Literary
Terms
Metaphor
Simile v/s Metaphor
The word, ‘Metaphor’ comes from a Latin phrase
meaning “to carry across,” and a metaphor does just that—it carries a shared
quality or characteristic across two distinct things. Metaphor is a common
figure of speech that makes a comparison by directly relating one thing to another
unrelated thing. It may provide clarity or identify hidden similarities between
two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared with other types of
figurative language, such as antithesis, hyperbole, metonymy and simile.
Unlike
similes, metaphors do not use words such as “like” or “as” to make comparisons.
The writer or speaker relates the two unrelated things that are not actually
the same, and the audience understands that it’s a comparison, not a literal
equation.
One
of the most commonly cited examples of a metaphor in English literature comes
from the "All the world's a stage" monologue from As You Like It:
All the world's a
stage,
And all the men and
women merely players;
They
have their exits and their entrances ...
—William
Shakespeare, As You Like It
This
quotation is a metaphor because the world is not literally a stage and humans
are not literally actors and actresses playing roles. By asserting that the
world is a stage, Shakespeare uses points of comparison between the world and a
stage to convey an understanding about the mechanics of the world and the
behavior of the people within it.
Metaphor
is useful in literature for using specific images or concepts to state abstract
truths. For example, one of the most famous metaphors in literature is featured
in this line from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet:
What light through
yonder window breaks?
It
is the East, and Juliet, the sun!
In
this metaphor, Juliet is compared to the sun. In fact, this figure of speech
claims that Juliet is the sun. Of course, the reader understands that Romeo
does not believe that Juliet is literally the sun. Instead, the comparison
demonstrates the idea that Romeo equates Juliet with the beauty, awe, and
life-giving force of the sun. To Romeo, symbolically, Juliet and the sun are
the same.
Writers
use metaphor to add color and emphasis to what they are trying to express. For
instance, if you say someone has “a sea of knowledge,” you are using a metaphor
to express how smart or educated they are. “Knowledge” and “the sea” are not
literally related, but they are figuratively related because they are both
immense things that are difficult to measure. By putting them together, you can
accentuate how vast a person’s knowledge is.
Metaphor
is an essential figure of speech for writers of both poetry and prose. It’s
important that writers construct proper metaphors so that the comparative
meaning is not lost for the reader. In fact, metaphors are dependent on the
understandable combination of a principal term and a secondary term. The
principal term conveys the concrete or literal entity, and the secondary term
is used figuratively to add meaning. For example, in the metaphor “the car was
a lemon,” the principal term is “car” and the secondary term is “lemon.” The
use of lemon adds figurative meaning for the car.
Metaphors
allow writers to create imagery for readers that is limited by description
alone. In other words, an effective metaphor eliminates the need for excessive
explanation or description on the part of the writer. Instead, by implicitly
comparing two different things, an image is created for the reader to allow for
greater meaning and understanding. This imagery is a powerful result of using
metaphor as a literary device.
When
writers utilize metaphor as a literary device, it often causes the reader to
think about the “logic” or truth in such a comparison. These thoughts, in turn,
may evoke emotion in the reader with a successful metaphor through the
realization that the comparison is valid. This is especially effective in
poetry as a means of portraying truths in a lyrical yet concise manner.
A
lot of common expressions are metaphors, and this includes phrases like “heart
of gold” or calling someone a rat, snake, pig, or shark. These figurative expressions
are so widespread that we rarely stop to think about them.
There
are many common examples of metaphor in everyday conversation and writing:
· Laughter
is the best medicine.
· She
is just a late bloomer.
· Is
there a black sheep in your family?
· His
heart of stone surprised me.
· I
smell success in this building.
· He’s
buried in a sea of paperwork.
· Time
is money.
· No
man is an island.
· Age
is a state of mind.
· Last
night I slept the sleep of the dead.
· The
new parents had stars in their eyes.
· There
is a garden in her face.
· Our
family is a patchwork quilt.
· She
has been living in a bubble.
· Your
argument is a slippery slope.
· We
found it under a blanket of sand.
· I’m
pleased to meet your better half.
· Life
is a highway.
· Love
is a battlefield.
· You
are sunlight and I moon.
· If
music be the food of love, play on.
· Time
is a drug. Too much of it kills you.
· Hope
is the thing with feathers (Emily Dickinson)
Difference Between Metaphor and Simile
It
can be difficult in some instances to distinguish between metaphor and simile
as literary devices. Both are figures of speech designed to create comparisons.
In fact, simile is a subset of metaphor. However, they are distinguished by the
presence of one of two words: “like” and “as.” Metaphors create direct
comparisons without using either of these words. Similes feature either ‘like’
or ‘as’ in making a comparison.
Metaphor: All
the world’s a stage.
Simile: All
the world is like a stage.
Metaphor: My
heart is a lonely hunter.
Simile: My
heart is like a lonely hunter.
Metaphor: She
was a wildfire of rage.
Simile: In
her rage, she was as deadly as a wildfire.
Both
similes and metaphors compare two different types of things. Unlike simile,
though, metaphor makes a direct comparison without using “like” or “as.”
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