his head, his darlin head, that I often kissed an fondled, half hidden in the wather of a running brook. It is interesting to note the similar dialect that Joxer Daly uses, with his catchphrase of darlin, any may have some symbolic representation of their Dublin lower class. Furthermore, Mrs Tancreds tragic plea with repetition reinforces the symbol of the Virgin Mary, O Blessed Virgin, where were you when me darlin son was riddled with bullets, when me darlin son was riddled with bullets. It is through this that Mrs Tancred is able to portray the plays message through her poetic expression and figurative language, that the dead boys are only mothers sons, not Diehards or Freestaters, and she prays that all may be opened to this fact, saying, Sacred Heart of the Crucified Jesus, take away our hearts o stone an give us hearts o flesh! Take away this murdherin hate an give us Thine own eternal love! Juno later echoes this despairing plea and reproach with her own sons tragic death, and their losses are all against a general background of quick-witted, idiomatic repartee, full of imagery and fantasy. In this stage appearance, suffering is personified in a sense that is not limited to the Boyles, however it concerns the whole country of Ireland, and could even point beyond national limits.

In literature, one of the strongest devices is imagery wherein the author uses words and phrases to create mental images for the reader or the audience. Imagery can help the reader or the audience to visualise more realistically the authors work, and OCasey can be seen as employing a number of visual devices to create tension and suspense, and at times humour. All of OCaseys characters in Juno and The Paycock can be seen to be using a vivid imagery quite nonchalantly, whether it be a standard you cant get blood out of a turnip, or a more individual he was off like a redshank, which also acts as a simile, from Captain Boyle. Juno Boyles imagery is perhaps the most striking to the audience, such as dont be actin as if you couldnt pull a wing out of a dead bee, and You cant climb a laddher, but you can skip like a goat into a snug, both of which are similes and both of which generate imagery. In this case, Juno uses imagery to mock her lazy husband who seems to fall into a world of pain or disability whenever the opportunity for work comes around, but is able to go to any bar or pub without a care in the world. While this at first may seem humourous to the audience, the imagery and similes reveal Junos frustration at not being able to get Boyle working and having to do all the work herself, and consequently adds a sense of strain to the household.

While the will may symbolically represent a sign of freedom and wealth for the disadvantaged lower working class family of the Boyles, it can also be seen to represent lost hopes and an opportunity for others to cash in. For example, in the second act, Captain Boyle proclaims that Father Farrell would be folleyin you like a Guardian Angel from this out all the time the oul grin on him Joxer. While a Guardian Angel would at first seem to represent guidance and protection, it becomes ironic that Father Farrell only wants to follow Captain Boyle and be ready to shake hands with him when he becomes rich. Towards the ending of the third and final act, Mary says, My poor little child thatll have no father, to which Juno comforts her, saying Itll have whats far betther Itll have two mothers. To encourage his audience to see Ireland, and the world, realistically and dispassionately, OCasey creates a complex pattern of verbal and visual imagery that should prompt our awareness of the sad truths that his characters, even Juno, do not see. The audiences initial inclination may be to agree with Juno, however in doing so would be to join the characters in their delusions and to ignore the realities with which OCasey confronts us. Throughout the play, this imagery reinforces the message conveyed in the final tableau: that in a world where Joxers and Boyles prevail, two mothers may be relatively better, but nothing has changed, nor will it, because the delusions and their causes remain.