All 3 Uses of
metaphor
in
The House of Mirth
- He had left behind only the ripple of amusement which his speedy despatch had caused among her friends; and though later (to shift the metaphor) he reappeared lower down the stream, it was only in fleeting glimpses, with long submergences between.†
Chpt 1.2 *
- His betrothed looked shocked at the metaphor, and George Dorset exclaimed with a sardonic growl: "Poor devil!†
Chpt 1.7
- He smiled at the whirl of metaphor with which he was trying to build up a defence against the influences of the last hour.†
Chpt 1.14
Definition:
-
(metaphor) a figure of speech in which a similarity between two things is highlighted by using a word to refer to something that it does not literally denote -- as when Shakespeare wrote, "All the world’s a stage"
When Shakespeare wrote, "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players." he was not saying the world is really a stage and all people are actors. But he was pointing to the similarities he wants us to recognize.editor's notes: While metaphors and similes are both techniques of figurative language. The distinction is that a simile explicitly shows that a comparison is being made, by using words such as "like" or "as". A metaphor simply substitutes words assuming the reader will understand the meaning should not be take literally. "She is like a diamond in the rough" is a simile; while "She is a diamond in the rough" is a metaphor.